Hello All, Back in December 2008 I solicited on this list participation among taxonomists in a survey about their work and background for a book that I was...
I know this is belated, but wanted to throw in a comment on the "let's banish Other/Miscellaneous/Not Otherwise Categorised" recommendation. I think in the...
Good morning, all; While I agree with Patrick's comment that the existence of an 'Other' / 'Unspecified' category can act as a kind of safety valve, it is also...
Patrick, So what you are saying is the "other" category can be used to gather intelligence on what categories are missing, ambiguous or lacking clear...
Heather, This looks excellent! I am so excited to read it. I create taxonomies in my work and teach about them in a library and information science program....
"Removing the "other" removes that information from your monitoring/feedback system - and then people start forcefitting content into the most convenient...
Hi John Well you may think you agree with me, but I think I disagree with you :) - specifically on the suggestion that if you have a fixed set of classified...
Absolutely. I would only add that it's not always the taxonomy's "fault" when this happens. Sometimes you may need to take action on the user side; eg...
Hi Patrick; I can't help but agree with you again, but only to a certain point. Absolutely correct about people messing with the most elegant taxonomies. Also...
Well maybe the holy grail exists somewhere after all. However it was not really designed for everyday consumption! ;-) The periodic table, by the way, is not...
John, Patrick's tackled the changeable nature of frameworks such as the periodic table (BTW the English alphabet is an example of a system that was frozen at a...
The Western musical system is a type of taxonomy (or set of taxonomies) in which every data element (each tone) has both an absolute definition (based on its...
Brilliant, Mr. Berry ... Middle C is the same for Beethoven, Billy Talend and Berry White. Even those aliens in Close Encounters like the math behind the...
Not so fast: - There are many other scales apart from the 12 tone chromatic scale. - Middle C probably wasn't the same for Beethoven as modern musicians....
There's a big difference between a notation for a single phenomenon and a multi-facetted taxonomy that is supposed to cover everything. And my original point...
Perhaps I'll add my comments to the discussion (after having suggested to Julie that she post the initial question to the group). "Other" categories have a...
I think the "other" category poses a particular problem for taxonomists - an emotional one as well as an intellectual one. Taxonomists like order and...
Heather, "If the indexers don't have an "Other" category, they will likely index the specialty topics inconsistently, which is ultimately a disservice to the...
Matt, Situations do vary, I admit. I had gotten into the field of taxonomies starting out as an indexer, though, so I have some sense of the indexer ...
Hi, All - I heard something today while onsite at a new engagement that has provoked a lot of thought, and I'm curious what you all think. I asked a new...
I would really like to see a good example of that. I think that is a relatively uninformed statement. I was giving a presentation a couple of weeks ago on...
The technology is reaching a point where it can do a lot of the boring stuff. Which is great because it means that taxonomists/metadata professionals can focus...
Seth, “but do you really need all of this? Can’t you just use Google?" That's something I hear a lot of too. A more flippant answer is: "If you want to...
Just under half of my taxonomy projects are "rescue" attempts where the technology was procured and then the client discovered that it didn't do the magic that...
Just under half of my taxonomy projects are "rescue" attempts where the technology was procured and then the client discovered that it didn't do the magic that...
Heather, Congrats on your new book! Looks very interesting. One small issue I have is that Info Today do not tell you how much they will bill you for shipping...
I appreciate the input.I think I was fairly surprised about her comment and was struggling but really trying to see her point because it was so surprising, and...
I want to add a comment to this discussion. As a librarian and taxonomist/information architect, I see the need for those of us on this list to advocate for...
Good answer, Seth. Could you elaborate on that Toyota example; that is, describe how a properly implemented taxonomy could have mitigated the brake problem? ...
Taxonomists want to believe they are revealing a hidden truth. Once this truth is revealed, and since it is the true and correct view it should be accepted...
