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 The Accidental Taxonomist
 Indexing Specialties: Web Sites

About Heather

Hedden Information Management

Taxonomies and Controlled Vocabularies
Customized Corporate Onsite Workshop

Duration: 5-7 hours, depending on client convenience

Number of attendees: 3-15 (suggested)

Experience Level: While this workshop is aimed at participants who have had no prior experience creating taxonomies, those with some but limited taxonomy-creation experience will also benefit greatly. The workshop is aimed at those who have had experience using taxonomies to browse or search for information, though. It is also expected that attendees will have some familiarity with the fields of information management, content management, information architecture, and/or indexing.

Content: Approximately 180-200 PowerPoint slides, some visits to interactive taxonomies on the Internet, one or two taxonomy management tool demos, some participant exercises on paper, and ample time for Q&A/discussion.

Customization: Coverage of search and autocategorization, coverage of manual and/or automated indexing, coverage of specific taxonomy management software, and a couple of client-specific examples.

Location: Preferabely in the Northeast. Other locations may be possible with stricter sceduling requirements and at a premium rate.

Rate: A flat rate regardless of number of attendees. Limited customization described above is included. More extensive customization will be charged additionally at an hourly rate. Reimbursement of instrutor's travel expenses is additionally requested. Please call (978-467-5195) or email heather@hedden.net for rates.

Sample Workshop Outline

1. Definitions

• Definitions and illustrations of controlled vocabularies, synonym rings, taxonomies, and ontologies

2. Purposes & Benefits of Taxonomies/Controlled Vocabularies

• Controlled vocabulary benefits
• Structured taxonomy benefits

3. Applications & Examples

• Indexing support
• Retrieval support
• Organization and navigation support

4. Creating & Wording of Terms

• Deciding whether a concept should be a term
• Choosing the preferred term wording and format
• Term format
• Degree of pre-coordination vs. post-coordination
• Term notes and attributes

5. Sources for Terms

• People as sources (owners, taxonomies, subject matter experts, users)
• Content/material as sources
• External reference sources

6. Non-Preferred Terms

• Types of non-preferred terms
• How many non-preferred terms to create
• Non-preferred terms for named entities

7. Creating Term Relationships

• Broader term / Narrower term relationships
• Polyhierarchies
• Associated term relationships
• Specific relationships (for ontologies)

8. Hierarchies, Categories, and Facets

• Designing hierarchies
• Categories within controlled vocabularies
• Facets and faceted classification

9. Software

• Overview of software for creating taxonomies and thesauri
• MultiTes (including demo)
• Synaptica (including demo)
• Data Harmony Thesaurus Master (including demo)
• Other software

10. Project Process & Management

• Project planning
• Enterprise taxonomy project process
• Implementation of a controlled vocabulary
• Taxonomy governance and maintenance

11. Indexing, Metadata, and Folksonomies

• Manual Indexing & controlled vocabularies
• Automated indexing & controlled vocabularies
• Metadata & controlled vocabularies
• Social tagging/folksonomies

12. Resources

• Books, Organization, Discussion Groups, Web sites

© 2008 - 2012 Heather Hedden