Taxonomy: What exactly is it?

There seems to be a cloud around the term taxonomy. Either you know what it is or you pass it off as just another term created by analysts and consultants who want to keep their jobs.

Truth is taxonomy has been around since ancient times. The term taxonomy is derived from  the Greek word "taxis" meaning order and "nomos" meaning law or science. Thus, taxonomy is the science of classifying information. A taxonomy, is a law for classifying information. The ancient Greeks used taxonomies to classify things in the world around them in much the same way we do today. That is right; we use taxonomies in our everyday life. Think about shopping for groceries. How do you find things in the grocery store? You look at signs above the aisles or perhaps a listing placed conveniently in the grocery cart that presents various items to you along with their location but more importantly with their classification like dairy, produce, meat and poultry.

So you see, to understand taxonomy is to understand everyday life and understand that as humans, we classify everything whether we realize it or not. It is what brings order to potential chaos. It is what allows us to communicate using common terms and words or symbols. Therefore, the next time you are shopping and want to impress someone, let then know that you understand the taxonomies used by your grocer. If you really want to impress them, show them you know about ontology and folksonomy as well.

If you are not sure about those last two you will have to come and join us in our newly formed course focused on Information Organization and Access (IOA), where we discuss not only taxonomy, ontology and folksonomy but a wide range of topics and practices that will help you gain a much tighter control over the way you classify and control your business information. Even if you are familiar with these terms, I encourage you to consider attending anyway, as there are many aspects of IOA that are covered and discovered as part of the class. You may also want to consider the newly formed Business Process Management (BPM) course or our ever popular Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Electronic Records Management (ERM) courses. Chances are, one of these is right for you, right now. Visit www.aiim.org/training and see what new and exciting things you can learn today.

Written by Bob Larrivee