just tag it! how to build taxonomy & use it to enrich enterprise content

Just Tag It!

How to build taxonomy & use it to enrich enterprise content

April 4, 2016

Copyright WAND Inc. 1994‐2016


Mark [email protected]@taxonomiesWAND, Inc.www.wandinc.com

WAND, Inc.

• Based in Denver, CO

• Building Taxonomies since 1983

• World’s leading provider of pre‐built taxonomies

• Taxonomy Professional Services

• Client base includes online yellow pages, online advertising engines, enterprise search, e‐commerce, and SharePoint customers

– SMBs to Fortune 500


Whoosh!

Copyright WAND, Inc. 1994‐2016

Agenda

• Why create a taxonomy?

• What is a taxonomy?

• Taxonomy in DITA

• How to build a taxonomy?

• How to get started in your organization


Other Sessions Today

1:50‐2:30: Getting to First Base: Managing cross‐organizational content with basic metadata

Stanley Doherty, SimpliVity

2:35‐3:15: Using a Unified Taxonomy to Reduce Customer Pain with Content Silos

Chip Gettinger, SDL

3:55‐5:20: Taxonomy for DITA: A powerful magnifier with a harsh lensJoe Pairman, Mekon Ltd. and Dawn Stevens, Comtech Services, Inc.

Confidential WAND Inc. 1994‐2016

Boring but Important

• Consistency in describing content

• Findability

• Reusability


Make the case

• Companies that have taxonomies are 250% more likely to have users that are satisfied or very satisfied with search.*

• Lack of appropriate tag and inconsistency in content tagging are two main obstacles to users finding the information they are looking for

*Enterprise Search and Findability Report, Findwise, 2014/2015


What is Tagging

• Tagging means applying metadata to documents

• Descriptive Metadata: One or multiple words about the content of the document

• Tags will be search refinements for end users


What is a Taxonomy?


• Collection of concepts for a given subject domain organized into a hierarchical tree structure

• Concepts = Categories = Terms = Preferred Terms• Synonyms = Non‐Preferred Terms

•Individual categories from the taxonomy are tagged to content as metadata

Taxonomy in DITA

<SubjectScheme>

A subjectScheme is a specialized DITA map that defines a collection of controlled values rather than a collection of topics.


Taxonomy in DITA

<hasInstance> Laptop Computers Toshiba Satellite M405

<hasKind> Personal ComputersLaptop Computers

<hasNarrower> Office Equipment Laptop Computers

<hasPart> Laptop ComputersKeyboard

<hasRelated> Laptop Computers Software


Faceted Searching


How to get started


• Identify taxonomy capabilities in your tool

• Build your taxonomies

• Taxonomy governance

Tools

• xDocs• EasyDITA• DITACMS


• Componize• Vason• SDL Knowledge Center• Astoria CCMS

WAND Blog: bit.ly/DITA-CCMS-Taxonomy

Building your taxonomy

• Talk to end users– How do they want to search for information– How do they think of the content– What terms do they use

• Synonyms and acronyms

• Make it about the content


Test! Test! Test!

• Card Sort– Tests how users would group/categorize a set of items– Helps you define groupings and trees

• Tree Test– Tests if users can find an item within an existing tree


What to Include?

• Processes– Troubleshooting– Repair

• Subjects– Model Numbers– Features– Audience

• Documents– FAQs– Manuals


Ongoing Governance

• Include Taxonomy Management in your governance plan

• Review user search terms regularly

• Policies and standards for when to create a new term, definitions, and term naming conventions.

• Change management planning


Q & A


Mark [email protected](303) 623‐1200 x267

www.wandinc.com

Blog.wandinc.com

@taxonomies

just tag it! how to build taxonomy & use it to enrich enterprise content

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