This is the second assignment of IST616 in iSchool Syracuse in Fall 2012. The requirement of this assignment is to analysis an classification. And the classification scheme I chose was Culture Classification designed by Virtual Terrain Project: http://vterrain.org/Culture/culture_class.html

1. Culture Classification:
An analysis
Kai Li

2. Culture Classification
• URL:
http://vterrain.org/Culture/culture_class.html
• Designed by Virtual Terrain Project (VTP)
• Date: Draft was published in 2002

3. Domain and Scope
• It is "a complete list of terms which give useful
information about the visual appearance of a
man-made object on the terrain".
– Inductive classification scheme
• Unit: the concept of man-made objects

4. Domain and Scope (2)
• Specifications:
– "objects over a certain size: roughly human-scale
and larger"
– "objects which are typically found "outdoors"
– "placed upon the terrain, not modifications to the
terrain itself"

5. Purpose
• One of the purposes of this classification may
be to establish a domain map to share with
other communities the descriptions of
artifacts.
– A number of schemata are referenced and
discussed in this classification scheme
– Mapping and linking, especially used by Internet
community, will be an increasingly important
function of library classification in the future

6. Structure
• Hierarchical structure.
• Structure of the classification:
– stationary objects
• apartment building
• building
• ……
• windmotor, wind turbine, wind generator
– mobile objects
• amphibious vehicle
• ……
• space vehicle

7. Structure (2)
• Structure of the classification:
– stationary objects
• building
– power plant
» subtype necessary to implicate appearance, examples:
nuclear power plant……
– religious building
» subtype necessary to implicate appearance, examples:
eastern orthodox church
– ……

8. Structure (3)
• “Is-a” relationship between levels; parallel
relationship between terms in the same level.
– Terms arranged alphabetically
• “Appearance of the objects” is the only facet
in the classification based on the guiding
principles:
– However, “these may be based on appearance
(visual form), on use, or several other criteria”.
(http://vterrain.org/Culture/BldCity/)

9. Evaluation
• “The hierarchy used here is entirely arbitrary
and subjective.”
– “Human language concepts are imprecise”
– “Categorization is never a simple directed graph”
• Languages:
– “How to handle synonyms”
– Bias toward American English

10. Evaluation (2)
• Appearance may not be the best criterion to
classify buildings.
– Buildings with different functions may or may not
have different appearances
• This classification is too simple compared with
the objects it aims to describe.
– Inconsistencies in terms of how deep a category
should be divided

11. Reference
• Virtual Terrain Project. (n.d.). Culture Classification.
Retrieved October 16, 2012, from
http://vterrain.org/Culture/culture_class.html

12. Thanks!