This time of year I read a lot of trends and reviews. What happened last year and what will happen in the coming year is a popular topic and it is in fact a good time to take stock and think about initiatives for the year ahead. So here is what I see coming down the road for 2012.
I know I can’t be alone in the amount of spam email I get daily. In fact, I probably receive a lower amount than most. It is amazing that I actually find my real mail, mail I actually want to read, in the middle of all the junk. Then there are the spams that cloak their selves in pretend reality. They are like the fake checks that come in snail mail that are actually offers of credit or some other promotion.
The Eighth Annual Data Harmony® Users Group (DHUG) meeting, scheduled Feb. 7-9, 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico will focus on helping users get the most from their investment in the knowledge management software suite, which helps users organize information resources based on a well-built and systematically applied taxonomy or thesaurus.
What are the meetings that cater to people who use controlled vocabularies, like taxonomies? Where should a taxonomist go, click, or attend to learn about the latest implementations and uses of controlled vocabulary strategies? Every company thinks long and hard both about what they do and where to find customers for their products and services. The Information Industry is no different. In the Age of the Internet when everyone’s “knows” about searching and information; it seems like the “information Industry” should be booming, its conferences should be huge, and the attendance incredible, but that is not the case. Why? If the information industry and our little taxonomy segment of the business has gone mainstream, then where are all the people you would expect at the long established industry meetings?
A recent survey revealed two-thirds of organizations cannot access their information assets or find vital enterprise documents because of poor information classification or 'tagging'. Having difficulty accessing your information or in short, with findability, is a fixable problem.
There are several reliable tools and websites that help government buyers find what they need in regards to information, products and services. What these resources have in common is the ability to search and find. They are more than search engines and platforms. They are sourced by strong taxonomies that uses semantic technology to make information findable.
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has released a report that attempts to standardize products that exist in the world of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. This venture into taxonomies will help compliance efforts by improving the reporting under new regulations.
Sharepoint is a popular software and comes free with the MicroSoft Server. In fact, I think Sharepoint, more than any other thing, has excited interest in taxonomies for people. Sharepoint 2010 has a taxonomy module and although it doesn’t have everything that your heart might wish for, it is a significant step forward. A lot of people have been trying to figure out exactly how to best use their taxonomy within the Sharepoint offering. This is one option.
Tagged has announced an acquisition of Topicmarks. Tagged is the social discovery service and Topicmarks uses semantic engine to summarize content. The combination of these two should be interesting.