Taxonomies connect users to content. So, how a taxonomy is displayed to users is very important in its effectiveness. This is a topic about which I gave a conference presentation back in 2011 and will present again next week. As I update my previous presentation, looking at some of the…
The Accidental Taxonomist Blog
Varied Taxonomy Uses and Taxonomist Functions
Someone asked me recently if taxonomies were applicable to some marketing analytics he was pondering. I was not sure without further discussion. The interesting thing about taxonomies is that they have such varied uses. Perhaps because there is no single dominant use of taxonomies, taxonomists have to go into long…
How to Find a Taxonomist
The need for well designed taxonomies is growing, and the number of people becoming skilled in designing and creating taxonomies is growing. But finding the right taxonomist at the right time and place is still difficult, whether contract/temporary or permanent. If you are looking to hire a taxonomist, these are…
Taxonomy Software Trends
I reviewed various taxonomy/thesaurus management software offerings recently, in preparation for the last of my 3-part webinar series, Practical Taxonomy Creation, and I noticed some trends since I last looked into software in such detail for my book over 5 years ago: more cloud/web-based software, more SKOS/RDF/Semantic web framework software,…
Taxonomy Courses
Note: Since this blog post was written, Simmons College discontinued its continuing education program. I am now offering the 5-week online workshop, previously offered through Simmons, independently through Hedden Information Management. Information is at: http://www.hedden-information.com/taxonomy-workshop-online.htm __________________________________________________________________________ I have been teaching workshops on how to create taxonomies for over seven years.…
Taxonomy Trends and Future
What are the trends in taxonomies, and where is the field going? The future of taxonomies turned out to be a unifying theme of last week’s annual Taxonomy Boot Camp conference, in Washington, DC, the premier event in taxonomies, from its opening keynote to its closing panel. “From Cataloguer to…
Taxonomy: A Profession, Not an Industry
I am looking forward to attending and presenting at my 8th Taxonomy Boot Camp conference next week. What makes this conference special is that it is very much both a professional and a commercial/industry conference, whereas most conferences tend to be one or the other. In other words, it is…
One or More Taxonomies
In the various definitions of taxonomy, one aspect of the definition that is often missing is what constitutes a single taxonomy (or thesaurus) versus multiple related taxonomies (or thesauri). If you hire a taxonomy consultant, they won’t tell you because they will defer to their client’s terminology. If you are…
Independent Taxonomy Work
Are you an aspiring taxonomist looking for work? Because taxonomies tend to be project-based tasks, a lot of taxonomy work is freelance, contract, or consulting. I have written on this topic in my book, but that was over four years ago, and I have seen or experienced many taxonomy jobs…
A Professional Association for Taxonomists
I recently attended the SLA annual conference, which this year was in Vancouver, BC, June 8 – 11. This year marked the 5th anniversary of the professional association’s Taxonomy Division, its newest and fastest growing special interest group. The Taxonomy Division plans the programming of all taxonomy-related sessions for the…