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Back to Fall 2005 Conference program page
Fall 2005 Conference Presentation
Indexers Evolve:
Hands-on Learning Opportunities in Semantic IntegrationPresented by Jean L. Graef
Unlike Seth Earley’s company, which visits a client workspace and builds the taxonomies for the clients, the Montague Institute teaches its clients how to build their own taxonomies. They’ve been doing this since 1992, and have been providing Web-based professional development and other learning services since 2001.
Jean defines a taxonomy as a combination of its two parts: a structure and an application. The structure is essentially a database of terms. Applications might be an A-to-Z index, a smart search engine, a type of report, and so on. She emphasized that it is best to have a single structure for as many applications as desired; in fact, the quality of the structure can be measured by its ability to be applied in multiple ways. The goal of structure is efficiency; the goal of applications is usability.
Reasons to build taxonomies include improving Web site navigation, meeting the requirements of a new business system, reducing compliance costs, and leveraging knowledge within and between companies and industrial sectors. Although there are specialty taxonomy programs that can be purchased and used, content input into these programs may require that program for future access. In general, a spreadsheet program (e.g., Microsoft Excel) is sufficient for many purposes, although cross references are very difficult to create and maintain.
Taxonomies are bounded by audiences, content, and process needs. Often the audiences are defined by the content creators, but there can be multiple audiences with different process needs. Consequently you might have multiple taxonomies within the system, with different standard authorities for each system. The first practical challenge is in the integration (i.e., mapping together) of these taxonomies. The second challenge is the maintenance of these taxonomies, not just for the various audiences but also for the different computers and machines, with their different user interfaces, necessary within the system. Taxonomy development is an intellectual, time-consuming task.
Jean listed the steps of taxonomy building: (a) domain analysis, in which audiences, processes, and content are determined and studied; (b) data collection, in which all content, names, and audiences are obtained; and (c) indexing, where the topic hierarchy, thesaurus, and other applications are built. She them showed several screen captures from a tool used at the Montague Institute that aids in thesaurus and application construction.
Jean concluded with a case study on the redesign of a public website with three audiences (teachers, tourists, and conservationists). During and after the course, the client created two taxonomies, for teachers and for tourists, as well as an authority file of names and a list of themes to integrate the taxonomies. Lessons learned by the client included the following: to put aside traditional way of doing things; to follow, not lead, the user; to listen to the user’s language; to prioritize the users above content; to prepare for how the process changes; and to enjoy the rewards of doing it yourself. Jean invited attendees to visit the company website for free articles and demonstrations.
Jean Graef is the Founder of the Montague Institute and the Society of Knowledge Base Publishers. Since 1992, she has been teaching executives and interdisciplinary groups of information practitioners about new trends and technologies. She is the author of three Web-based courses on taxonomies and information modeling and has written or been the subject of articles in many business publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, CIO, and CFO. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and has studied business management at the University of Kentucky and The Ohio State University. She has worked as an academic librarian, systems analyst, director of R&D, and chief executive officer.
E-mail: jean.graef@montague.com