This document discusses different types of knowledge organization and metadata. It addresses: - Three orders of messes that rely on different types of metadata: explicit, well-organized metadata (second order); implicit and unofficial metadata (third order); and lack of metadata (first order). - Semantic web technologies like RDF triples that organize knowledge in subject-predicate-object statements to describe relationships. - Issues with large taxonomy systems like Dewey Decimal and the benefits of a loosely connected semantic web with imperfect local efforts instead of a seamless whole. - How users generate order and metadata through their use and linking of information, even if not controlled centrally.

1. NOTHING, MESSINESS, &
KNOWLEDGE
FEBRUARY 8TH 2016

2. WHAT DOES THIS
BUTTON DO?

3. TEXT
FLOPPY DISK = SAVE
▸ Bad joke: I showed my 12 year old
niece a floppy disk and she said:
“Cool! You 3d printed the save
icon.”
▸ Implicit =
▸ indirect
▸ non-textual
▸ non-verbal

4. TEXT
EXAMPLE: IMPLICIT BIAS
▸ Federal Government takes away financial aid for those
convicted of drug crimes.
▸ Certain demographics are convicted of drug crimes at a
much higher rate, despite relative similarity of committing
drug crimes.
▸ Implicit bias is that members of certain demographics are
more likely to be denied access to higher education.

5. implicit

6. explicit

7. THE THIRD ORDER
RELIES ON
IMPLICIT &
UNOFFICIAL
METADATA.

8. EXAMPLE: FOR
TARGET,
UNSCENTED
LOTION + FOLIC
ACID =
PREGNANT,

9. THE SECOND ORDER REQUIRES
EXPLICIT AND WELL-
ORGANIZED METADATA.

10. EXAMPLE: METAL ARCHIVES
NEEDS “COUNTRY OF ORIGIN”
FIELD FILLED OUT FOR EVERY
BAND.

11. MESSINESS.

12. FIRST ORDER MESSES:
▸ 1st order mess lowers the value of the collection.
▸ The more items in the mess, the harder it is to find what
you’re looking for.

13. TEXT
THIRD ORDER MESSES:
▸ One person’s mess is another person’s order
▸ Digital metadata allows the 3rd order to allow many
different ways of organizing something simultaneously.

14. DO WE KNOW THE UNIVERSAL
FROM THE CONCRETE, OR THE
OTHER WAY AROUND?

15. SMART LEAVES
LINKED
TOGETHER

16. TEXT
WEB PAGES
▸ They know what they are (URLs)
▸ uniform resource locators
▸ They know which pages they are connected to
▸ <a href=“http://dtc-wsuv.org”>DTC web site</a>

17. TEXT
RDF TRIPLES
▸ RDF = resource description frame work
▸ _______ is a kind of _________
▸ Blue is a kind of color.
▸ Pickup is a kind of truck.
▸ ____________ has ___________ relationship with _________.
▸ SUBJECT :: PREDICATE :: OBJECT

18. A WORLD WIDE SEMANTIC WEB IS SO AMBITIOUS
THAT IS FALLS PREY TO THE SAME PROBLEMS
THAT BESET DEWEY AND OTHER LARGE
TAXONOMIES. A SEMANTIC WEB THAT LOOSELY
STITCHES TOGETHER IMPERFECT, SMOOSHY,
LOCAL EFFORTS IS NOT ONLY MORE LIKELY, IT IS
PREFERRED.
A SEAMLESS WHOLE THAT PUSHES OUT
AMBIGUITY WOULD ALSO DRIVE OUT THE
RICHNESS OF IMPLICIT MEANINGS.

19. THE WORK OF
KNOWLEDGE.

20. THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE CUTS
OF BEEF, BUT IT’S HARD TO
IMAGINE ONE THAT HAS THE SNOUT
CONNECTED TO THE TAIL.
UMBERTO ECO

21. IS KNOWLEDGE
BEING
FRAGMENTED?
ARE WE?

22. CAN WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE
WITHOUT AUTHORITY?

23. IS KNOWLEDGE SETTLED?

24. ESSENTIALISM IS
FAILING IN EVERY
WAY IT CAN.
david weinberger

25. TEXT
ESSENTIALISM IS FAILING
▸ Are there only two political opinions? Left or right?
▸ Do we all fit into the ethnic categories on the census?
▸ Stereotypes are too simple to fully describe reality.

26. WE ARE MAKING ORDER
▸ Every time we make a link or make a playlist, we are
putting things in order.
▸ Using information creates links and metadata that can be
used by others to generate meaning.
▸ On the web, Staples doesn’t control the location of items
in the store.

27. EVERYTHING DOESN’T STAY
MISCELLANEOUS BECAUSE WE
ARE ALL CONSTANTLY PUTTING IT
IN ORDER.
david weinberger