Department of State’s Baseline Taxonomy

1. Department of State’s Baseline Taxonomy Interagency KM Working Group General Meeting July 26, 2006

2. Agenda • Background of the State Department's Baseline Taxonomy • Baseline Taxonomy Project Timeline • The first iteration and current status • Methodology and Approaches • Implementation Concepts • Next steps – future iterations and adoption/implementation. http://da.irm.state.gov

3. Taxonomy Overview • What is taxonomy • Taxonomy is the science of classification. It is about how to categorize, organize, label and arrange information so users can find information easily. http://da.irm.state.gov

4. History • Department’s Taxonomy Communities • Department Taxonomy Working Group (current) • SMART/eDip Taxonomy Working Group (2004) • IIP Taxonomy Working group (2003) • Department’s Taxonomy Development • SMART/eDip Working Group Taxonomy • “Taxonomy structures for public diplomacy (TSPD)”, a multi-Bureau collaboration between IIP, A and IRM • EIP taxonomy efforts • FASI taxonomy efforts • TAGS and TERMS • IRM/SIO/API standard definitions and Department mission subject areas • Bureau of Verification and Compliance arms control terms • State-USAID join enterprise architecture categories http://da.irm.state.gov

5. What is State’s Baseline Taxonomy? • Common vocabulary for the Department • Central repository of vocabularies used Department-wide • Integrate various taxonomies developed or used Department-wide and incorporate cross-agency and Federal standards • Can be adapted by different projects for various information systems • For example, search engines, Websites, Metadata Repository, database applications, and forth • Built through Department collaboration http://da.irm.state.gov

6. Why Have a Baseline Taxonomy ? • Promote shared understanding through common vocabularies • Leverage Department-wide knowledge • Improve electronic information retrieval • Fulfill OMB and e-Gov Statutory Requirements http://da.irm.state.gov

7. State’s Baseline Taxonomy – Four Facets • Phase Approach: One Facet at a time There Are Four Facets of the Baseline Taxonomy • Location Taxonomy • Geo-political • Geographic Grouping • Economic Grouping • Organization Taxonomy • Topic Taxonomy • Function Taxonomy http://da.irm.state.gov

8. April 2005 2004-2005 Project Timeline December 2005 Topic facet in progress November 2005 October 2005 Launch outreach program August 2005 Completion of Organization Taxonomy (iteration 1) July 2005 Completion of Location Taxonomy Part 3 – Economic Grouping (iteration 1) June 2005 Completion of Location Taxonomy Part 2 – Geographic Grouping (iteration 1) Completion of Location Taxonomy Part 1 – Geo Political (iteration 1) February 2005 Kickoff of Baseline Taxonomy Working Group June 2004 DAWG session on “Introduction to Taxonomy” 2004 Taxonomy Working Group (4 sessions) http://da.irm.state.gov

9. 2006 Project Timeline Completed January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May - July 2006 Topic Taxonomy Base Version Topic Taxonomy Integrated Version I Topic Taxonomy Integrated Version II Topic Taxonomy Baseline Version Function Taxonomy Base Version Baseline Taxonomy, Iteration I http://da.irm.state.gov

10. Baseline Taxonomy – Iteration 1 • 14,000 terms • 22,000 relationships http://taxonomy.irm.state.gov/ Click on: Baseline Taxonomy http://da.irm.state.gov

11. Acknowledgement Building the Baseline Taxonomy has been a true community of practice Taxonomy Tiger Team Taxonomy Resource Team Many Thanks to Our Members and Volunteers!!! http://da.irm.state.gov

12. Methodology - Membership • Multi-tier Membership Outreach Member Type Taxonomy Roles * Business Users * Content Creators * Customers * Experts in the Field * Subject Matter Experts (SME) • Taxonomy Developer • Taxonomy Strategist • Taxonomy Provider • Taxonomy Adopter • Taxonomy Consumer http://da.irm.state.gov

13. Outreach to Expand Membership Phase IV Adopt & Implement • Goals of Outreach: • Solicit bureau input and get validations. • Identify candidates for Baseline Taxonomy adoption. Phase III Acquire, Integrate & Engage Phase II Initial Briefing Phase I Initial Hand Shake http://da.irm.state.gov

14. Documentation Process • Diligent and Disciplined Documentation • Decisions & Rationale • Naming Conventions • Resolutions of semantic conflicts. • Taxonomy Revisions • Working group presentations and minutes • Taxonomy web site • … http://da.irm.state.gov

15. Methodology – Sources and References • Sources • Department: • State Department’s Tags and Terms • e.g. Geographer (INR/GGI), bureau input through outreach program • Industry: e.g. ISO • Federal e.g. Federal Information Processing Standards 10-4 Codes (FIPS), FEA BRM • Interagency (future) • References “ANSI/NISO Z39.19 – 2005 Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies.” http://da.irm.state.gov

