Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy: The Science of Classification
- using the library as a metaphor to demystify the process of portal taxonomy development. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Why A Taxonomy?: Oracle University Portal ~ Oracle10g AS
Taxonomy: Oracle portal requirement Perhaps most crucial component of the portal project Taxonomy not understood: perception highly specialised technical mechanism Initial reaction buy in consultancy? Misconception: Taxonomy silo Taxonomy only required for portal Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Why A Taxonomy?: Issues Taxonomy concepts not understood by colleagues – “We need one, how to we design and build?”. The late realisation that a taxonomy was required to service other institutional requirements like the FOI publication scheme and ‘Records Management’. Folly to build taxonomy focusing on Oracle portal requirements – “What happens if we change our portal platform?”. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Our Backgrounds Chris Milne, Academic Librarian
Information Retrieval / Classic texts Sayers, W. C. B Sayers’ manual of classification for librarians. 5th ed. London: Deutsch Rowley, J. E Organising knowledge: an introduction to information retrieval. Aldershot: Gower. Hunter, E. J. and Bakewell, K. G. B Cataloguing. 2nd ed. London: Bingley. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Our Backgrounds Dave MacCabe, IT Specialist User requirements analysis
Business analysis Software development Web development Database design Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Blended Approach Taxonomy development at UAD will
Use combination of Librarianship & IT skills sets Librarianship skills sets Information retrieval: designed to support users information seeking behaviour IT skills sets What can be achieved with technology? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Workshop Outline Generate a more rounded view, clearer perspective of taxonomy development Looking to share our experiences and gather the experiences of others We don’t have all the answers! Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Workshop Elements (1) x 2 Surveys to ascertain: x 2 Presentations
Range of skills sets available to portal / taxonomy teams Business drivers for developing / deploying taxonomies x 2 Presentations Taxonomy: theoretical background Information retrieval techniques related to taxonomy development Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Workshop Elements (2) x 3 Activities
Discussion of survey results (x 2) Applying a taxonomy and meta-data to fixed-term contract example materials General / concluding discussion on project team skills sets and the use of Library staff Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Ourselves, our teams and our institutions.
Skill Sets: Ourselves, our teams and our institutions. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Useful Questions? What skills to we have?
Do we think they are appropriate? What are the institutional perceptions of the skills required? Is it a converged service project? Will the team be supplemented by external consultancy? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

The theoretical background to taxonomies and metadata
Presentation: The theoretical background to taxonomies and metadata Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Aim To set the scene for the key activity, I’m going to try to sprint down the road from basic theoretical constructs to a concrete portal example. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

What is a Taxonomy ? A systematic way of classifying knowledge
A structure of concepts (hierarchical?) A common language for sharing knowledge An artificial, formal construct acting as a symbolic model of an information domain Examples Linnaeus’ plant taxonomy Organic compounds Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Dictionary Break TAXONOMY
“[Taxonomy is] the science of classification according to a predetermined system used to provide a conceptual framework for discussion, analysis or information retrieval.” Ravid, Y. (2002) Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Used for knowledge representation – both visual and conceptual
Dictionary Break ONTOLOGIES Descriptions of the meaning and nature of things, a superset of taxonomies – “a formal explicit specification of a shared conceptualization” KNOWLEDGE MAPS Used for knowledge representation – both visual and conceptual Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Why have a Taxonomy ? Essential for knowledge management
Coping with “infoglut” Faster information retrieval and improved productivity Sharing of knowledge and comparison of knowledge bases and, of course, for us… Content management for institutional portals Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

In fact … “A good taxonomy helps to inject order into the chaos and anarchy of a typical intranet or website.” Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Organisational Drivers
The costs, both financial and organizational, of poor access to information The requirement for ‘regulatory’ compliance (for example Freedom of Information, Records Management) The requirement to manage the organization effectively. Higher levels of productivity in knowledge workers Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

In fact … “[taxonomies are] a strategic imperative for any organization looking to manage and exploit its knowledge more effectively” Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomic Issues … “Hierarchical” “Key concepts”
Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

