1 To Tag or Not to Tag!: Should we be structuring our Knowledge Assets? Is Free-Text Search Good Enough Boston KM Forum, March 16, 2006 Lynda Moulton, Moderator LWM Technology Services

2 Topics  Exploiting Knowledge Assets (e.g. documents) without categorizing  How to best give context to content  Is automatic categorizing working for some (or all) of your content?  Does taxonomy or navigated search have a place in your organization?  Is taxonomy available and used?  When is key-word, free- text or Google style searching good enough?  Are you clear about which approach is needed and for what circumstances?  What about the human resources? What is needed and who pays?

3 Some Tagging Jargon  Date (metadata type)  Metadata  Numeric (metadata type)  Structured search  Structured with authority control  Tagging  Text (metadata type)  Taxonomy  Thesaurus  Ontology  Free text search  Keyword  Phrase  Spidering  Federated search  Indexing  Operators  Portals & search boxes  Semantic search

4 Search context (Structured components) Example of structured search using command language: QuickSelect (titlew,subjw)#’solar’ [index search] SubSelect energy’) ! energy’) [sequential search] Index name Command Operator Search string - phrase Field name Search string - keyword

5 Or form based (structured components)

6 Navigated search using controlled vocabulary where topical "tags" guide the navigation

7 Topic 1: Can we exploit Knowledge Assets (e.g. documents) without categorizing? Consensus : Yes, sometimes free-text searching can yield the content we are seeking. This works best when we have a clear understanding of the contents of the domain we are searching. (e.g. when we already know what is probably there) It is beneficial to classify, tag or categorize content that will be shared by an audience unfamiliar with the scope and subject matter of the content to facilitate their search experience.

8 Topic 2: What is the best way to give context to content? Consensus : When the organization of the content and its availability is aligned with work processes. When content is positioned to support specific business activities. The categories need to be synchronized with work process.

9 Topic 3 Is automatic categorizing working for some (or all) of your content? Consensus : Have tested various products that claim to auto-categorize and have found the results to be disappointing. The best outcomes put 85% in reasonable categories but the technology has a way to go before it can be used with confidence in a business setting.

10 Topic 4 Does taxonomy or navigated search have a place in your organization? Consensus: Yes. A combination of "free-text" searching and navigated search are the most desirable.

11 Topic 5 Is taxonomy available and used? Consensus:

12 Topic 6 When is key-word, free-text or Google style searching good enough? Consensus:

13 Topic 7 Are you clear about which approach is needed and for what circumstances? Consensus:

14 Topic 8: What about the human resources? What is needed and who pays? Consensus:

15 Bibliography kmf pdf