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Taxonomy Development Case Studies

Taxonomy Development Case Studies. Tom Reamy Chief Knowledge Architect KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com. Agenda. Introduction Development Process – Examples Tale of Two Taxonomies – Best of Times and Worst of Times Conclusion.

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Taxonomy Development Case Studies

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  1. Taxonomy DevelopmentCase Studies Tom ReamyChief Knowledge Architect KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com

  2. Agenda • Introduction • Development Process – Examples • Tale of Two Taxonomies – Best of Times and Worst of Times • Conclusion

  3. Taxonomy Development Process • Foundation – Strategic & Business Context • Focus Groups, contextual interviews • Knowledge Architecture Audit – Knowledge Map • Taxonomy Strategy/Model – forms, technology, people • Existing taxonomic resources, software • Draft Taxonomy • Information Interviews, focus groups, card sorts • Content Analysis, top down & bottom up • Refine, feedback, pilot app • Taxonomy Plans – Governance, Maintenance, Applications

  4. Knowledge Architecture Audit:Knowledge Map

  5. Taxonomy Development Process:Progressive Refinement

  6. Taxonomy Development: Tips and TechniquesFoundation • Strategic Foundation • Info Problems – what, how severe • Political environment – support, special interests • Knowledge Architecture Audit – Self Knowledge • Size, Major Org, Info environment • Strategic Questions – why, what value from the taxonomy, how are you going to use it • Technology Environment – ECM, Enterprise Search

  7. Taxonomy Development: Tips and TechniquesTaxonomy Foundation • Variety of taxonomies – important to know the differences, when to use what. • People: Get a good taxonomist! (Assign resources, learn) • Library Science+ Cognitive Science + Cognitive Anthropology • Technology • Taxonomy Management, Visulaization • Entity Extraction • Content Structures: Get a good taxonomy! • Glossary, Index, Pull from multiple sources • Get a good document collection

  8. Infrastructure Solutions: Taxonomy DevelopmentTaxonomy Model • Enterprise Taxonomy • No single subject matter taxonomy • Need an ontology of facets or domains • Standards and Customization • Balance of corporate communication and departmental specifics • At what level are differences represented? • Customize pre-defined taxonomy – additional structure, add synonyms and acronyms and vocabulary • Enterprise Facet Model: • Actors, Events, Functions, Locations, Objects, Information Resources • Combine and map to subject domains

  9. Taxonomy Development: Tips and TechniquesDevelopment and/or Customization • Combination of top down and bottom up (and Essences) • Top: Design an ontology, facet selection • Bottom: Vocabulary extraction – documents, search logs, interview authors and users • Develop essential examples (Prototypes) • Most Intuitive Level – genus (oak, maple, rabbit) • Quintessential Chair – all the essential characteristics, no more • Work toward the prototype and out and up and down • Repeat until dizzy or done • Map the taxonomy to communities and activities • Category differences • Vocabulary differences

  10. Taxonomy Development: Tips and TechniquesEvaluate and Refine • Formal Evaluation • Quality of corpus – size, homogeneity, representative • Breadth of coverage – main ideas, outlier ideas (see next) • Structure – balance of depth and width • Kill the verbs • Evaluate speciation steps – understandable and systematic • Person – Unwelcome person – Unpleasant person - Selfish person • Avoid binary levels, duplication of contrasts • Primary and secondary education, public and private

  11. Taxonomy Development: Tips and TechniquesEvaluate and Refine • Practical Evaluation • Test in real life application • Select representative users and documents • Test node labels with Subject Matter Experts • Balance of making sense and jargon • Test with representative key concepts • Test for un-representative strange little concepts that only mean something to a few people but the people and ideas are key and are normally impossible to find

  12. Enterprise Environment – Case Studies • A Tale of Two Taxonomies • It was the best of times, it was the worst of times • Basic Approach • Initial meetings – project planning • High level K map – content, people, technology • Contextual and Information Interviews • Content Analysis • Draft Taxonomy – validation interviews, refine • Integration and Governance Plans

  13. Enterprise Environment – Case One – Taxonomy, 7 facets • Taxonomy of Subjects / Disciplines: • Science > Marine Science > Marine microbiology > Marine toxins • Facets: • Organization > Division > Group • Clients > Federal > EPA • Instruments > Environmental Testing > Ocean Analysis > Vehicle • Facilities > Division > Location > Building X • Methods > Social > Population Study • Materials > Compounds > Chemicals • Content Type – Knowledge Asset > Proposals

  14. Enterprise Environment – Case One – Taxonomy, 7 facets • Project Owner – KM department – included RM, business process • Involvement of library - critical • Realistic budget, flexible project plan • Successful interviews – build on context • Overall information strategy – where taxonomy fits • Good Draft taxonomy and extended refinement • Software, process, team – train library staff • Good selection and number of facets • Final plans and hand off to client

  15. Enterprise Environment – Case Two – Taxonomy, 4 facets • Taxonomy of Subjects / Disciplines: • Geology > Petrology • Facets: • Organization > Division > Group • Process > Drill a Well > File Test Plan • Assets > Platforms > Platform A • Content Type > Communication > Presentations • Issues • Not enough facets • Wrong set of facets – business not information • Ill-defined facets – too complex internal structure

  16. Enterprise Environment – Case Two – Taxonomy, 4 facets • Environment Issues • Value of taxonomy understood, but not the complexity and scope • Under budget, under staffed • Location – not KM – tied to RM and software • Solution looking for the right problem • Importance of an internal library staff • Difficulty of merging internal expertise and taxonomy

  17. Enterprise Environment – Case Two – Taxonomy, 4 facets • Project Issues • Project mind set – not infrastructure • Wrong kind of project management • Special needs of a taxonomy project • Importance of integration – with team, company • Project plan more important than results • Rushing to meet deadlines doesn’t work with semantics as well as software

  18. Enterprise Environment – Case Two – Taxonomy, 4 facets • Research Issues • Not enough research – and wrong people • Interference of non-taxonomy – communication • Misunderstanding of research – wanted tinker toy connections • Interview 1 implies conclusion A • Design Issues • Not enough facets • Wrong set of facets – business not information • Ill-defined facets – too complex internal structure

  19. Taxonomy DevelopmentConclusion: Risk Factors • Political-Cultural-Semantic Environment • Not simple resistance - more subtle • – re-interpretation of specific conclusions and sequence of conclusions / Relative importance of specific recommendations • Understanding project scope • Access to content and people • Enthusiastic access • Importance of a unified project team • Working communication as well as weekly meetings

  20. Conclusion • Enterprise Context – strategic, self knowledge • Importance of a good foundation • Taxonomy Model • Be Smart – beg, borrow, steal resources • Importance of Taxonomy Vision • Infrastructure resource, not a project • Evolving – processes to direct the evolution • Importance of Taxonomy • Balance of expertise and local knowledge

  21. Questions? Tom Reamytomr@kapsgroup.com KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com

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