1

Website taxonomy

ASIST-AM, Austin TX

November 3-8, 2006Kathryn La Barre

GSLIS/UIUC

2

Taxonomy?

The science of categorization, or classification, of things based on a predetermined system.

webopedia: http://isp.webopedia.com/TERM/T/taxonomy.html

3

Linnean Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Family: Hominidae

Genus: Homo

Species: Homo sapiens

4

Taxonomy, [website] ?

In reference to Web sites and portals … taxonomy is the way data is organized into categories and subcategories.

webopedia: http://isp.webopedia.com/TERM/T/taxonomy.html

5

Website taxonomy

Organization and access for web content: Browsing Navigation

6

Research Questions

Prevalence of the use of facets as website organization and access devices?

Commonalities in website use of facets? Do faceted approaches to website access or organization

conform to or depart from more traditional applications of facet analysis or faceted classification?

In what ways can the practices of Information Architects inform or extend the theory underlying facet analysis or faceted classification?

Can the theory of facet analysis be useful in improving deployment of faceted access and organization devices on websites?

7

FAST in Cyberspace 2000-present

September 2001 - Peter Merholz

“Innovation in classification” January 2002 - Travis Wilson FacetMap March 2002 – Phil Murray KMConnection April 2002 - Discussion on SIG/IA list May 2002 – Peter Van Dijck XFML July 2002 – Rosenfeld and Morville Information

Architecture for the World Wide Web. 2nd Ed. December 2002 – Van Dijck/ Murray establish

Faceted Classification discussion list

8

Background - facets

From: Practice (1925-1932)

To: Dynamic Theory of Classification (1947-1961)

Based on: Explicitly stated (1962-1986) normative principles:

CanonsPostulatesPrinciples

Domain – Information Architecture/Web

“Facets”: main ingredient cuisine preparation occasion meal dish

10

Arts Movies, Television, Music...

Business (251,352)Jobs, Real Estate, Investing...

Computers Internet, Software, Hardware...

Games Video Games, RPGs, Gambling...

Health Fitness, Medicine, Alternative...

Home Family, Consumers, Cooking...

Kids and Teens Arts, School Time, Teen Life...

News Media, Newspapers, Weather...

Recreation Travel, Food, Outdoors, Humor...

Reference (66,887)Maps, Education, Libraries...

Regional US, Canada, UK, Europe...

Science Biology, Psychology, Physics...

Shopping (120,785)Autos, Clothing, Gifts...

Society (275,687)People, Religion, Issues...

Sports Baseball, Soccer, Basketball...

World * Adult*

Open Directory Project - DMOZ directory categories http://dmoz.org n=200 (stratified random sample of websites)

COMPONENTSSite mapWebsite navigation

LinksBrowsing

Website searchBasicAdvanced

11

Interviewees (18)

[5] Software engineer/academic (IA-2) (KM-3)

[4] Systems analyst: (KM)

[3] UX (user experience) (IA)

[2] Product manager (IA)[2] Software designer/engineer (IA/professional)

[1] Software designer/engineer (KM/academic)

[1] Software developer/engineer (IA)

Area: Product / Use of facets[8] Knowledge Management

[10] Information Architecture

[9] General applications

[7] Websites:

searching, browsing, management

[5] Database construction

(/2) Back-end database access

(/3) Database design

[2] Taxonomy creation

[2] Website construction and design

[4] Document access:

search, browse, classification

**N=18 (multiple areas and products for some interviewees)

13

Facet use: 24/200 sites

Basic search

Browse Navigation only

Advanced search

Integrated**

Total

/2425% 29% 42% 58% 66%

**1/3 of the sample websites have integrated features.

14

Common facets in use:

who (personality),

what (matter),

where (space)

form

time

subject

author

((SOC24 x.1 http://www.dol.gov))

Search | A-Z index

Find it

Jobs

By Topic

By Audience

By Top 20 items

By Form

By Location

((SOC24 x.1 http://www.dol.gov))

((navigation bar))

Subscribe

Reform

Grants

Speeches

News

Calendar

Library

Offices

About

Agencies((navigation bar)) FAQ|FOIA|Survey|Privacy|Disclaimers|Email site| Contact

((External linksto other agencies))

Text

1

2a,b

3

((??ba/adv??))

facets

Find it!| By Topic| By Audience| By 20 requested items| By Form| By Organization| By Location

((navigation bar)) FAQ|FOIA|Survey|Privacy|Disclaimers|Email site| Contact

((Letters of alphabet link to index areas))

DOL Home> Search/A to Z Index ((Search box:)) Enter KW phrase or ?

