Taxonomies and
DAM
Digital Asset Managers Meetup
June 29, 2010
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Introduction
Donna Slawsky
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MLIS, Pratt Institute
Metadata and Taxonomy consultant
Instructor, DAM for Columbia University
School of Continuing Ed
Ontologist, Time Inc.
Adjunct Librarian, Baruch College
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Questions
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Who uses a taxonomy of some form in your
DAM?
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For browsing assets?
For keywording assets?
Is someone on staff managing a taxonomy?
Do you understand
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what a taxonomy is?
how taxonomies are used?
how taxonomies assist in asset retrieval?
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Definition
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A controlled vocabulary is a list of
words used to tag content and then to
retrieve that content through either
navigation or search.
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Why Use Controlled
Vocabularies (CVs)?
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Offers consistency in language used to describe
content
Provides agreement in (semantic) meaning of terms
used
Facilitates retrieval
Acts as an intermediary between the input of the user
and a database of terms by interpreting the meaning of
the words (computers don’t understand word
meanings…yet).
Enables search input to better represent the original
intention of the use
Provides consistent and clear hierarchies for
navigation
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
What is this?
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
And this?
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
How do CVs work?
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Define the scope or meaning of terms
Use the equivalence relationship to link
synonymous or equivalent terms
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children = kids
pants = slacks
bags = handbags
Distinguish between homographs:
Example:
 Mercury (planet)
 Mercury (chemical)
 Mercury (mythology)
 Mercury (automobile)
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Types of CVs
List
 Synonym ring
 Authority file
 Taxonomy
 Thesaurus
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Source: NISO
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Types and Complexity of
CVs
Source: NISO
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
List
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Limited set of terms arranged
alphabetically or other logical way.
Used only if there are a limited
number of possibilities.
Example of list from New York
Public Library Media Center
http://www.nypl.org/help/aboutnypl/media-center
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Synonym Ring
Only used for retrieval, not for indexing of
content items.
 Ensures that a concept that can be
described by a number of terms retrieves
the content items of interest.
 The terms are considered equivalent for
the purpose of retrieval.
Bill Clinton = William Jefferson Clinton =
President Clinton
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© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Authority File
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One of the equivalent terms is the Preferred
Term (PT) and others are variations
 Preferred term - term out of all equivalent
terms that will be used to represent a concept
Important for consistent tagging
Types of authority files include place names,
person names, organization names
Batman (Preferred Term)
Batman USE FOR: Dark Knight, Caped Crusader
Caped Crusader: USE Batman
Dark Knight: USE Batman
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Taxonomy
A CV consisting of preferred terms
that are arranged hierarchically.
 Hierarchical relationships: Broad
Terms, Narrow Terms
 NTs should be “Type of” or “Part of”
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© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Why Use Taxonomies?
Classifies and categorizes information
(assets in DAM)
 Enhances retrieval
 Provides a uniform language for
subjects, asset types, organization
depts., formats, etc.
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© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Taxonomy: Hierarchy of
Broad and Narrow Terms
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Type of:
Vegetables
Asparagus
Brussels Sprouts
Lettuce
Peas
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Part of:
Bicycle
Bicycle Seat
Handlebars
Pedal
Tire
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Taxonomy: Broad, Narrow
Relationships in a Hierarchy
Source: NISO Standard
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Thesaurus
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The most complex and detailed CV
showing PT (Preferred Term), BT
(Broad Term), NT (Narrow Term), RT
(Related Terms), UF (Use For), Use,
and Scope (term definition) giving a
robust understanding of the language
used for a subject domain.
See example: USDA Agriculture thesaurus at
http://agclass.nal.usda.gov/dne/search.shtml
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Taxonomy Examples
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Food Taxonomy in Excel
Equivalent terms or synonyms
 Tagging on the ‘leaf’
 Use of ‘More’ or ‘Other’
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Poly-hierarchical taxonomies
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One term, multiple parent terms
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
The Concept of Facets
Facets are attributes of a content item
 Especially useful for browsing
Example: for a pair of pants:
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fabric
color
size
brand
price
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Faceted Taxonomy for Pants
Color
red
green
blue
orange
Fabric
wool
leather
silk
cotton
Brand
Gap
Lee
Marc Jacobs
Size
2
4
6
8
10
For more information see sources at end of presentation
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Applications for DAM:
Class Assignment
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Does the DAM system contain a tool out
of the box to create and maintain
taxonomies?
