Click Three Times?

Every now and then, we hear or read the advice that taxonomies should be no more than three levels deep. The reason given is what’s commonly known in the web design world as the three-click rule. Supposedly, users do not have the patience to find information on a website using any more than three clicks of a mouse. Ergo, navigation hierarchies and similar structures are expected to honor this limitation by keeping the entire pool at kiddie depth.

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A Short Roundup of Recent Taxonomy Books

Over the past couple of decades, the field of knowledge organization systems (such as taxonomies and thesauri) has matured. This maturation has led KOS experts to write books that consolidate and share the theories, insights, and techniques that have emerged. Below is a roundup of some of the more recent books in the area of taxonomies and related knowledge organization systems.

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Using Taxonomy to Save a Butterfly

The monarch butterfly is a beautiful sight, whether it’s fluttering through a garden or resting on a flower. Understandably admired, it’s the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, and Texas. It’s also the state butterfly of Vermont and West Virginia.

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Among Good Company

TEMIS joins the prestigious list of 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management. KM World made their annual announcement recently as they recognize the top industry influencers in content, document, and knowledge management.

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The Promise and Pitfalls of Classifying Food

As a lover of all things tasty, my mind often turns to the kinds of food and drink that I love. As someone who works with taxonomies and thesauri, I tend to try to classify them. Often, though, I don’t get very far with it because I start to get hungry. However, I just ate, so I don’t think it’ll be so much of an issue this time.

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Emojis: Communication without Words

Each year since 2000, the Global Language Monitor has selected the Top Words of the Year, which they derive through statistical analysis of word usage. Some may have thought the organization had gone insane this year when they announced the selections for 2014 because, at the very top of the list was not a word at all, but the heart emoji. It’s true; a tiny cartoon heart got used so often last year that it supplanted all other actual words.

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Data Analysis in a Standards-Challenged World

We deal pretty heavily around here in words, what they mean, and how they’re used. It should go without saying, but it’s a fundamental part of what we do and is what makes us so concerned with standards, in both taxonomies and the written word. The two go hand in hand; it’s a whole lot…

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