((BA))

Search by agency or category

Additional resources

Find it! InterfacesProvide links to resources on our Web site sorted:

By Audience, by Topic,

by Form, By Organization,

by Location, and by Top 20

Requested Items

A (site area links)

B (site area links)

Etc. on to Y (site area links)

…..

((SOC24 x.2 http://www.dol.gov/siteindex.htm))

2a

((I))

((search boxalso works within these areas))

Search tips Advanced search((ADV))

facets

2b

((ADV))

((I))

((SOC24 x.2 http://www.dol.gov/search/schall.htm))

2b

3

((SOC24 x.3 http://www.dol.gov/libraryforms/))

DOL Home> DOL forms

Find it!| By Topic| By Audience| By 20 requested items| By Form| By Organization| By Location

Subscribe

Reform

Grants

Speeches

News

Calendar

Library

Offices

About

Agencies

((Search box:)) ((BA))

FAQ|FOIA|Survey|Privacy|Disclaimers|Email site| Contact

((Text))

DOL formsForms by Title Forms by Form Number Forms by Agency

3

((navigation bars))

facets

BY TOPIC[Disability Resources] [Termination]

[Equal Employment Opportunity] [Training]

[Health Plans & Benefits] [Unemployment ins.]

[Hiring] [Wages]

[Leave Benefits] [Work hours]

[Other Benefits] [Worker’s Compensation]

[Retirement Plans, Ben. & Savings] [Safety]

[Statistics] [Youth and Labor]

BY AUDIENCE

BY ORGANIZATIONOffice of the Secretary (OSEC)Key Personnel

Office of the 21st Century Workforce (21CW) ((Then ordered by alphabetical arrangement)

BY LOCATION

Workers Employers Job Seekers/Unemployed Labor Unions Researchers Kids/Youth Students Educators

Women

Homeless & Service Providers to the Homeless Nonprofits/ Nongovernmental Organizations Faith-based and Community Organizations Government People with Disabilities Veterans

Principles of order within facet

Audience interest

Alphabetical

((REF37 x.1 http://ads.ac.uk ))

Information

Search

Project Archives

Special collections

Library

((Text))

((Text))

Introduction | Overview | Query | Help

((REF37 x.1 http://ads.ac.uk))

((??ba/adv??))

((??ba/adv??))

2a,b

3

1

((navigation bars))

Searches:   Basic  |  Map  |  Search by resource  |  Advanced  |  Help

Information Search Project

Archives Special

collections Library

(1) Select a type of search ( )Keyword  ( )Project title  ( )Who ( )What ( )Where ( )Postcode ( )ADS record id

((I))

(2) Enter a search term

Basic searches ((BA))((ADV))

facets

((navigation bar))

2a

2b

((REF37 x.2a http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/index.cfm))

Searches:   Basic  |  Map  |  Search by resource  |  Advanced  |  Help Information Search Project Archives Special

collections Library

Advanced search ((ADV))

((I)) search allows integrating:

1 terms 2 refs, 3resources

1 2

3

2b

((REF37 x.2b http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/boolean.cfm))

Query (database) ((I))facets

Principles of order

within facet

geographical

alphabetical

3

((EMB))

((REF37 x.2b http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/specColl/eab_eh_2004/query.cfm))

Search by Resource Map search

Other search

((REF 37 http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/keyRes.cfm http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/map.cfm ))

Historical connections:

Facets help users locate and navigate

(Vickery 1950/2004) Experimentation over time with fundamental

categories Overwhelming interfaces: Cranfield studies Questions of universality Theory and Practice

28

Participant observations - summary

Facet: User-driven and should reflect user needs [14] Integral to construction of: CV, taxonomies,

metadata Serious interface issues:

Expose information Support browsing and discovery Quickly become complex

Best practices or standards needed

Future

Change over time (sample sites) Usability OPACs Principles for practice

Theory Definition, universality, mutual exclusivity

Practice Implementation, unstructured data, guidelines

Project site:

http://leep.lis.uiuc.edu/publish/klabarre/overview.html

Supporting documents

32

What is a facet?

