Unlocking Knowledge Assets

Author Susan Conway and Char Sligar Pages 256 Disk N/A Level All Levels Published 02/27/2002 ISBN 9780735614635 Price $39.99 To see this book's discounted price, select a reseller below.	More Information About the Book Table of Contents Sample Chapter Index Related Series Related Books About the Author Support: Book & CD Rate this book

Chapter 6: Building Taxonomies

• What Is a Taxonomy?
• Descriptive Taxonomies
• Navigational Taxonomies
• Data Management Vocabulary
• How Taxonomies Play a Role in Content
• Information Needs Drive Content
• Content Informs the Taxonomy
• Information-Seeking Behavior Influences Taxonomy
• Taxonomy Values Are Applied to Content
• Taxonomy Values Are Applied to Knowledge Workers
• Content Is Found and Delivered to Knowledge Workers
• Identifying Experts in the Organization
• Building and Maintaining a Taxonomy
• What Do You Have Already?
• Obtaining the Information
• Structuring the Taxonomy
• Managing the Taxonomy
• Being Strategic
• Using Taxonomies to Their Fullest
• Measuring Success
• Summary

Chapter 6  Building Taxonomies

As content grows in the electronic world, it is apparent that simply turning a search engine loose on a collection of information will not give the hoped for improvements in productivity and profits promised by e-business. Taxonomies are the missing link.

—Mike Crandall, former Knowledge Architect Manager, Microsoft Corporation¹

One of the beautiful aspects of language (and of the human mind) is the limitless and varied ways that we are able to translate our knowledge and needs into direct and indirect "speech acts" and actions. Metaphors, idioms, and synonyms, for example, can bring variety and precision to our conversations and our writings. And human brains are wonderful tools for inferring and learning the meanings of new ways of communicating. But this very variety presents KM systems with one of their biggest challenges. If an author of an information artifact (such as a document or an answer in an e-mail discussion) uses language that is different from the language used by the person looking for information, it is hard to connect the artifact (and its creator) with its seeker. Technology alone cannot solve this problem, but you can solve it by making use of yet another type of managed knowledge—taxonomies—to provide a common framework of concepts (and relations between these concepts) to structure the lexical elements of language.

The goal of a corporate taxonomy is not only to provide a list of authorized terms for use in writing and in information seeking, but also to create maps between concepts to connect employees with the right knowledge at the right time. The taxonomies create a common semantic network that is based on business needs and takes into account the intellectual assets (the content) and the way in which the knowledge workers (the employees) look for information. Such a network provides an essential tool for managing intellectual capital and connecting employees with knowledge.

In this chapter we will explore the various types of taxonomies, what their purposes are, and how they fit in a larger ecosystem of content and people. We will also address the mechanics of building and structuring your own taxonomies: where to start, how to make use of your data, and how to plan for the long haul. Finally, we will look at some of the steps that go beyond searching and content management and how you can begin to measure the success and benefit of taxonomy management in your enterprise.

Last Updated: February 5, 2002

Top of Page