“ What Goes Where?” Sharepoint, Taxonomies & Metadata Matt Moore Innotecture

Taxonomies

“ Orange Blossom” Traminer Riesling South Australia 2008 $8.10

000 – Computer science, information & general works 100 – Philosophy and psychology 200 – Religion 300 – Social sciences 500 – Science 600 – Technology 700 – Arts and recreation 800 – Literature 900 – History, geography, and biography

000 – Computer science, information & general works

100 – Philosophy and psychology

200 – Religion

300 – Social sciences

500 – Science

600 – Technology

700 – Arts and recreation

800 – Literature

900 – History, geography, and biography

000 – Computer science, information & general works 100 – Philosophy and psychology 200 – Religion 300 – Social sciences 500 – Science 600 – Technology 700 – Arts and recreation 800 – Literature 900 – History, geography, and biography 930 History of ancient world 940 General history of Europe 950 General history of Asia; Far East 960 General history of Africa 970 General history of North America 980 General history of South America 990 General history of other areas

000 – Computer science, information & general works

100 – Philosophy and psychology

200 – Religion

300 – Social sciences

500 – Science

600 – Technology

700 – Arts and recreation

800 – Literature

900 – History, geography, and biography

930 History of ancient world

940 General history of Europe

950 General history of Asia; Far East

960 General history of Africa

970 General history of North America

980 General history of South America

990 General history of other areas

000 – Computer science, information & general works 100 – Philosophy and psychology 200 – Religion 300 – Social sciences 500 – Science 600 – Technology 700 – Arts and recreation 800 – Literature 900 – History, geography, and biography 930 History of ancient world 940 General history of Europe 950 General history of Asia; Far East 960 General history of Africa 970 General history of North America 980 General history of South America 990 General history of other areas 993 General history of other areas; New Zealand 994 General history of other areas; Australia 995 General history of other areas; Melanesia; New Guinea 996 General history of other areas; Other parts of Pacific Polynesia 997 General history of other areas; Atlantic Ocean islands 998 General history of other areas; Arctic islands & Antarctica 999 Extraterrestrial worlds

000 – Computer science, information & general works

100 – Philosophy and psychology

200 – Religion

300 – Social sciences

500 – Science

600 – Technology

700 – Arts and recreation

800 – Literature

900 – History, geography, and biography

930 History of ancient world

940 General history of Europe

950 General history of Asia; Far East

960 General history of Africa

970 General history of North America

980 General history of South America

990 General history of other areas

993 General history of other areas; New Zealand

994 General history of other areas; Australia

995 General history of other areas; Melanesia; New Guinea

996 General history of other areas; Other parts of Pacific Polynesia

997 General history of other areas; Atlantic Ocean islands

998 General history of other areas; Arctic islands & Antarctica

999 Extraterrestrial worlds

http://www.epicurious.com

“ Orange Blossom” Traminer Riesling South Australia 2008 $8.10

“ Who needs taxonomies anyway, we’ve got search!”

Using Taxonomies

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raster/3380860520/ Experts

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raster/3380860520/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/3315685906/ Experts Machines

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raster/3380860520/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/3315685906/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntr23/730371240/ Experts Machines Users

Advantages Disadvantages Experts High-quality & consistent outputs Can handle ambiguity Expensive Time-consuming May not understand user perspective Machines Scalable Quick Poor at ambiguity Costs may vary Users Cheap Scalable (ish)‏ Rarely consistent Often Uninterested

1. Building Buy off the shelf externally (…and tweak it a bit)‏ Machine analysis Existing organisational vocabularies & data models Input from users (workshops, tagging)‏ This will be an ongoing process.

Buy off the shelf externally (…and tweak it a bit)‏

Machine analysis

Existing organisational vocabularies & data models

Input from users (workshops, tagging)‏

This will be an ongoing process.

2. Applying Auto-categorisation User-based tagging (either free or based on taxonomy)‏ Expert tagging and/or editing in workflow It all depends on scale & risk.

Auto-categorisation

User-based tagging (either free or based on taxonomy)‏

Expert tagging and/or editing in workflow

It all depends on scale & risk.

3. Consuming Users like pictures (maps, trees, tags clouds)‏ Linked to other apps (e.g. Search) or via workflow Taxonomies should not be run for experts!

Users like pictures (maps, trees, tags clouds)‏

Linked to other apps (e.g. Search) or via workflow

Taxonomies should not be run for experts!

Building Applying Consuming Experts Buy off the shelf OR Build based on analysis Manual Tagging against Taxonomy - Machines Semantic and/or Concept Analysis Automated Categorisation Ontology-based Processes Users Tagging & Folksonomies Manual Tagging (whatever)‏ Tag Clouds & Visualisation Search

Common categories Process Location Product/Service Customer Role/Position Project Department etc…

Process

Location

Product/Service

Customer

Role/Position

Project

Department

etc…

Some words of warning Names are political – who gets the choose the words is important. Taxonomies should reflect reality - do not attempt to enforce a non-existent unity. Is this field really necessary? - beware taxonomic overstretch. Taxonomies should help not hinder.

Names are political – who gets the choose the words is important.

Taxonomies should reflect reality - do not attempt to enforce a non-existent unity.

Is this field really necessary? - beware taxonomic overstretch.

Taxonomies should help not hinder.

Enter Sharepoint

Folders or Metadata?

Content Types built from Site Columns that reference Lists The Metadata Trio

Content Types

built from

Site Columns

that reference

Lists

Some issues

Flat Relationships between terms within multiple lists not well comprehended. This is OK for facets. Not so good for hierarchies. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bricolage108/438984181/

Relationships between terms within multiple lists not well comprehended.

This is OK for facets.

Not so good for hierarchies.

Islands Difficult to manage metadata across multiple sites. Lists & Site Columns can end up sitting at different positions in the site hierarchy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/garibaldi/209338463/

Difficult to manage metadata across multiple sites.

Lists & Site Columns can end up sitting at different positions in the site hierarchy.

Simple Doesn’t do all the fancy automated analysis & categorisation stuff http://www.flickr.com/photos/foot-slogger/1405665772/

Doesn’t do all the fancy automated analysis & categorisation stuff

Third-Party Vendors

Complexity / Cost

Building Applying Consuming Experts Machines Users

Handy Resources

TaxoCop: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TaxoCoP/ Earley & Associates: http://www.earley.com/ Mark Schneider: http://www.sharepointplan.com/ Montague Institute: http://www.montague.com/

Is the patchiness of Sharepoint's taxonomy/metadata functionality really a problem? And if so... Will 2010 be better? What experiences do you have of third-party products? What workarounds are you using? Questions?

Is the patchiness of Sharepoint's taxonomy/metadata functionality really a problem? And if so...

Will 2010 be better?

What experiences do you have of third-party products?

What workarounds are you using?