User-driven and should reflect user needs [14]A dimension, attribute, characteristic, category or property [n=13] Integral to construction of:

controlled vocabularies taxonomies [n=11] metadata

Assist in browsing [10] May [9] or may not [9] be:

orthogonal or mutually exclusive.Represent points of view [8] Capture all meanings of a concept [5] Allow for groupings of values [4]

33

What constitutes a Faceted Classification?

facets are part of search or navigation [9] facets visible to users at all times search results are displayed using facets a null or empty set is never returned as a result display

Few [3] noted independence of FA/ FC from interface/ presentation / display

“One of the things we are still trying to understand here is how to move rapidly to take faceted interfaces and begin to use them not just for retrieval purposes, but for managing an entire class of information”

FC = set of rules to govern: decisions about how a site is designed which terms should be chosen for the controlled vocabulary how the search functionality works

“I think we use faceted classification, and everybody understands it more or less, but nobody has really formulated it for us in a way we can understand. The practice we have needs to be theorized a bit and formalized”

34

User focus User focus inherent in facets//facet analysis [14].

“Do a lot of user research to determine what kinds of content people are looking for and the ways in which they search.”

Facets can be drawn from user tasks, queries (transaction logs) from domain knowledge such as may be found in publications, list posts or blogs [11]. Similar to Vickery’s (1960-1966) recommendations

“Facets and their display are completely dependent on the target population, their needs and interests,”

35

Interface design (**usability testing needed) Facets expose information “Faceted search provides some knowledge that is hidden

behind the search results…it gives insight into the data.” Facets or FC blur distinctions between structured, unstructured

and semi-structured information by allowing a “multidimensional view” or a multidimensional way to navigate through heterogeneous data.

“We’ve got to figure out conventions to prevent FC from dominating the user interface” (Interviewee 16, 2006).

FC provides the ability to support browsing, exploration, and discovery. Helps users ask questions. Gives choices without requiring expert knowledge of interface or information them to know a lot about the interface or the information

“[W]ith FC you have this big front door where you can go through and do everything … there are a million side doors. It lets you slice and dice things any way you want”

36

Disputes/concerns

NEED: a set of best practices or standards for faceted interface implementation. “I have the feeling that there is something I don’t yet know that can make this [FC] work better”

HOW: to choose facets? to set up a faceted classification?

Is FC notational structure still useful?

What if data is unstructured?

37

Theoretical issues:

Canon of mutual exclusivity: Necessary? [9] or Unnecessary? [9]

Fundamental categories/ universal categories:“I can’t imagine the classical facets being useful in identifying your own

facets and then applying them to your own system. That’s just not the way things are.”

“I think it is just silly to have a universal way of organizing the world.”

CONFIRMATION(?)

Noted: synchronous occurrence of fundamental categories in other applications and implementations whether automatically extracted from data in some way or created by human indexers

Definition

Faceted theory analytico-synthetic theory

Most inclusive terminology (Broughton/CRG tradition)/ indicates the existence of guiding principles/ incorporates: Facet Analysis: technique

Entity analyzed into facets (characteristics-things, concepts-ideas)

Faceted Classification: structure Consists of schedules for basic classes with pre-

determined facets for all entities. Analytico-Synthetic Classification

Five step process: from facet analysis to notation.

