It is always interesting to me when I find taxonomies of interesting and unusual topics. Even if they aren’t true taxonomies, they are typically classifications of some form or another, and they provide information, which is after all, the goal. The latest find: Data Lab’s recently published “The Four Types Of Tom Cruise Movies.”

This particular author attempts to put all the actors’ movies into four categories: Eyes Normally Shut, Anyone Else’s Best, Cruise Control, and The Maverick. The fun play on the characters Tom Cruise has played over the years is evident in the category labels.

It is important to remember that, as entertaining and fun as this is, there is value in classification. True taxonomies can help manage big data by providing a solid standards-based taxonomy to index against. The results are comprehensive and consistent search results. Access Innovations is one of a very small number of companies able to help its clients generate ANSI/ISO/W3C-compliant taxonomies because of consistency.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.