Taxodiary – Access Insights

E-Books and the Evolution of Publishing

By Melody Smith|September 8th, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, reference, Technology|Comments Off on E-Books and the Evolution of Publishing

Not that long ago, getting published was the big hurdle for a writer to overcome. You could produce all you wanted, but unless you knew how to get somebody to read your random submission, or you were rich enough to self-publish, your writing lived in a drawer, waiting for you to give it to a friend who doesn’t want to read it. It’s hard to believe how fast technology has opened publishing up to people. Now, anyone with an opinion has a platform, and while it’s as tough as ever to make a living writing, the platform, in many cases, is totally free. So that changes the hurdle from publication to recognition. If everybody has a voice, how do you get heard?

Taxonomy in the Pipeline, Part 3: Positive Feedback Loops

By Melody Smith|September 1st, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Taxonomy in the Pipeline, Part 3: Positive Feedback Loops

In her 1996 paper, The Rage to Master: The Decisive Role of Talent in the Visual Arts, Ellen Winner presents a concept she calls, well, the “rage to master.” The idea is that intellectually gifted children have a natural inclination to focus on a subject and immerse themselves in it until they reach mastery.

Ready for Boot Camp?

By Melody Smith|September 1st, 2014|Access Insights, News, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Ready for Boot Camp?

Maybe you are a pro at taxonomies or maybe it is time for a refresher. This year's Taxonomy Boot Camp offers something for everyone. The theme at the November 4-5 event in Washington D.C. is "Organizing the Future: Taxonomies Leading the Way?" Register by October 3, 2014 and receive an early bird discount.

Data Harmony® v.3.9 Named 2014 Trend-Setting Product by KMWorld

By Melody Smith|August 25th, 2014|Access Insights, Featured|Comments Off on Data Harmony® v.3.9 Named 2014 Trend-Setting Product by KMWorld

Access Innovations, Inc., the industry leader in data organization and innovator of the Data Harmony® software suite, is pleased to announce that KMWorld has […]

A Taxonomy for Contributor Role Metadata

By Melody Smith|August 21st, 2014|Access Insights, News, Taxonomy|Comments Off on A Taxonomy for Contributor Role Metadata

We’ve written before about how taxonomies can provide the material for metadata (especially subject matter terms) describing information resources. One taxonomy currently under development has the potential to standardize how authors and other contributors are described in a resource’s metadata. The development group is led by Amy Brand (VP Academic & Research Relations and VP North America for Digital Science) and Liz Allen (Head of Evaluation for the Wellcome Trust).

Taxonomy in the Pipeline, Part 2: The Need for Quick Publishing

By Melody Smith|August 18th, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Taxonomy in the Pipeline, Part 2: The Need for Quick Publishing

Regardless of discipline, there’s one thing that connects most academics I’ve encountered: the desire to keep practicing their respective fields. They’ve spent years cultivating their expertise and want to make a difference in their field. But in order for that to happen, they all share the same obstacle: tenure.

Taxonomy in the Pipeline, Part 1: Introduction

By Melody Smith|August 11th, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, metadata, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Taxonomy in the Pipeline, Part 1: Introduction

It can be tempting to look at a taxonomy and only see it in terms of the search results generated from it. That part of it is very important, no doubt, but taxonomies have far-reaching tendrils that extend deep into many industries, especially publishing. They work subtly and are often invisible to the end user, but the effects can be incredibly powerful.

Data Harmony Version 3.9 Shines a Spotlight On Inline Tagging Web-based Service Extension

By Melody Smith|August 4th, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Data Harmony Version 3.9 Shines a Spotlight On Inline Tagging Web-based Service Extension

Access Innovations, Inc. is pleased to announce that the Data Harmony software line now includes inline tagging capability, beginning with Version 3.9, released earlier this year. Inline Tagging Feature In Data Harmony 3.9 Installations Employing inline tags, the TestMAI screen in the MAIstro™ module now displays matching content in a highlighted font when a Data Harmony user runs M.A.I.™ (Machine Aided Indexer), putting the focus on indexing concepts as they appear in the input text. XML elements are applied in the text at the exact location where a word or phrase triggered a term suggestion from the controlled vocabulary (taxonomy or thesaurus).

Buzzwords, Bling, and Being Snowed

By Melody Smith|July 28th, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Buzzwords, Bling, and Being Snowed

I recently had the opportunity to see webinars featuring a couple of software systems for taxonomy construction/management and content categorization. The systems were both impressive and, if I didn't have 20 years in the business, I would have been totally awed ... and snowed. It's easy to be overwhelmed by a slick appearance and professional presentation.

Trees, Fractals, and Taxonomies

By Melody Smith|July 21st, 2014|Access Insights, Featured, Taxonomy|Comments Off on Trees, Fractals, and Taxonomies

If you look at a branch of a typical deciduous tree, you can see that it looks like a smaller tree. Likewise, that branch branches off into smaller branches that look like even smaller trees. This characteristic of trees is an example of what mathematicians, biologists, and systems scientists call self-similarity. Self-similar systems repeat their basic geometry at smaller and smaller scales, creating multiple miniatures of themselves at different scales. In general, natural and mathematical systems in which self-similarity results in complex and detailed patterns are referred to as fractal systems.