High level categories

Ranganathan Shera/Egan Prieto-Diaz Aitchison Aristotle

>Personality

>Matter

>Energy

>Space

>Time

>Product

>Agent

>Tools

>Act

>Object of action

>Space

>Time

>Function

>Objects

>Medium

>System-type

>Functional area

>Setting

>Entities, things, objects

>Kinds or types/ systems and assemblies

>Actions and activities

>Applications and purposes

>Space, place, location and environment

>Time

>Substance

>Quality >Quantity >Relation >Place

>Time

>Position

>State

>Action

>Affection

Facet

Facet: A generic term used to denote any component of a compound

subject, <including> ranked forms, terms and numbers (Ranganathan, 1967, p. 88).

A general manifestation of a subject (Ranganathan, 1962, p. 82). Groups of terms derived by taking each term and defining it, per

genus et differentiam, with respect for its parent class (Vickery, 1960, p. 12).

Facet analytical approach: Proper and rigorous practice of facet analysis by observing the rules of logical division. (Broughton, 2001, p. 67; Mills, 2004, p. 268). (1) one characteristic of division is applied at a time [conceptual analysis] (2) division steps should be logical and proximate (3) division should be exhaustive (Mills, 2004, pp. 551).

Facets continued

Supports the notion that information can be assigned to multiple dimensions and may have individual attributes not intrinsic to the information.

Small components of larger entities/units. Properties Attributes Characteristics Slots Relations Functions Concepts

43

Buildings

44

Facet analysis

“Fundamental concepts are analyzed and grouped together as facets”

Hunter, E. (2002) Classification made simple. Ashgate

Building Facets Location Composition Purpose Date/Period constructed Performance Style Associated persons ETC. . .

Primer from Vickery (1960, 1966).Vickery (1960, 1966), outlined seven basic steps in the creation of an FC and this process shows the interplay

of FA and FC:(1) Define the subject field: This is accomplished by first asking, “what entities are of interest to the user group,

what aspects of those entities are of interest.” (Vickery, 1966, p.11) (FA)(2) Formulate facets: Vickery recommends examination of a representative range of material that directly

expresses the interests of the user group: reports, papers, comprehensive texts, glossaries, subject heading lists etc. This provides a list of candidate terms to use. (FA)

Sort these terms into homogeneous groups known as facets. Each group is derived by “taking each term and defining it with respect to the terms that are the center of

interest in the classification.” (Vickery, 1966, p.45).(3) Structure each facet: Each facet is amplified and structured. It is helpful at this stage to construct a

hierarchical order for the terms collected within each facet. Even if no well-developed hierarchy results, the procedure helps to coalesce synonyms, eliminate terms that are collated with the wrong facet, and to indicate gaps in the system. (FA/ preliminary construction FC)

(4) Create scope notes. These notes will define terms that are unclear and provide instructions to users and indexers as to the meaning and use of each facet. (FC)

(5) Arrangements of facets: decide how the facets are to be arranged among themselves. This will depend on the use: For post-coordinate use (as a thesaurus), arrange in categories. For a pre-coordinate system like a catalog, more thought must be given to the sequence of facets in the schedule and placing them in citation order. The order chosen should be that which is thought to be of must use to the person using the system. (FA/FC)

(6) Create notation. Vickery devotes ten pages to the construction of notation, or call numbers for materials in a system classified using FC. This topic has been omitted from this primer, as none of the individuals or websites examined in the present study use any obvious notational devices. (FA/FC)

(7) Fitting a notation: This is the final result of FA, in addition to a schedule of terms and one of the ways in which the full sequence of structured facets may be displayed (by sorting according to notation – see suggestions for thesaurus in step 5 for alternate arrangements). This arrangement should display the structure of the subject field helpfully. (FA/FC)

Guiding Principles

Postulates: Five fundamental categories: PMEST Three planes of work: Idea Verbal Notational

Canons: Parsimony Symmetry 5 laws of LS (Books are for use) (Books are for all) (Every book its reader) (Save

the time of the reader) (A library is a growing organism). Others:

Consistent sequence Currency Enumeration Context Reticence Relativity Mnemonics Viewpoint Classics Distinctiveness

FAST in Cyberspace

Epicurious http://www.epicurious.com Wine.com http://www.wine.com

Siderean software http://www.siderean.com/ Endeca software http://endeca.com/ Adiuri systems http://www.adiuri.com/

Illustration of faceted and hierarchical website structures:

Rosenfeld, L. & Morville, P. (2002). Information architecture for the World Wide Web. Cambridge, MA: O’Reill. P. 205.

