Using Classification Analysis To Develop Taxonomies

The Taxonomy Blog has recently published an article: “Skills Of A Classy Taxonomist” which discusses the role classification analysis has in developing a taxonomy.  The authors compare this to writing a specification and describe three key benefits of this approach:

• Clarify specific terms by situation or functions
• Ease long term maintenance issues
• Facilitate sharing and importing taxonomies

“Defining classes or ontology work typically precedes building the taxonomy. Defining the classes is like writing a specification for the taxonomy; in fact defining classes is the same as defining facets. The goal of a taxonomist and ontologies should be to define a specific, unambiguous description of a term that helps manage how we find and organize content so the pathways are clear and specific; adding an ontology ensures that the term is placed in the most specific categories to help ensure clarity and lack of ambiguity. I would argue that no taxonomy is useful unless it is faceted – that is, has been divided into classes. Taxonomies work best when they share homogenous properties, and when they are smaller and focused.” [Read More]

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