Class is Everything
EDItEUR has published a new subject classification system intended for use throughout the global book and e-book trade.
Content Enrichment Enriches
There has been an online debate recently about the distinction between text analytics and semantic content enrichment. Many think there are no differences, just terminology preferences, while others believe there are distinct differences in the definitions and their uses. We found this interesting information on CMSWire in their article, “Smart Content Reviewed: Text Analytics & Semantic Content Enrichment.”
Taxonomies to the Rescue
MEDLINE citations are manually indexed at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), using as reference the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary. In the past, human indexers read the full text of the article to properly index. However, due to growth, the NLM is exploring automatic indexing options. 7th Space Interactive brought this topic to our attention in their article, “MeSH indexing based on automatically generated summaries.”
The Ghosts of Concepts Future
As taxonomists, we have a responsibility to discern those future concepts, although they may still be invisible to most. We can save the various expressions of those concepts in search logs from being rejected from consideration for a vocabulary simply on account of their as yet infrequent appearance. In a taxonomy or thesaurus, we can provide labels that will consolidate the indexing for a concept whose researchers have not yet settled on a name. In some cases, especially with widely used vocabularies, we can perhaps determine the name by which a concept will be known on a standard basis.
A Christmas Miracle
At last. I searched and searched and was starting to lose faith, but never fear, a Christmas-themed taxonomy I have found. If you are a Hallmark movie watching fan, this might not be news to you and you might even be the slightest bit insulted, but just a tiny bit.
The Ghost of Taxonomies Present
Wouldn’t it be splendid if, in the ‘spirit’ of Dickens’ Ghost of Christmas Present, we could use taxonomies to accomplish lofty goals such as cure and eradicate sickness; promote international understanding; promote justice and social harmony; and lessen and eradicate poverty?
Taxonomy Workshop Available
Before you sign off for the holidays, consider starting your new year out with some educational learning. Our own Margie Hlava will be the instructor for a workshop titled, Taxonomy Essentials. This will be held on January 21, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.
Big Data Drives New Glossary
A new glossary of terminology related to big data has been created. The authors state that it is an evolving list, and they invite contributions. This “wiki” glossary appears to be very comprehensive, with terms from aggregation to zettabytes.
A Thousand Terms of Light
Last week, my co-workers and I were discussing points of knowledge. The phrase “a thousand terms of knowledge” popped up. It was apparently an off-the-cuff mingling of “a thousand points of light” with “points of knowledge” and with one of the topics of the moment, thesaurus terms. I couldn’t resist following up on the mixture, which has a precedent of sorts in an earlier TaxoDiary blog posting by Marjorie Hlava.