Peter Van Dijck’s Guide to Ease (blog) Comments on the Bliss Classification Association – Bibliographic Classification Guide. 10 October, 2002. http://www.poorbuthappy.com/ease/archives/001603.html

“The standard categories recognized in ‘classical; facet analysis are: Thing – kind – part – property – material – process – operation – patient – product – by product – agent – space – time.” <BCA website>Why do these people try to specify what facets are useful? Surely if I want to classify my content using a facet called “How impressed I was with this content when I first saw it” then that is a perfectly valid facet? This underlying assumption that there are ‘generic’ or ‘correct’ ways of categorizing the world is just, well, wrong. The world doesn’t have an ‘inherent’ classification that we just have to discover. All classification gets its meaning from the people using it, not from the objects being classified.

Travis Wilson (creator of FacetMap): Thread: Special vs. General Schemes: Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 09:14:11 +0000

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.infodesign.facetedclassification/170/match=facet At the other extreme, the universal qualities espoused by Ranganathan and others just don't apply to many resources that deserve classification. The "space" facet only works in the context of resources that have physical incarnations in a spatial location; perhaps this is obvious, but it confirms that there is indeed a context -- one that many data-based resources don't share. In the end, the whole idea of a set of general facets as a "framework for facets typical of each discipline" simply limits the number of disciplines that can use FC (to those that fit within the framework). Ranganathan was really not concerned with disciplines outside of biology. I don't think that kind of limitation is appropriate for faceted classification in general, and I hope we don't impose it.

Planes of work

Idea: The work of FA takes place in the Idea plane, where an entity is analyzed into component parts

Verbal: FA continues here as further sorting and transformation of the selected categories/facets or terms occur.

Notational: work of FC -- translating selected terms into notation.

((SHOP152 x.1 http://www.camerahouse.com.au/ ))

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((text))

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((BA / ADV))

((BR))

*facets

1

2, 3

Product search (label is basic on some pages) ((BA))

*Type in a product name

*Select a product category

* Select a product brand

((EMB))

((EMB))

((I))

Accessories Batteries | Battery Chargers / Adapters | Burners | Camera Bags / Cases | Camera Film | Entertainment Accessories | Flashguns | General Accessories | Lenses | Memory Cards ...

Binoculars Compact Binoculars | Compact Porro Prism | Compact Zoom | Standard and Water Proof Prism | Standard Porro Prism | Zoom Binoculars | Zoom Porro Prism ...

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Entertainment

Mobile Phones

Printers BubbleJet / InkJet | Laser | Multifunction | Photo ...

Scanners Film | Flatbed ...

Telescopes Astronomical/Computer Controlled | Spotting Scopes | Telescopes Standard ...

*Selection of category populates brand choices

*facets Search

Advanced search

2

3

((SHOP152 x.2a http://www.camerahouse.com.au/products/ProductSearch.aspx))

Product advanced search ((ADV))

*Type in a product name

*Specification

* Specification value

((EMB))

((EMB))

((I))

Accessories Batteries | Battery Chargers / Adapters | Burners | Camera Bags / Cases | Camera Film | Entertainment Accessories | Flashguns | General Accessories | Lenses | Memory Cards ...

Binoculars Compact Binoculars | Compact Porro Prism | Compact Zoom | Standard and Water Proof Prism | Standard Porro Prism | Zoom Binoculars | Zoom Porro Prism ...

Cameras APS | Compacts | Digital | Digital SLR's | SLR | Video ...

Entertainment

Mobile Phones

Printers BubbleJet / InkJet | Laser | Multifunction | Photo ...

Scanners Film | Flatbed ...

Telescopes Astronomical/Computer Controlled | Spotting Scopes | Telescopes Standard ...