The FOI Scheme: A Hierarchy
Class Groups 1. GOVERNANCE 2. FINANCIAL RESOURCES 3. HUMAN RESOURCES 4. PHYSICAL RESOURCES 5. STUDENT ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT 6. INFORMATION SERVICES 7. TEACHING AND LEARNING 8. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 9. EXTERNAL RELATIONS Class Group Class 1. GOVERNANCE 1.1 Legal Framework 1.2 Governance Structure 1.3 How the institution is organized 1.4 Information on the Institutional Context 1.5 Management Structure Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Issues with Hierarchies
Hierarchy classification limitations Enforced Classification Scattering Matches “information seeking” behaviour? Implicit navigation Drives development (e.g. Oracle “pages”, “tabs”) Width .v. depth Seeking behaviour Don’t forget publishing behaviour! Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

General Issues “Push” .v “Pull”. “Google thinking”.
Management by exception Role-specific delivery Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Dictionary Break METADATA
“meta-data (or "meta data") Data about data. In data processing, meta-data is definitional data that provides information about, or documentation of, other data managed within an application or environment.” The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Metadata & Key Words Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Dictionary Break THESAURUS
“Labelling and relating objects and groups of objects with appropriate words and concepts” as an aid to “knowledge indexing and retrieval” Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Student Coursework (1) Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Student Coursework (2) Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Key References ? Many texts – very few offer any practical advice just theoretical perspectives on the knowledge management area. Obtain practical advice from portal development environment documentation. MUST READ – Wyllie, J and Skyrme, D. J. “Taxonomies: Frameworks for Corporate Knowledge”, London: Ark Group, 2003. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy Project Drivers:
Or, “What are we trying to achieve, and why?” Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Useful Questions? Why do commercial organizations develop taxonomies, and are there similarities are there with HE? Who are the information consumers (students, staff, local business, general public, special interest bodies)? What are the real information needs and how do they arise? What technical infrastructure is being considered and/or used: does this place limitations on, or help the process of taxonomy development? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Presentation: Applying classification, cataloguing and indexing techniques to organise and retrieve information within portals Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Aim Provide a clearer perspective on the processes surrounding the development of a portal taxonomy, using the analogy of classification, cataloguing and indexing techniques as deployed in libraries to manage information Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

The Problem Taxonomy concepts initially not understood by colleagues
We need one, how to we design and build? Reference document outlining “rules” for taxonomy development Use Oracle9iAS Portal as Your Knowledge Exchange Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Core Themes Identified
Primary Taxonomy: concerned with Visual presentation of information and services to users Navigation Logical arrangement, two ‘primary’ concerns How do we expect users to find, and retrieve information? How can the organisation of information, be designed in such a way to support institutional objectives? e.g. developing deeper engagement with the University Supermarket Taxonomy: designed to create zones, and protect goods Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Virtual Taxonomy: concerned with Development of meta-data to support retrieval via search-engine Building indexes, describing information and services Creation of an alternative approach to finding and retrieving information, not supported by any ‘natural’ limitations within the Primary Taxonomy Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Imperative: develop an understanding of users information requirements and information seeking behaviour How will people look for content? How will people use content to support their jobs? How to people expect content to be organised and described? What is the structure of the organisation? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Role of Organising Content?
Organising on-line information attributed to IT solutions Parallels with the role of a “Web Master” i.e. technical skills set Role of Librarianship incorporating “established” Information Retrieval techniques used for hundreds of years to organise the complexities of library collections worldwide frequently overlooked Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Classic Information Retrieval
Faceted / Non-faceted Classification Pre-coordinate & Post-coordinate Indexing Citation Order Principle of Inversion Cataloguing Thesauri / Subject Headings Automatic Indexing Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