 9 out of the 13 DAM systems studied
have taxonomy management capabilities
 All 9 enable use of taxonomies in the
user interface
 One product of the 9 doesn’t enable
synonym management
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
How are taxonomies used to
enhance the end-user experience?
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Browse assets
Narrow down search results
Type ahead
Examples:
 Asset Bank
 Media Beacon
 Nuxeo
 Canto Cumulus
 ADAM
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Taxonomy example: animals
Animals (level 1)
Amphibians (level 2)
Frogs (level 3)
Newts
Toads
Birds
Birds of Prey
Wading Birds
Insects
Bees
Beetles
Flies
Mammals
Cats
Cattle
Deer
Dogs
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Asset Bank: multi-level taxonomy browse
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Asset Bank: multi-level taxonomy browse
Animals (top level)
Amphibians
Birds
Insects
Mammals
Primates
Reptiles
Rodents
Sea Life
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Asset Bank: multi-level taxonomy browse
Animals
Mammals
Cats
Cattle
Deer
Dogs
Horses
Pigs
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Asset Bank: multi-level taxonomy browse
Animals
Mammals
Cats
Wild
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Asset Bank: image detail
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
Asset Bank: keyword browse
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
Asset Bank: browse categories
© Bright Interactive 2004-2009
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Media Beacon: browse
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Copyright © 2010, MediaBeacon, Inc
Source: Media Beacon http://videos.mediabeacon.com/Taxonomies-Episode1.mov
Media Beacon: narrow down
search results
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Copyright © 2010, MediaBeacon, Inc
Canto Cumulus: multi-level browse
Copyright © 2010 Canto, Inc.
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Canto Cumulus: manage taxonomy
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Customized two-level browse
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
© www.adamsoftware.net
ADAM: multi-level taxonomy browse
© www.adamsoftware.net
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
ADAM: select classification for asset edit
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
© www.adamsoftware.net
Type Ahead
Controlled vocabulary terms
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Tips and take-aways
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User testing is highly recommended for the
search user interface
Ask users about search and browse
experiences they like to use on the web
Consult with SMEs for vocabularies
Keywords and subject taxonomies are usually
two different CV’s
Don’t re-invent the wheel to create subject
taxonomies. Many are available free or
through a licensing arrangement. See
http://www.taxonomywarehouse.com
Authority lists are available through the
Library of Congress http://authorities.loc.gov/
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Sources for more information
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Taxonomy Warehouse http://www.taxonomywarehouse.com
Live version of Asset Bank from British Geological Survey: http://geoscenic.bgs.ac.uk/assetbank/action/viewHome
Live demo Canto Cumulus http://www.canto.com/en/docs/flash/web_client_tour/frames.html
Media Beacon taxonomies in DAM video http://videos.mediabeacon.com/TaxonomiesEpisode1.mov
Blog post on integrating folksonomy tagging with controlled vocabularies
http://www.aiimcommunities.org/e20/blog/organizing-chaos-tag-it by Bert Sandie
“Designing for Faceted Search” by Stephanie Lemieux
http://www.earley.com/knowledge/articles/designing-faceted-search
Faceted Browse DAM Product from Endeca: http://www.endeca.com/solutions-mediapublishing-digital-asset-navigation.htm
Building a keyword library for description of visual assets: Thesaurus basics
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/dam/journal/v3/n3/full/3650074a.html by Donna Slawsky
Syllabus for DAM course at Columbia University
https://courseworks.columbia.edu/public/IDRMK4340_001_2010_1
National Information Standards Organization. “Guidelines for the Construction, Format,
and Management of Monolingual Controlled Vocabulary.” ANSI/NISO Z39.19-2005. NISO
Press. July 25, 2005.
http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards?step=2&gid=None&project_key%3Austring%3Aiso8859-1=7cc9b583cb5a62e8c15d3099e0bb46bbae9cf38a
© 2010 Donna Slawsky
Contact Info
donnaslawsky@yahoo.com
Connect on LinkedIn
 Question for you:
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Looking for DAM managers willing to
be interviewed by a student and offer
a tour of your DAM system for a
midterm paper in the Fall.
© 2010 Donna Slawsky