YAMZ.net is a tool for taxonomy building. Metadata vocabulary standardization ranks among the most awful design-by-committee experiences, whether at the international standards level or at the working group level. We used a crowdsourced metadata dictionary with reputation-based voting, and in which every term gets a unique persistent identifier. In the second half, are exercises to see how it all works in practice.

1. YAMZ.net: better, faster,
cheaper taxonomy building
Anne Bowser, Jane Greenberg, Greg Janée,
John Kunze, Manoj Tuguru

2. 2
Twofer
1. John: term hardening in open yamz.net dictionary
• Crowdsourced, but with reputation-based voting
• Every term has a unique persistent identifier (PID)
2. Jane: taxonomy testing with yamz.net
• Give it a whirl
• Feedback
2

3. • Open identifiers
deserve their own
festival
• 9 and 10 November in
Reykjavik, Iceland!
• If you’re doing
something interesting
with PIDs (or you want
to!) come and share
your ideas with a crowd
of like-minded
innovators
• Register at
http://pidapalooza.org

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What is Metadata?
Structured information about things in collections, eg,
• Tools in a database
• Birds observations in a local park
• Insect specimens in a museum drawer
Metadata used in every knowledge domain, eg,
• Software in a repository (many per-domain repos)
• Books in a library (many per-domain libraries)
• Inventory in shopping sites
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Metadata as structured info?
Structure = special punctuation to set off regions, eg,
Cost: 12.00 USD
<rating> 3 stars </rating>
• Elements: Cost, rating
• Values: 12.00 USD, 3 stars
Terms to standardize:
• USD, stars, Cost, rating, …
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yamz.net (yet another metadata zoo)
6

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Problem: traditional standardization
• Change by committee is ugly, costly, and slow
• Example: Dublin Core, 15 cross-domain terms
• same terms after 5 years as after 11 months
• new terms banned in fear of fragile consensus
7
European Parliament Technology - DG ITEC @ flickr

8. The Metadata Universe
Jenn Riley,
IU

9. The Metadata Universe
Jenn Riley,
IU

10. The Metadata Universe
Jenn Riley,
IU

11. The Metadata Universe
Jenn Riley,
IU

12. The Metadata Universe
Jenn Riley,
IU

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An alternate metadata universe
• Vision: one dictionary, one namespace
• All research domains, any part of “metadata speech”
• Names, values, units, relationships, ...
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SimonRobertson@flickr

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Crowdsourced, but with voting
14
vernacular
canonical
deprecated
3 classes
of term
ç all terms are born here
ç these don’t evolve
ç so terms never go away
Each term gets a unique persistent id. Example:
identifier: http://n2t.net/ark:/99152/h1193
term: oba
definition: other (origin: from Tagalog)

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Reputation-based voting resists “gaming”
• Meritocracy: strong terms rise, weak terms decline
• Lessons from StackOverflow, Internet standards, and
Wikipedia processes
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Karunakar Rayker @flickr

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YAMZ usage patterns
16
Search for
terms
(words and
definitions)
find a term you love
great – use it
find a term you kind of love try it out, comment,
engage with author
no workable term found instantly enter own term
and watch for comments
find a word you love “I want that word!”, so
enter a competing termbut a definition you hate

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Term tag in YAMZ
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Crowd-sourced yamz.net taxonomy builder
• Meritocracy via reputation-based voting
• Per-domain and cross-domain
• Persistent identifiers to avoid ambiguity
Classes of terms
• Responsive and relevant: vernacular
• Leverage and stability: canonical
• Permanent historical record: deprecated
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PART 2: Testing YAMZ
1. YAMZ basic functions
• Search
• Comment
• Create a term
2. Citscitools portal
#citsci example
3. Give it a try
• 2 cases
4. Feedback, next steps

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http://yamz.net/about
http://yamz.net/
YAMZ basic
functions
1. Search
2. Comment
3. Create a term

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Describing tools….relax…

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Describing tools….continued

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Portal for Citscitools

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http://yamz.net/
Case studies
1. Citizen scientist--Rebecca
2. Decision maker--Doug

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Citizen Scientist-Rebecca
Rebecca and her neighbors are concerned about the air quality …learn…air
quality monitoring stations are not granular enough to represent their
neighborhood.
Rebecca purchases
an ambient air
quality sensor she
finds online and
recruits neighbors
…demonstrates a
violation of the
National Ambient
Air Quality.
Their Regional EPA
contact informs
them that the data
cannot be used
because of quality
assurance issues.
…a quick online search on SciStarter Project
Database, Rebecca finds a local EPA supported
project in need of help. …The Tools Database
makes it easy for them to read reviews of low
cost instruments- including those generating
data accepted by the local EPA’s standards- and
to “build, borrow or buy” the tools. She and her
neighbors regularly meet up for training and to
share their concerns with the Regional EPA
office. The residents and the EPA develop
mutual respect for each other and work
together to discover and address community
concerns.

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Decision-Maker-Doug
Doug works…state wildlife department. His job is to interpret data from wildlife
studies to determine whether to allocate more state resources towards protecting
the habitat of an endangered species.
Doug reads studies from state
wildlife agency…university
scientists, but…sample size
and geographic coverage is
insufficient to understand the
movement of this species. He
stumbles across a citizen
science project that uses
camera traps, collects hair and
scat samples, and analyzes
species DNA in a local DIY
biology space. While
impressed, he is skeptical of
their methods and equipment
because it’s a volunteer effort.
Doug contacts the citizen science group
and asks about their methods and
equipment. The group directs him to the
SciStarter Citizen Science Tools Database,
where they bowered their equipment
from, and he finds a wealth of
information documenting the
development and accuracy of the
equipment. This information allows Doug
to incorporate citizen science research on
the species in question into his own
justification for using state resources to
increase conservation of this species.

27. Rebecca
… online search on SciStarter
Project
Database, Rebecca finds a local EPA
supported project in need of help.
…The Tools Database makes it easy
for them to read reviews of low cost
instruments- including those
generating data accepted by the
local EPA’s standards- and to “build,
borrow or buy” the tools. She and
her neighbors regularly meet up for
training and to share their concerns
with the Regional EPA office. The
residents and the EPA develop
mutual respect for each other and
work together to discover and
address community concerns.
Doug
Doug contacts the citizen science
group and asks about their methods
and equipment. The group directs
him to the SciStarter Citizen Science
Tools Database, where they bowered
their equipment from, and he finds a
wealth of information documenting
the development and accuracy of the
equipment. This information allows
Doug to incorporate citizen science
research on the species in question
into his own justification for using
state resources to increase
conservation of this species.

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MAKE Your Metadata term(s): http://yamz.net/
1. Discuss your case
• How would you search #citsci
• What metadata terms would help
2. Explore YAMZ
• Spend a few minutes searching YAMZ to see if there are any
terms that are suitable (or not suitable).
• Comment on a term
3. Identify 1 to 3 metadata terms and add them to YAMZ
4. Feedback

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Feedback - discussion
1. 3 things that you like
2. 3 things that you found confusing
3. other…

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Discussion and Conclusions
1. Complementary and alternative approaches
• More than one way to skin a cat…
• Rationalist approach drawbacks
tunnel vision, egotistical, + scope creep
• Ownership has appeal, community ownership++
2. Next steps
• Populate, test, engage
• Ranking algorithm
• Community engagement
Toothbrush