Why Are Taxonomies Necessary? By Fred Leise ContextualAnalysis, LLC

By Fred Leise

ContextualAnalysis, LLC

Taxonomies are sets of terms (controlled vocabularies or CVs) used to tag documents or other content objects. Taxonomies may also be used as browsing hierarchies or for search enhancement. What Are Taxonomies?

Taxonomies are sets of terms (controlled vocabularies or CVs) used to tag documents or other content objects.

Taxonomies may also be used as browsing hierarchies or for search enhancement.

Taxonomy terms are collected into groups called attributes. Each attribute (or facet) describes one property of your content. What Are Taxonomies?

Taxonomy terms are collected into groups called attributes. Each attribute (or facet) describes one property of your content.

Example: Attribute: Office Location Terms: London New York City (NYC, Big Apple) Washington, DC What Are Taxonomies? Alternate Terms

Example:

Attribute: Office Location

Terms: London New York City (NYC, Big Apple) Washington, DC

In this example, “NYC” and Big Apple” are given as variants for “New York.” Variant terms are used to expand search queries. If a user enters “New York” the search system expands to search “New York or NYC or Big Apple. What Are Taxonomies?

In this example, “NYC” and Big Apple” are given as variants for “New York.”

Variant terms are used to expand search queries. If a user enters “New York” the search system expands to search “New York or NYC or Big Apple.

Search query expansion ensures that more relevant information is found, even though it might use terms the searcher hasn’t thought of. What Are Taxonomies?

Search query expansion ensures that more relevant information is found, even though it might use terms the searcher hasn’t thought of.

Other typical attributes include: Author Creation Date Audience Version Number Subject What Are Taxonomies?

Other typical attributes include:

Author

Creation Date

Audience

Version Number

Subject

There is an international standard for metadata, the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, consisting of 15 attributes. What Are Taxonomies?

There is an international standard for metadata, the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, consisting of 15 attributes.

Good metadata schemas (collections of attributes) will adhere as closely as possible to the Dublin Core standard. More information is available at: www.dublincore.org What Are Taxonomies?

Good metadata schemas (collections of attributes) will adhere as closely as possible to the Dublin Core standard. More information is available at: www.dublincore.org

Well designed taxonomies: 1. Enable users to find relevant information quickly and efficiently (improved retrieval) 2. Lead users to additional relevant information, providing upselling and cross-selling opportunities What Are Taxonomies?

Well designed taxonomies:

1. Enable users to find relevant information quickly and efficiently (improved retrieval)

2. Lead users to additional relevant information, providing upselling and cross-selling opportunities

Well designed taxonomies: 3. Assists authors in consistently tagging content What Are Taxonomies?

Well designed taxonomies:

3. Assists authors in consistently tagging content

Proper use of taxonomies results in: Less time wasted searching for information Fewer failed searches Fewer abandoned interactions Increased income Reduced customer assistance costs What Are Taxonomies?

Proper use of taxonomies results in:

Less time wasted searching for information

Fewer failed searches

Fewer abandoned interactions

Increased income

Reduced customer assistance costs

English is rich in words that mean the same or nearly the same thing feline/cat car/automobile travel/journey/excursion/trip jeans/denims/Levi's/501s Why Are Taxonomies Important?

English is rich in words that mean the same or nearly the same thing

feline/cat

car/automobile

travel/journey/excursion/trip

jeans/denims/Levi's/501s

Result: scattering of information. No matter what term you use in a free-text search, you get only part of the relevant information. The rest is not retrieved because it uses different terms to describe the same concept. Why Are Taxonomies Important?

Result: scattering of information. No matter what term you use in a free-text search, you get only part of the relevant information.

The rest is not retrieved because it uses different terms to describe the same concept.

Consider the example of mobile devices. There are many ways that users can refer to them: Personal digital assistants Handheld computers Blackberries PDAs Why Are Taxonomies Important?

Consider the example of mobile devices.

