Taxonomy 101
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Taxonomy 101 Theresa Putkey, Information Architect & Taxonomist [email protected] @tputkey www.keypointe.ca
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Transcript of Taxonomy 101
Taxonomy 101Theresa Putkey, Information Architect & [email protected]@tputkeywww.keypointe.ca
In This Talk...
● What it is● What it’s good for● Definitions● Learn more and integrate it into your work
What It Is
What It Is
An approach to categorizing “untraditional” information
Untraditional
Adjective
Not existing in or as part of a tradition; not customary or long- established
The Establishment
Example 1
A client had a lot of files related to their product offerings. The files were a mess across several network drives and personal hard drives. They needed to implement a digital asset management system to keep track of the files. In a DAM, you need to categorize files.
● File audit● Taxonomy development● Taxonomy training● Implementation support in DAM
DAM Metadata
Example 1
A client had a lot of files related to their product offerings. The files were a mess across several network drives and personal hard drives.
They needed to implement a digital asset management system to keep track of the files. In a DAM, you need to categorize files.
● File audit● Taxonomy development● Taxonomy training● Implementation support in DAM
Example 2
Re-doing a Support website and customers complain they can’t find information
Call centre seeing a lot of volume for questions that can be answered online
● Content audit● Taxonomy development● Taxonomy training
Example 3
Redoing website and have a lot of files. Users need to browse these topics by different angles and the company needs to show that it is the definitive resource for these topics.
● Content audit● Taxonomy framework● Taxonomy development● Taxonomy training
More Complex Framework
Example 4
Redoing website to show better value to members. Members were confused about the company’s vocabulary and processes. Company needed to show better value and exhaustive content.
● Content audit● Taxonomy framework● Taxonomy development● Taxonomy training
Simple Framework
What It’s Good For
Modern Day
We have software products that are extremely information heavy
Managed with wCMS, eCMS, cCMS, DAM, PIM, MAM
How do we keep track of all the things in those systems? Web pages, videos, graphics, photos, master files, documents, PDFs, etc.
What It’s Good For
● Authors and editors can categorize “information” to find it again● Users can find information● Dynamically display information on a website (not building pages by
hand)● Controlling terminology● Provide more accurate search results● Provide better search refinement
Information-As-Thing
The term "information" is also used attributively for objects, such as data and documents, that are referred to as "information" because they are regarded as being informative, as "having the quality of imparting knowledge or communicating information; instructive."
Buckland, “Information as Thing” (1991)
http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/thing.html
Tag to Find Again
From Adobe CQ5 documentation
Users Can Find Information
Users Can Find Information
Dynamic Display of Information
Dynamic Display of Information
Controlling Terminology
Controlling Terminology
Controlling Terminology
Better Search Results Refinement
Better Search Results Refinement
More Definitions
Hierarchical Taxonomy
● Used when hierarchical structure of items is very important and well-understood
● Preserves relationships (parent-child, siblings)● But can be more difficult to navigate because people have to know the
domain
Linnaeus’s Taxonomy
Faceted Taxonomy
● Used when attributes are more important than hierarchy● Facets are conceptually mutually exclusive● Easier to navigate● But can hinder someone looking for hierarchical relationships● Used by many e-commerce websites
Sears.ca
Sears.ca
Learn More and Integrate It Into Your Work
Use It!
● Start learning about how it can be used on a website, in a CMS, or other digital product
● Technical writers - indexing● Information architects - structure● Content strategists - themes, topics
Project Approach
● User interviews: ask them what terms they use● Search engine terms: what people are searching for on Google or Bing
that brings them to your site● On-site search terms: On the site, what people are searching for● Content audit: pick out keywords● Put all these keywords together and start creating themes, topic areas,
etc.
High Level View
Good Resources
Taxonomy postshttp://www.keypointe.ca/category/taxonomy-and-metadata/
When to use a hierarchical or faceted taxonomyhttp://www.keypointe.ca/when-to-use-a-hierarchical-or-a-faceted-taxonomy/
Faceted taxonomy resourceshttp://www.keypointe.ca/faceted-taxonomy-resource/
Taxonomies in Action
SAE.org
BT.com
BT.com
Craigslist
Crutchfield.com
My Info Theresa [email protected]@tputkeyca.linkedin.com/in/tputkey604 563 6317