A Taster: Principle of Inversion
“In an analytico-synthetic classification, the implementation of the Principle of Increasing Concreteness requires that the facets in the facet formula of a basic class should be in the decreasing sequence of concreteness. If the scheme has rounds of facets, the facets in each round should be in the decreasing sequence of concreteness” S.R. Ranganathan's Prolegomena to Library Classification (2e) (1957). Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy & Information Retrieval Equivalents
Primary Taxonomy (equivalent to) Pre coordinated indexing Example: Dewey Decimal Classification Within portal: Predefined grouping of content and services, users have a predefined path to follow to find and retrieve information by virtue of what clicks they have to make and [hypertext] links to follow Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy & Information Retrieval Equivalents
Virtual Taxonomy (equivalent to) Post coordinated indexing Example: Library Catalogue (OPAC not card) Within portal: User decides how to find and retrieve information via the selection of keywords and index terms, applied to a search engine Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Example: Library Taxonomy
Primary Taxonomy (i.e. How users see / approach the physical library stock) Users approach Library stock via ‘collection’ Level 1 Short Loans Level 2 Reference Materials / Law Lending stock Level 3 Lending Stock Level 4 Journals Each collection organised by subject, using Dewey Decimal Classification Anticipates that users need to find materials based on subject, with related items being found together Supports information retrieval by browsing Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Characteristics: Primary Taxonomy
Supports users, logical subject approach to retrieving information Organisation by Dewey Decimal Classification stable framework, adaptable for new subject areas e.g. Computer Games Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Limitations: Primary Taxonomy
Scattering Classified works can only appear in one place within a library Works organised by citation order i.e. order in which the various facets are presented in a compound subject Medium – Period – Style - Country Leads to scattering works of related subject In this example items on Country will be scattered throughout the collection Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Primary Taxonomy Will Influence the physical design of the Portal
Pages / Sub Pages, Regions and Tabs are the tools available in Oracle 10G to underpin a Primary Taxonomy Virtual Taxonomies can be implemented to support user requirements not provided for in the Primary Taxonomy Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

More than One Taxonomy? Library restricted to a single Primary Taxonomy due to nature of physical stock Electronic environment, Portal will support multiple taxonomies This could depend on the user entering the Portal e.g. different view for member of academic staff, student, support staff Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Example: Library Taxonomy
Library Catalogue (OPAC) (Virtual Taxonomy) Supports alternative means of accessing materials in an attempt to overcome the limitations of the Primary Taxonomy i.e. search by: Author(s) Subject heading(s) Various facets that each item represents can be included, whereas the Primary Taxonomy (Dewey classification) centres on primary subject area Title Series Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Catalogue Search Indexes
Randle, Kevin D. UFO crash at Roswell / -- New York : Avon p. ; 19cm ISBN (pbk) : £6.99 : CIP entry (Jun.) Unidentified flying objects.Unidentified flying objects - Sighting and encounters - New Mexico - Roswell.Unidentified flying objects - Censorship - United States. I. Schmitt, Donald R. II. Title. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Virtual Taxonomy ~ Catalogue
Meta-data equates to the Subject, Author, Title, Series entries used within a library catalogues Controlled search terms (vocabulary) to improve recall E-commerce see Electronic Commerce Alternative retrieval mechanism aiming to overcome limitations of classification scheme employed e.g. Author search Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Virtual Taxonomy Meta-data
Describing portal content via: Attributes Categories Perspectives Creating indexes for search engines in Oracle 10G, providing an alternative ‘virtual’ taxonomy to supplement the ‘primary’ taxonomy Again, similar concept to the Library catalogue Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy Design / Content Analysis
Anticipated user behaviour i.e. who will use the Portal and how will people expect to find and use the Portal’s information and services This can be identified via “content analysis” e.g. how will students expect to find a past paper? If students cannot ‘click’ their way to a past paper, how can the Virtual taxonomy be used to quickly, efficiently, intuitively provide the desired information? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy Design / Content Analysis
Is your Taxonomy required to support other institutional objectives e.g. FOI, Records Management? How will this effect index design & construction i.e. selection of meta-data? Index under document type related to FOI publication scheme? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Suggested Steps: Designing UAD Portal Taxonomy
What do we need to organise? What is going into the Portal Content / Document Analysis FOI / Records Management functionality! Decide how best to organise material Organisation will support design objective i.e. deepening student engagement with the University Efficient information retrieval(Logical groupings) Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Suggested Steps: Designing UAD Portal Taxonomy
Identify gaps in the Primary Taxonomy Starting point to think about best approach to designing the Virtual Taxonomy to support alternative paths for our users Primary Taxonomy will scatter documents and services, how will your meta-data / search engine approach bridge these problems External examiners reports may be organised in the Primary Taxonomy by School Other users may wish to see all these reports as a single group Meta-data element “document type” to support retrieval of all external examiner reports Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Conclusions Information retrieval techniques developed to organise complexities of human knowledge Techniques applied to libraries and specialised collections remain valid and can be successfully applied to organise knowledge within portals Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Taxonomy: the Science of Classification
Opportunity to bring together the combined skills sets of ‘Information Professionals’ and ‘Web developers’ to develop a relatively inexpensive ‘in-house’ solution to taxonomy development, minimising the requirement to draw upon external consultancy. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Skill Sets: Can “traditional” information retrieval skills-sets be usefully applied to support taxonomy creation? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Useful Questions? Have you previously considered using librarians to support portal / taxonomy development? If not, would you now consider using librarians to support portal / taxonomy? Do “today’s” librarians retain these “classic” information retrieval skills? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