There are many ways that users can refer to them:

Personal digital assistants

Handheld computers

Blackberries

PDAs

If users don’t know the term you use to label the information they are looking for, they waste time browsing or give up their search completely. They are victims of a communication chasm. Why Are Taxonomies Important?

If users don’t know the term you use to label the information they are looking for, they waste time browsing or give up their search completely.

They are victims of a communication chasm.

You use the term “cat.” I use “feline.” If we each search a recipe database that uses both terms with equal frequency, we will get back only half the appropriate recipes, a recall ratio of 50% Why Are Taxonomies Important?

You use the term “cat.” I use “feline.” If we each search a recipe database that uses both terms with equal frequency, we will get back only half the appropriate recipes, a recall ratio of 50%

Solution: Add a controlled vocabulary to the search system that gives “feline” and “cat” as equivalent terms. Search queries will be expanded appropriately. Why Are Taxonomies Important?

Solution: Add a controlled vocabulary to the search system that gives “feline” and “cat” as equivalent terms.

Search queries will be expanded appropriately.

English is rich in words that have more than one disparate meaning Pitch To throw a baseball A tar-like substance A salesman’s monologue Why Are Taxonomies Important?

English is rich in words that have more than one disparate meaning

Pitch

To throw a baseball

A tar-like substance

A salesman’s monologue

Bank Where you store money The side of a river To carom a cue ball off a pool table rail To prepare a fire for the night To maneuver a plane for a turn Why Are Taxonomies Important?

Bank

Where you store money

The side of a river

To carom a cue ball off a pool table rail

To prepare a fire for the night

To maneuver a plane for a turn

Result: Lots of false drops (irrelevant information), resulting in poor precision. Why Are Taxonomies Important?

Result: Lots of false drops (irrelevant information), resulting in poor precision.

Solution: use a CV that includes scope notes (definitions) or that uses facets. Example: Think about searching for the term “Rembrandt.” You might get the following results. Why Are Taxonomies Important?

Solution: use a CV that includes scope notes (definitions) or that uses facets.

Example: Think about searching for the term “Rembrandt.” You might get the following results.

Why Are Taxonomies Important? Rembrandt Go Search The painter Rembrandt was one of the greatest of all the Dutch realists…. If you want to whiten and brighten your teeth, there is no better brand than Rembrandt.

Why Are Taxonomies Important? You probably are interested in only one of these “Rembrandts.” So half of your search results are irrelevant. Now consider what happens if you were able to specify the type of object you are looking for, either an artist or a toothpaste brand.

You probably are interested in only one of these “Rembrandts.” So half of your search results are irrelevant. Now consider what happens if you were able to specify the type of object you are looking for, either an artist or a toothpaste brand.

Why Are Taxonomies Important? The painter Rembrandt was one of the greatest of all the Dutch realists…. If you want to whiten and brighten your teeth, there is no better brand than Rembrandt. Artist Brand Name Rembrandt Rembrandt

Why Are Taxonomies Important? You get only results relevant to what you are interested in. Here, having search boxes identified by attribute (faceted searching) lets you hone in quickly on the particular information you want.

You get only results relevant to what you are interested in. Here, having search boxes identified by attribute (faceted searching) lets you hone in quickly on the particular information you want.

Why Are Taxonomies Important? You could also use one search and let users filter or narrow results after their search.

You could also use one search and let users filter or narrow results after their search.

Roles for Taxonomies Tagging documents for a content management system Provides administrative metadata to control authoring and publishing processes How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Tagging documents for a content management system

Provides administrative metadata to control authoring and publishing processes

Roles for Taxonomies Administrative metadata: example Document # Author Department Creation date Publication date Expiration date How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Administrative metadata: example

Document # Author

Department Creation date

Publication date Expiration date

Roles for Taxonomies Tagging document contents for a content management system Provides metadata to support search Ensures inter-indexer consistency How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Tagging document contents for a content management system

Provides metadata to support search

Ensures inter-indexer consistency

Roles for Taxonomies Tagging document contents for a content management system Controls subject scattering Increases search results relevance: tags “aboutness” not just mentions of a word How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Tagging document contents for a content management system

