3. TriState SharePoint User Group
• Meet right here in the Microsoft office
• 2nd Tuesday of the month
• 5:30-8:00 pm
• Content for: End Users, Developers, IT Pros,
Admins & Architects
– Presentations, Demos, Open-Discussions
• More Info: www.TriStateSharePoint.org
44. Shared Drive Zoo X:
Production
Sales &
Marketing
Marketing
Commercial Industrial Government Healthcare
Labs Hospitals
Private Public
Large
Urban
Not
Associated
University
Rural
Medium Small
Clinics Mobile
Sales Web Design Newsletter Social
Taxonomy
47. Shared Drive Zoo X:
Production
Sales &
Marketing
Marketing
Major
Hospitals
Commercial Industrial Government Healthcare
Labs Hospitals
Private Public
Large
Urban
Not
Associated
University
Rural
Medium Small
Clinics Mobile Colleges
Big Small
Sales Web Design Newsletter Social
58. Customer Type
• Lab
• Hospital
• Clinic
• Mobile
Sector
• Private
• Public
Size
• Large
• Medium
• Small
Location
• Urban
• Rural
University
• Yes
• No
A SharePoint Taxonomy (Metadata)
65. Name _________
Emp. # _________
Date _________
Dates Requested:
From __________
To: __________
Manager ________
Approved Y/N
Name _________
Emp. # _________
Date _________
Drug Used:
Name __________
Cost: $ _________
Manager ________
Approved Y/N
Vacation Request
Drug
Reimbursement
78. To Sum Up…
•Do you have a better understanding of metadata
and content types?
•Do you think you’ll be able to explain these
concepts more easily to your stakeholders?
•Did you get value out of this presentation?
It’s “Data about Data” as Einstein proved all those years ago
This answer helps exactly no-one.
I won’t tell you yet but…
It is an iterative process – you won’t understand it right away, but you will circle in towards understanding over time
[ANIMATED]
Metadata is a new concept for many
Use of metaphors to explain the concepts
Metadata is a new concept for many
Use of metaphors to explain the concepts
If you were to ask a child: What does a cow say? How would they answer?
Ok, so that was goofing around – now let’s get serious.
The music is the content
You can know a lot of facts about the album:
Prince
Pop/Rock
1984
You can know all the facts, but it doesn’t substitute for the content (the music)
(Purple Rain example originally suggested by Yoav Lurie)
How do you sort CD’s
Artist?
Title?
Year?
Genre?
Colour?
You have to decide up-front – and stick to it –because the objects are physical
What if the store was full of unlabeled tin cans?
You would need to open every can to see if had what you wanted
(Tin can example originally suggested by Serge Tremblay)
Now we don’t need to open each can, but they are all in a jumble and you have to pick up each can to check if has what you want.
Items are grouped by area (canned fruit, canned sauce, canned vegetables)
Signs point you to the correct area so that you can quickly find what you need.
BUT: Because the objects are physical, you need to pick a method and stick to it
This uses the base metaphor that we live with every day.
The concept of a “file” and a “file folder” as a way of storing digital data is a metaphor taken from the world of paper management
It has become so ingrained, that we think of it as natural, but it’s not: It was invented in 1983 by Apple (wikipedia)
Old apple interface from the 80’s
All your files are stored in one folder and their names are completely meaningless
This is like the unlabeled cans: You have to open each file to see what it contains
You have a bit of a better situation
The naming convention lets you find the file you need (but there’s no way to sort by year)
Rely on users to follow the naming convention (religiously)
A ha!
Now we’re in great shape. We’re like the supermarket
Structured and Labelled
BUT...
... then, you hire a summer intern
Who doesn’t know the folder hierarchy and makes up their own
Findability is challenging
Putability is the real problem
This is Bill English’s word for knowing where to save a document
What if we could make putability easier while also improving findability?
This is the promise of metadata
Data about data
Yes, but not enough info
Seth Maislin of Earley & Assoc. says it's the "Is-ness" of something:
This 'is' a contract. That 'is' a pop album.
For us it enables findability, policy and process
Findability for locating the right documents
Policy – records management
Process – Status of a business process (e.g. Not started, In process, Complete, Approved, Archived)
So, let’s create an alternative structure that is logically equivalent, but that makes putability much easier while preserving findability
By the way: One way to start to figure out an organization’s metadata is to look at the folder names.
You will probably not want to simply copy this, but it can be a good guide/starting point
It’s not this… (visual joke)
[ANIMATED]
It’s not this… (visual joke)
[ANIMATED]
It’s this…
Not really this, but let’s use these creatures to understand.
Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy
This works because it’s really about governance – this is a stable structure that can’t be changed by just anybody:
Changing this structure requires a world-wide meeting of the top scientists in the field, usually involving name-calling and fist-fights (or so I’ve heard)
[ANIMATED]
Did you catch the subtle change here.
The taxonomy is now of your ‘X’ drive.
And this is a common result
The asymmetry is that you’ll spend less time looking for a place to save something then you will looking for something after the fact.
Problem here is lack of governance – anyone can add any folder anywhere anytime
This boils down to the ‘putability’ problem – I’ll search for a long time to find a doc, but not for long to see where to put it.
[ANIMATED]
Once you’ve migrated your x drive to SharePoint, and all the promised benefits fail to emerge, The reaction is: (next slide)
Never, ever, use folders!
Except when it makes sense to do so.
[ANIMATED]
Never, ever, use folders!
Except when it makes sense to do so.
[ANIMATED]
[ANIMATED]
Here is one reason to use folders: Application of security and then simplifying it for the user by using the ‘no folders’ view.
I’m not Carl, but let’s talk about why this works.
After all, it’s the same as a directory tree
The difference is governance
Is this too many to ask for?
Do we force users to answer all these questions/enter all this data?
Instead of confusing people with the SharePoint interface, I use a familiar tool: Excel
Using some simple macros, I am able to illustrate the power of filters and views.
There’s no free lunch however: People now have to enter metadata.
We can simplify this by defaulting values like “Date” to today and “Year” to current year.
We can leverage content types as well
Explain metadata and then use this worksheet for ‘homework’
Think of them as different forms with slots to fill in.
Two documents may have overlapping slots (or, metadata).
It may make sense to store these two types of docs in the same library (HR Requests), but use content types to drive workflow, policy and prompt users only for the metadata that applies.
[ANIMATED]
Think of them as different forms with slots to fill in.
Two documents may have overlapping slots (or, metadata).
It may make sense to store these two types of docs in the same library (HR Requests), but use content types to drive workflow, policy and prompt users only for the metadata that applies.
[ANIMATED]
[ANIMATED]
Using mind-mapping tools to build the taxonomy from the homework
I use MindJet MindManager – and I like and highly recommend it.
There are other tools that are less expensive.
There’s an issue with tagging
Not this kind of tagging…
Search – Find docs: eg. Subject, Status, Pub type, Author, Year
RM – manage compliance: Retention period, confidentiality status, FOI rules
Process – Day to Day: Status, assigned to, Due Date, etc.
Pragmatic & Outcomes focused
The answers are not clear-cut, everyone has to be on the same page.
These decisions are not made by the consultants, or even IT – it has to involve the business
Find the common denominator
Shoot for the magic subset