The Many Faces Of Taxonomy

by Mindy Carner

 

Taxonomy is the classification of information into groups or classes that share similar characteristics and can be used to organize information in the context of relationships between subjects. However, the word “taxonomy” has become somewhat of a buzzword that may not be truly understood even by many people within an organization that is actually dependent on a strong system of classification.  The ubiquity of taxonomy is what makes it seem buzzwordy, but there are many different types and formats that taxonomy can take. A simple breakdown of the various forms and uses of data classification can help to make them clearly understood and supported by the organization.

The sitemap taxonomy

A sitemap taxonomy can be applied in a basic way to support the navigation of a website by illustrating the information architecture of a website at a high level. The sitemap represents the site’s structure through the top-level navigation (potentially with drop downs), left-hand navigation (possibly multiple levels deep), as well as header and footer navigation. Web search engines use sitemaps to learn the structure of web sites and improve their presence in search results.

The e-commerce taxonomy

Most e-commerce sites are almost entirely driven by taxonomy. When a taxonomy is successful, users don’t even realize that they are involved in a search experience as they navigate through the filters and refinements of the navigation. For example, every page is innately a search result.  Taxonomies that lead to product pages can be very large and complex. In order to coordinate pricing and style with gender and size, or provide the user with dynamic ‘faceted’ navigation, a taxonomy is the architecture through which users travel as they search, or browse, for that perfect item.

The enterprise taxonomy

An enterprise taxonomy is a combination of structures that can be defined, used, and implemented in many ways. Most enterprise taxonomies are used to drive the search engine that combines all major systems into one search index. A search requires structured metadata and taxonomy to help it understand the variety of content that it will index. Significantly, the enterprise taxonomy is much larger than just the intranet; it is all of the internal systems that the company uses for enterprise communication.

Digital and media asset management taxonomy

Taxonomies provide the metadata basis for a DAM (Digital Asset Management) or a MAM (Media Asset Management) that handle images, video and other content types. If these systems are used as the single source of truth for a domain of knowledge, the taxonomy can model that knowledge in a way that is meaningful.  Users will be able to depend on the technology to provide an intuitive and easy experience for delivering content.

What about the overlap?

The advantage of a taxonomy is that it provides a single source of vocabulary across the many systems that an enterprise supports. Many companies have enterprise search, a DAM system, and possibly even an outward facing e-commerce site. If the taxonomy is maintained, it can support search across platforms. Optimity Advisors helps clients by developing a customized, departmental or enterprise-wide taxonomy for navigation or for enterprise search, and then helping them develop a program to sustain the discipline to meet their long-term goals.

 

 

Mindy Carner is a Senior Associate at Optimity Advisors.