Controls subject scattering

Increases search results relevance: tags “aboutness” not just mentions of a word

Roles for Taxonomies Search engine component Translates user’s terms into those used to tag items (increases precision and recall) Offers options for expanding or reducing scope of search using broader or narrower terms How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Search engine component

Translates user’s terms into those used to tag items (increases precision and recall)

Offers options for expanding or reducing scope of search using broader or narrower terms

Roles for Taxonomies Search engine component Differentiates between multiple meanings of terms How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Search engine component

Differentiates between multiple meanings of terms

Taxonomy Use: Search Results rei.com

Roles for Taxonomies Operating as a browsing hierarchy Organizes content using taxonomy terms as category labels Represents taxonomy hierarchy by browsing levels How are Taxonomies Used?

Roles for Taxonomies

Operating as a browsing hierarchy

Organizes content using taxonomy terms as category labels

Represents taxonomy hierarchy by browsing levels

rei.com Level 1 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2

Synonym Ring Identifies words with equivalent meanings (in a given context) rock = stone CD-ROM = CD = disk money = dough = bucks = greenbacks = legal tender Types of Taxonomies

Synonym Ring

Identifies words with equivalent meanings (in a given context)

rock = stone

CD-ROM = CD = disk

money = dough = bucks = greenbacks = legal tender

Synonym Ring When one of the words in a synonym ring is searched for, the search engine expands the search and returns items containing any of the words in the ring. Types of Taxonomies

Synonym Ring

When one of the words in a synonym ring is searched for, the search engine expands the search and returns items containing any of the words in the ring.

Authority File Has all the features of a synonym ring, plus the identification of preferred terms (approved terms/descriptors/keywords) for tagging content. Types of Taxonomies

Authority File

Has all the features of a synonym ring, plus the identification of preferred terms (approved terms/descriptors/keywords) for tagging content.

Taxonomy Also called hierarchy or classification. All features of authority files, plus the broader term (BT) and narrower term (NT) relationships. Types of Taxonomies

Taxonomy

Also called hierarchy or classification.

All features of authority files, plus the broader term (BT) and narrower term (NT) relationships.

Taxonomy All terms must be part of a hierarchical relationship (no orphan terms). Taxonomies may be presented in hierarchical or alphabetical format. Types of Taxonomies

Taxonomy

All terms must be part of a hierarchical relationship (no orphan terms).

Taxonomies may be presented in hierarchical or alphabetical format.

total compensation . compensation . . base salary (salary) . . deferred payments (deferred compensation) . . variable pay . benefits . . 401(k) plan . . health benefits . . . dental plan . . . disability insurance Types of Taxonomies: Taxonomy Example

total compensation . compensation . . base salary (salary) . . deferred payments (deferred compensation) . . variable pay . benefits . . 401(k) plan . . health benefits . . . dental plan . . . disability insurance

Thesaurus Plural form: thesauri All the features of taxonomies, plus the associative relationship of related terms (RT) Types of Taxonomies

Thesaurus

Plural form: thesauri

All the features of taxonomies, plus the associative relationship of related terms (RT)

Types of Taxonomies: Thesaurus Example, Alphabetical Building Permits BT Permits Business Licenses BT Licenses Business Taxes BT Taxes Fees RT Taxes Licenses NT Business Licenses RT Permits Operating Permits BT Permits Permits NT Building Permits; Operating Permits RT Licenses Taxes NT Business Taxes RT Fees

Building Permits BT Permits

Business Licenses BT Licenses

Business Taxes BT Taxes

Fees RT Taxes

Licenses NT Business Licenses RT Permits

Operating Permits BT Permits

Permits NT Building Permits; Operating Permits RT Licenses

Taxes NT Business Taxes RT Fees

Types of Taxonomies: Thesaurus Example, Hierarchical Business Taxes . . Fees Taxes . Operating Permits . . Building Permits . . Licenses Permits . Business Licenses . . Permits Licenses . Taxes Fees . Licenses, Permits & Taxes Related Terms Vocabulary Terms

