bakertax

Slide1 : Taxonomy/ Thesaurus Project Harvard Business School Baker Library Information Architecture Group Carol A. Ellerbeck Business Information Taxonomist March 21, 2006


Slide2 : Overview Brief background of this project What prompted the project? Purpose for the project Why develop something new? What need is being fulfilled? Uses/Audience for the final product Draft outline top level organization


Slide3 : Background: Faculty Project Joint Venture 3 years ago - HBS & Stanford GSB Collaborate – courses and research Create – exciting array new products Foster innovation – digital/web technologies Defined Need Mechanism – organize, store, & access products “New” means of information discovery


Slide4 : “Old vs. New” Means of information discovery Library Catalog – library holdings Standard classification - navigation (browsing) mechanism Librarian to help Web Site index - list of site holdings Variety of classification & navigation schemes, if any Search Engine to help Why not use one of these?


Slide5 : Step back: Information Chain What’s different? What’s the result? Traditional Publishing Individual Creates Publisher Produces Publisher Distributes Library as Repository Librarian Catalogs Librarian Classifies Librarian Stores Content Collections Web Publishing Individual Creates Individual Produces Individual Distributes Web as Repository ? ? Individual Stores Content Silos


Slide6 : Individual Products (silos) Issues – “New” production/storage process PROS Empower individuals- own product lifecycle Individuals control currency & frequency Part of a “Technical Network” CONS Products not centrally cataloged/classified Product not part of any collection Not part of an “Information Network” Products: LOST IN SPACE


Slide7 : ADD: Cataloging & Classification Create “Virtual” Collection Traditional Media Acquire products into collection Library (descriptive) catalogs Classified search & browse Shared infrastructure –(AACR/LC) builds the information network New Media Develop products (into collection?) Metadata (descriptive) catalogs Classified search & browse Shared infrastructure - (catalog/taxonomy) builds the information network


Slide8 : Faculty Joint Venture Metadata/Taxonomy Project - Scope 1. Developed - common Metadata Framework for cataloging 2. Find/develop - meaningful conceptual structure for business REQUIREMENTS Facets exemplify aspects of concept meaning Hierarchy ordered packaging of concept meaning Relationships rich interlinking of concept meaning Definitions proper clarification of concept meaning 3. Need - Faceted Thesaurus with embedded Taxonomic (hierarchical) structure and Definitions


Slide9 : Build vs. Buy: 2 Principles 1. User community [web] - the ultimate consumer No librarian to help search on the Web Thesaurus/taxonomy language geared toward users, not librarians (not LC or LCSH language) Don’t build - re-use Re-organize existing vocabularies to suit your user community Add labels to existing concepts with user-elicited terminology – synonyms for each audience Metadata/Thesaurus = combination of build and buy


Slide10 : Ex: Reorganized taxonomy - NAICS Where is the auto industry? Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting Mining Utilities Construction Manufacturing autos Wholesale Trade autos Retail Trade autos Transportation autos Information Finance & Insurance autos Real Estate Rental, Leasing autos Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services ….. autos Regroup (keep ids) – by 2 facets 1. Facet – industry by domain Auto industry 2. Facet - industry by step in the economic value chain Raw materials Production Distribution Wholesale Retail Service


Slide11 : Uses: Metadata/Thesaurus Link concepts – Different terminology Connect vocabularies – act as underlying vocabulary infrastructure to link existing taxonomies into a network LC / LCSH Baker holdings HBS departments’ taxonomies Department holdings Website navigation taxonomies Website holdings Other controlled vocabularies for metadata Database holdings External thesauri & taxonomies Public holdings Personalize language for users - underlying vocabulary hub links variety of terms representing the same concept for different users – show each audience its own terminology


Slide12 : Uses: Metadata/Thesaurus *Link resources –virtual collection catalog Index/“tag”/catalog resources – add to HBS collection People - Faculty, experts, skills Companies, departments, organizations, groups Electronic publications, research, videos, cases, etc. Electronic citations, bibliographies Listservs, blogs, websites Courses, programs Sharable tools, software Services


Slide13 : Uses: Metadata/Thesaurus Ideas/Basis for new taxonomies Open the “Metadata/Taxonomy Store” “Browse” through a collection of internal & external metadata schemes, thesauri & taxonomies “Shop” for fields/facets/subject terms of interest Help people create their own metadata frameworks & taxonomies (i.e., navigation taxonomies for websites)


Slide14 : Uses: Metadata/Thesaurus Search & Navigation Enhance web search & site browsing Embed metadata into HTML pages Add STs to queries (automatically) Add BTs/NTs to queries (automatically) Organize search results by subjects/facets Facilitate faceted browsing (with other metadata) Access to term definitions as users browse


Slide15 : Use: Thesaurus Standalone Product Use as a product – a Business Thesaurus Enable exploration of the domain of business Give context to business concepts Add definitions to business concepts Add synonymous terms to business concepts


Slide16 : Audience: Metadata/ Thesaurus HBS faculty & staff HBS MBA students & alumni HBS Exec Ed participants HU community General academic community Corporate clients Research community General business community


Slide17 : Top Level Contents (draft) HBS Thesaurus – underlying information infrastructure Taxonomies of Core Business Knowledge Management, the Enterprise, Business Functions ….. Taxonomies Supporting Business Knowledge Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Math & Statistics …. Other Public Vocabularies Industries, Geographic Areas, Languages, Occupations …..