- Applying meta-data and recognising relevant information consumers
Key Activity: - Applying meta-data and recognising relevant information consumers Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Activity Topic Deliberately “left field” so we can focus on the process rather than the information itself. The use of fixed-term employment contracts in higher education institutions. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Activity Organization
Part 1 – Technical Briefing Part 2 – Background Information Part 3 – Applying a taxonomy and meta-data Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Part 1 – Technical Briefing
Following on from the mini-talks already delivered, I want to pose a series of questions that we need to address in Part 3 of this activity. Useful to have these questions in mind during the background details that follow. Actually a good, “real world” example but only because you’ll need to get involved in minutiae across the institution. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Regulatory Compliance
How do we manage compliance with :- the Freedom of Information Act the Data Protection Act the Disability Discrimination Act ? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Internal Information Consumers
Who needs this content? How will they use it? How should it be delivered (”push” .v.”pull”)? How do these information consumers look for information? How should you best organize content to meet user requirements and institutional objectives? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

External Information Consumers
Who will search for this content? How will they use it? How do these information seekers look for information? What will be the context of the search and what constitutes related content? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Information Lifecycle
How frequently do you anticipate it will change? How can we ensure appropriate classification of updates? How should the updated information be delivered to internal and external seekers? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Finally, the content… Our example is the use of fixed-term employment contracts. Chris will now provide the relevant background on this topic. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Background Significant concern as to the high degree of use of FTCs within HE (40%) Sector Reviews of HE (Dearing, Bett) Funding Councils Trade Unions HEIs instructed to reduce reliance of FTCs Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Legislation / Guidance
EC Fixed-term Work Directive 1999/70/EC UK SI: 2002 no 2034 JNCHES Guidance Agreed standard between University employers association and recognised trade unions as to use and management of FTCs within HE Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Issues Clear evidence to suggest that HEIs remain heavily reliant on use of FTCs Introduction of legislation, JNCHES guidelines and pressure from funding councils has not led to any significant reduction in use Culture of over dependence Contract research funding Blunt tool to avoid performance management Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Information Typically HEIs require to improve information flow re FTCs to improve Awareness of obligations as employers / managers Ensure employees aware of the protection now afforded to them under law Remove culture of dependence Monitor use Demonstrate ethical HR policies to funding council Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Part 3 – Applying a Taxonomy
Group discussion. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Project team skill sets and the use of library staff.
Final Discussion: Project team skill sets and the use of library staff. Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Learning Outcomes A clearer perspective on the processes surrounding the development of a portal taxonomy, using the analogy of classification, cataloguing and indexing techniques as deployed in libraries to manage information A realisation that the combined skills sets of 'information professionals' and 'Web developers' can be brought together to develop a relatively inexpensive 'in-house' solution to taxonomy development minimising the requirement to draw upon external consultancy Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

Useful Questions? Are we happy with the vocabulary surrounding taxonomies and portals? Are there key references? Do we have the appropriate skill sets available already in the information management professions in our institution? Taxonomy: The Science of Classification

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