Synonym Ring + preferred terms = Authority File + broader/narrower terms = Taxonomy + related terms = Thesaurus Types of Taxonomies—Summary

Synonym Ring

+ preferred terms

= Authority File

+ broader/narrower terms

= Taxonomy

+ related terms

= Thesaurus

Facets are fundamental categories by which an object or concept may be described Example: some facets describing a toy ball: size, weight, shape, color, texture, material Taxonomies and Facets

Facets are fundamental categories by which an object or concept may be described

Example: some facets describing a toy ball:

size, weight, shape, color, texture, material

Uses of Facets: Browsing Hierarchies Facets allow users to follow the path best matching the way they think (their mental model). Taxonomies and Facets

Uses of Facets: Browsing Hierarchies

Facets allow users to follow the path best matching the way they think (their mental model).

Uses of Facets: Browsing Hierarchies Example: epicurious.com > recipes > browse Main ingredient Cuisine Preparation method Season/occasion Course/dish Taxonomies and Facets

Uses of Facets: Browsing Hierarchies

Example: epicurious.com > recipes > browse

Main ingredient Cuisine Preparation method Season/occasion Course/dish

Taxonomies and Facets epicurious.com

Uses of Facets: Fielded Search Allows for greater specificity, thus increasing search precision. But this is usually more complicated for users than simple searching, so it is often introduced as option on results page. Taxonomies and Facets

Uses of Facets: Fielded Search

Allows for greater specificity, thus increasing search precision.

But this is usually more complicated for users than simple searching, so it is often introduced as option on results page.

alibris.com Advanced Search

epicurious.com Advanced Search

Requirements for Browsing/Search Facets Development of metadata schema Development of appropriate controlled vocabularies Proper content tagging Taxonomies and Facets

Requirements for Browsing/Search Facets

Development of metadata schema

Development of appropriate controlled vocabularies

Proper content tagging

Aitchison, Jean. Thesaurus Construction and Use: A Practical Manual. 4th ed. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers Resources

Aitchison, Jean. Thesaurus Construction and Use: A Practical Manual. 4th ed. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers

Resources International standard for metadata: Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (ISO Standard 15836-2003) http://www.niso.org/international/SC4/n515.pdf

International standard for metadata: Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (ISO Standard 15836-2003)

http://www.niso.org/international/SC4/n515.pdf

National Information Standards Organization. ANSI/NISO Z39.19:1993. Guidelines for the Construction, Format and Management of Monolingual Thesauri. Bethesda, MD: NISO Press, 1994 Rosenfeld, Lou, and Peter Morville. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Websites. 3d ed. O’Reilly Publishers, 2006. Resources

National Information Standards Organization. ANSI/NISO Z39.19:1993. Guidelines for the Construction, Format and Management of Monolingual Thesauri. Bethesda, MD: NISO Press, 1994

Rosenfeld, Lou, and Peter Morville. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Websites. 3d ed. O’Reilly Publishers, 2006.

Sinha, Rashmi. Beyond Cardsorting: Free-listing Methods to Explore User Categorizations Available at: http://www. boxesandarrows.com/archives/ beyond_cardsorting_freelisting_ methods_to_explore_user_categorizations.php Steckel, Mike, Karl Fast and Fred Leise. Creating a Controlled Vocabulary. 2002 Available at: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/ creating_a_controlled_vocabulary.php Resources

Sinha, Rashmi. Beyond Cardsorting: Free-listing Methods to Explore User Categorizations

Available at: http://www. boxesandarrows.com/archives/ beyond_cardsorting_freelisting_ methods_to_explore_user_categorizations.php

Steckel, Mike, Karl Fast and Fred Leise. Creating a Controlled Vocabulary. 2002

Available at: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/ creating_a_controlled_vocabulary.php

Contact Information Fred Leise www.contextualanalysis.com [email_address] @ChicagoIndexer

Fred Leise

www.contextualanalysis.com

[email_address]

@ChicagoIndexer