"Classified" approach to KM? -Reply

[Wayne Daniels]

Well, I'll try not to rehash my presentation at the NEM Online
cataloging workshop. What interests me is the power that
classification schemes have to create useful collocations of subject
matter at various levels of specificity. Yahoo carries out a general
categorization of materials, which has proved to be, faute de mieux,
a highly popular resource. What I tried to do with the "Expanding
Universe" site was to carry out the idea with more precision in
respect of one subject area: astronomy. By extending the
classification number as appropriate, it becomes possible fully to
characterize the specificity of the materials, at least as regards
the subject area to which they belong. Compare these collocations to
a search set. The pre-determined subject hierarchy gives the user a
built-in pathway for pursuing the material he/she is after, moving in
a coherent sequence from broader to narrower ideas. Once he/she
arrives at the right "shelf" the payoff is the homogeneity of its
contents.

What won't it do? Well, it won't support a topic-driven search,
unless the topic happens to coincide with the subject. Someone after
material on, say, black holes, will find a page of links devoted to
this at our site. But topics can be just about anything, of course,
often ephemeral and crossing boundries at will. The "date rape"
example neatly illustrates this. But suppose someone were to mount
the portion of a classification scheme (e.g., Dewey or LC) that dealt
with women's issues, and to draw together links much as we have done
at our site, including some that addressed the question of date rape.
Then the material might be found in the manner I describe. More work
to begin with, perhaps, but with a high degree of relevance in the
material found as a reward. Suppose, further, that a network of such
developped sections of the classification scheme were to be created.
It would then be entirely possible to support searches, at one site
or another, that were based upon a classification of material. What's
more, it should be possible to enrich the sort of thing I have in
mind. Our site was a pilot, done on a shoestring with minimal
resources. But I should like to include a search engine in future
ones, able to search from pull-dowm menus of controlled terms. 

Well, but this has gone too long. Quite possibly it's not as
interesting as you'd hoped. Nevertheless, I believe there is some
promise here, a belief I hope to be able to put to the test. 

Best,

Wayne Daniels    

Metro Toronto Reference Library    
wdaniels at gwmail.mtrl.toronto.on.ca  

>>> Nick Arnett <narnett at verity.com>  11/7/97, 09:29am >>>
At 08:22 AM 11/7/97 -0800, Wayne Daniels wrote:
>That's why I am particularly interested (and have been
>involved) in exploring the possibilities of a classified approach to
>knowledge management. But that is another topic.

I'm intrigued.  What do you mean by this?

Nick

Product Manager, Knowledge Applications
Verity Inc. -- Connecting People with Information

Phone: 408-542-2164               Fax: 408-541-1600
Home office: 408-733-7613         narnett at verity.com
http://www.verity.com