*Selection of specification populates value choices

*facetsSearch

Advanced search

3

SHOP 152 x.3 http://www.camerahouse.com.au/products/ProductAdvancedSearch.aspx

((BUS169 x.1 http://www.bettycrocker.com ))

((Text))

((BUS169 x.1 http://www.bettycrocker.com ))

Meal ideas | Baking| Products | Browse recipes | Search recipes| ((BA))

Login | My acct | Recipe box | Grocery list

Catalog | Cookbooks |News | Coupons

((Text))

((Text))

((nav bar))

((nav bar))

1((EMB)) | | |

| | |

| | |

((BR))

2

3

Browse online recipes by category:

Betty Crocker® Products Appetizers & Snacks Main Dish Main Dish (Lunch) Main Dish (Breakfast/Brunch) Side Dish Breads Accompaniments Desserts Beverages

Crafts & Decorations

((BUS169 x.2 http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/browse/Browse_Recipes_by_Category)) Catalog | Cookbooks |News | Coupons

Meal ideas | Baking| Products | Browse recipes | Search recipes| ((BA))

Login | My acct | Recipe box | Grocery list

((Text)) ((Text))

What’s happening

((nav links))

((nav links)) popular recipe searches

((BR2))

((EMB)) | | |

2

3

*facets

((BUS169 x.3 http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/search/search_results.asp ))

((Text))

3

Catalog | Cookbooks |News | Coupons

Meal ideas | Baking| Products | Browse recipes | Search recipes| ((BA))

((EMB)) | | | Login | My acct | Recipe box | Grocery list

Refine your search results

30 Min Low Fat One Dish Slow

or less Cooker

facets [GO>]

((Text-and links results))

Search (SHOP77)

(a) Basic (BA) [see “search” link and box below]. (b) Advanced (ADV) search boxes

Navigation (REF107)

Embedded (REF41)

Browse (BUS169)

Sitemap (SHOP40)

Integrated (SOC24)

Background – Traditional FASTApplication Example PurposeSpecial subject schemes (CRG)

English Electric Scheme (1958)

British Catalogue of Music (1960)

Classification of Enterprise Activities (1966)

From practice to theory (Richmond, 1988)

Cranfield Tests Faceted Scheme for Aeronautics (Cleverdon, 1962)

American Meteorological Society

(Freeman and Atherton, 1969)

FAST in early IR system testing

Audacious Test of UDC as mechanized searching language (Atherton and Freeman, 1967, 1968)

FAST in computerized indexing and retrieval

Thesaurofacet Classification and controlled vocabulary for sci/tech

(Aitchison, Gomersall and Ireland, 1969)

“

PRECIS

POPSI

PREserved Content Index System (Austin, 1974)

Postulate-based Permuted Term

Indexing (Bhattacharyya, 1979)

Generation of subject indexing terms and semantic

relations

Resources cited:7

6

5

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

FC discussion list (2002) http://www.poorbuthappy.com/fcd/

Hearst’s publications, various,http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~hearst/

Ranganathan, Prolegomena (1967)

(2002) Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (2002) ASIST SIG/IA (2000) list, http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/index.php

Steve Pollitt View-Based Systems, publications, various http://www.view-based-systems.com/background.asp

Svenonius (2000). Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization.

AIFIA.org (2002). (now IAI) http://iainstitute.org/

Facetmap.com (2002) http://facetmap.com/Google

Ranganathan, Colon Classification (6th and 7th ed.)

Classification Research Group (various publications in 1960s, England)

Endeca implementation of:FACETS

Sample in comparative tables

Sites per

Category

(A)

Integrated sites within category

(B)

[I] sites with facets (F)

within category

(C)

# % # % # %

REF 28 14% 8/28 28.6% 2/8 25%

SOC 50 25% 10/50 20% 6/10 60%

SHOP 57 28.5% 24/57 42% 10/24 41.6%

BUS 65 32.5% 23/65 35% 6/23 26.1%

Totals n=200

n=65/200 32.5%

n=24/65 36.9%

/200 12%