The first volume in a series about creating and maintaining taxonomies is now available. “The Taxobook: History, Theories, and Concepts of Knowledge Organization” is written by our own Margie Hlava.
In this first book of the series, the author introduces the very foundations of classification, starting with the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, as well as Theophrastus and the Roman Pliny the Elder. Much like the work done at Access Innovations, a good foundation is needed for making content findable.
Following the discussions and historical review, the author has included a glossary that covers all three books of this series so that it can be referenced as you work your way through the second and third volumes. The author believes that it is important to understand the history of knowledge organization and the differing viewpoints of various philosophers—even if that understanding is simply that the differing viewpoints exist.These differing viewpoints will help answer the fundamental questions: Why do we want to build taxonomies? How do we build them to serve multiple points of view?
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
