Standards for taxonomies are of two kinds:1) data models for interoperability and machine-readability, namely SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) published by the W3C, and2) best practices guidelines, which focus on thesauri but are relevant for taxonomies. These are ANSI/NISO Z39.19 and ISO 25964. The International Organization for Standardization will publish…
The Accidental Taxonomist Blog
Taxonomies and Attribute Data
In the past (such as my 2021 blog post “Attributes in Taxonomies“), I have explained that “attributes” serve as filters to refine search results on content, results that have already been narrowed by a hierarchical taxonomy concept or category. As such, the attributes available for filtering can vary based on…
Customizing Taxonomy Hierarchies
Taxonomies need to be custom-created for their purposes to be most effective. Basically, a taxonomy comprises the concepts or terms that reflect the subject domain of the content that will be tagged and retrieved with the aid of that taxonomy. Taxonomies must also be customized to the requirements (or limitations)…
Getting Work as a Taxonomist
Occasionally, people whom I don’t know ask me for career advice in the field of taxonomies, but this is not easy to answer. For taxonomy work, career paths and prior experiences vary, employers span all industries and organization types, job titles and descriptions are not named consistently, and remote jobs…
Talking about Taxonomies in India
I was thrilled to bring together my passions of my taxonomy profession, connecting with people, and international travel on my visit to India this month, my first time to this fascinating country. I travel to speak about taxonomies at conferences and other events. I like to travel: to meet colleagues…
Ontologies vs. Knowledge Graphs
A knowledge graph is the instantiation of an ontology, and an ontology is the knowledge model.
The Semantic Data Conference
I was honored to be accepted to speak at the first “Semantic Data” conference in New York, a one-day event held on October 23, following the inaugural event held in London on June 27. Semantic Data, organized by Henry Stewart (HS) Events, is co-located with its better-known DAM (Digital Asset…
Topical Taxonomies for Filtering Searches
We taxonomists have long been advocating how a taxonomy of disambiguated concepts tagged to content retrieves more accurate results than search algorithms alone. But if users prefer simply entering text strings into a search box and not browsing taxonomies, how best to support users with a taxonomy can be a…
Taxonomies and Ontologies as Semantic Models
In describing what taxonomies and ontologies are and what they can do, we are hearing the word “semantics” more often. “Semantics” means “meaning,” which is nothing new, and taxonomies and ontologies are not new. What is new is that taxonomies and ontologies are now combined more, and we need a…
Subject Headings vs. Taxonomies
Taxonomies have many similarities but also differences to subject heading schemes.