16. Taxonomy Development Process • Topic Example Incorporate Bureau Input IIP, PRM, IRM, ECA, A, WHA, WHA/EX, DS, L, FSI, S, OBO, VCI Build Base Version We are here. Two-way: Upstream downstream Load TAGS and TERMS Iterative Validation Define Top Level Categories 5 FAH-3 TAGS and TERMS Subject Definitions IIP Taxonomy http://da.irm.state.gov …

17. Taxonomy Website Example 1 http://da.irm.state.gov

18. Taxonomy Website Example 2 Preferred Term ISO 3166 three-digit numeric code State Department Geo-Political tag UF (Used For) Mappings to less preferred terms Two-letter country codes three-letter country code long form name RT (Related Terms) Mappings to related terms, e.g. historic terms SC (Subject categories) categories for grouping terms http://taxonomy.irm.state.gov/ • Click on Baseline Taxonomy, Any of the Location Taxonomy Links Subject Category - system codes used to identify taxonomy type and source http://da.irm.state.gov

19. Example - The Function Facet – Top Level Function “Internal workings of the Department of State” Internal Controls Liaison and Diplomatic Services Regional and Global Issues Political-Military, Economic, and Intelligence Activities “including management, human resources, legal, consular, diplomatic security, IRM, OBO, training, etc.” “Actions between the State Department and other entities, including U.S. citizens, foreign persons, legislative, public affairs, public diplomacy, international organizations, exchange programs, etc.” ”Issues relating to the land and its people, including nations, territories, and geographic areas, or famine, natural disasters, pandemic diseases, etc.” “Including trade, arms control, defense, intelligence gathering, etc.” http://da.irm.state.gov

20. Taxonomy Implementation Concepts • The value of a taxonomy is in its practical applications • Seek implementation opportunities through taxonomy adoption • Adapt the baseline taxonomy to fit specific project requirements • Taxonomy implementation is a multi-dimensional and creative process • Taxonomy is a two-piece puzzle: • Taxonomy Structure: the entire repository and semantic relationships, e.g. the Baseline Taxonomy • Taxonomy View: snapshot or visual view of taxonomy structure adopted for specific systems, e.g., web site navigation http://da.irm.state.gov

21. Taxonomy In Information Lifecycle • Taxonomy Applications Throughout Information Lifecycle: File the document per taxonomy for internal management, e.g., under the “Office Events”, “News & Events”, “Holiday Invitation” categories. Create/maintain Publish per same or different taxonomy for external access, e.g. under the “News & Events” category. Holiday Party Publish Records Management Systems, Content Management Systems, Email System, File System. Access information under the “News & Events” category. Consume Retrieval Email system, web-based or non-web based publishing systems. Reporting Knowledge Management, Web sites, search engines, reporting systems, database applications, personal information space, etc. Analysis http://da.irm.state.gov

22. Taxonomy Example – Google.com • There is a trend in the search engine market to become more taxonomic or semantic. • Through taxonomy and semantic rules, a search engine can provide additional information access points versus narrowly focusing on the top 1 or top 10 Taxonomy action in the background - related terms are presented for the “Bird Flu” search terms http://da.irm.state.gov

23. Taxonomy Example – State Department Taxonomy action in the background – synonyms are automatically processed to aid a user to expand search http://da.irm.state.gov

24. Taxonomy Adoption • An example of adapting the baseline for Organization X Adapt by adding organization X's unique terms to the baseline Organization X’s Taxonomy Incorporate organization X’s unique terms into the baseline Apply the taxonomy on Organization X’s data Department Baseline Taxonomy Topic Location Implement the taxonomy Function Organization Data is properly tagged, mapped and organized http://da.irm.state.gov

25. Next Steps • Continue building next iteration of the Baseline Taxonomy using the two-way process: Upstream Downstream Bureau X Taxonomy Baseline Taxonomy Apply the Baseline Taxonomy to the State Messaging and Archive and Retrieval Toolset (SMART) for SMART Taxonomy and Search Implementation http://da.irm.state.gov

26. Baseline Taxonomy Future • Taxonomy is an iterative process Future iterations will incorporate additional bureau input, validation feedback, other federal standards, as well as other agency taxonomies • Taxonomy’s value is in its practical applications Through the taxonomy adoption program, the Baseline Taxonomy will be integrated with Department applications to enhance information access and retrieval http://da.irm.state.gov

27. Open Discussion • Q & A ? http://da.irm.state.gov

28. Points of Contact • Data Management • IRM/SIO/OPS/API/DM • E-mail: da@state.gov • Telephone: 703-875-4000 • Bie Yie Ju Fox, SMART Taxonomy Team Lead • IRM/SMART Project • E-mail: foxby@state.gov • Sara Schoo, Librarian • Department of State Ralph Bunche Library • SchooS@state.gov • Jie-hong Morrison, Taxonomy and Search Engine Consultant • CTC, Inc. • jmorrison@usa-ctc.com http://da.irm.state.gov