Subject classification exercise: part 1
This week, we’ve talked about the first steps in creating a subject classification:
1. Determine preliminary domain, or subject area.
2. Perform a basic domain analysis to identify potential concepts to include in the classification.
3. Begin to construct a version of the subject by selecting concepts that align with your audience and purpose,
defining the composition and extent of the domain.
Now we’re going to get some practice with #3, by reviewing a set of related concepts and “constructing” a cohesive
“subject domain” out of them.
You won’t have “harvested” the concepts yourself, and so you won’t be able to use many of the warrants that we’ve
read about as rationale for your decisions, or at least not with a whole lot of confidence. But we will approximate the
activity of shaping a concept space nonethless, focusing on the way that a classificationist forges a particular,
specific interpretation of a subject domain. Different forms of warrant might contribute to this interpretive activity,
but they do not determine it; much of the work of classification design relies on what we might call editorial
judgment to form a cohesive “theory” of the subject represented by the classification. In this exercise, we will
concentrate on developing that editorial judgment.
Your mission
In a group of about 4 people, review the following concepts related to gardening. (Each group will also have a set of
index cards with each concept.) Make sure that everyone in the group has a sense of what the concepts mean. It’s
possible that you may not agree on what a concept means. At this point, you should just be aware of such
differences; you don’t need to resolve them yet.
After reviewing the entire set of 132 concepts, your group will select 30-40 of the concepts to define a smaller, more
precise subject area. Everyone in the group should agree on what the concepts mean, in the context of the subject
area that you’re proposing, and everyone should be able to explain how each concept contributes to the overall idea
of the subject that you are defining. For example, you might select a set of concepts to represent “sustainable
gardening in central Texas” or “garden design for beginners” or “home garden activities” or “gardening for food”—
whatever you see emerging from the larger list of gardening concepts. There is no correct answer here; think about
this task as making a case, or creating an argument, for a particular subject definition. For example, you might
define “lifestyle gardening” as planning and enjoying one’s garden, but not performing actual tasks with plants,
which would be delegated to one’s gardener. So you might include concepts for types of gardens (planning what to
do) and activities that take place in gardens (barbecues) and skip concepts for dealing with pests, and so on.
If your group determines that your subject idea requires additional concepts that are not represented in the list, feel
free to make the necessary additions; I have extra index cards and pens. (This may become more apparent during our
next class, when you will structure your concepts into a hierarchy or set of multiple hierarchies.) Please, though, do
not write on or otherwise alter the cards that you were given.
At the conclusion of this exercise, you should be able to explain:


Your group’s definition of the subject area you’ve selected.
How the concepts you’ve chosen to constitute the subject express that definition.
Each group will have a few minutes minutes to explain their subject area to the rest of the class, and we will use this
experience to talk about the project of subject classification design in general, and your assignment in particular.
The next time we meet, we will continue this exercise by structuring the gardening classification that you have
begun today, creating hierarchical and associative relationships between the concepts that you selected.
Subject concepts
1. annuals
2. ants
3. aphids
4. arbors
5. balance
6. barbecues
7. beneficial insects
8. biennials
9. borders
10. budget
11. bulbs
12. canning
13. clay soil
14. color
15. community garden
16. compost
17. container garden
18. croquet
19. curb appeal
20. cuttings
21. deer
22. dethatching
23. drainage
24. edging
25. English garden
26. fence construction
27. fences
28. fertilizer
29. fertilizing
30. flowerbed
31. flowering plants
32. focal points
33. fountains
34. French garden
35. full-shade exposure
36. full-sun exposure
37. garden decor
38. garden design
39. garden furniture
40. garden maintenance
41. garden ornaments
42. garden parties
43. garden services
44. garden shears
45. garden tools
46. gardeners
47. gardening
48. gazebos
49. grasses
50. greenhouse garden
51. growing season
52. harvesting
53. hedges
54. heirloom seeds
55. herbs
56. hoes
57. hydroponic garden
58. irrigation system
59. Japanese garden
60. kitchen garden
61. landscape architects
62. landscaping
63. lawnmowers
64. lawns
65. loam soil
66. manure
67. mowing
68. mulch
69. native plants
70. nooks
71. orchard
72. organic gardening
73. partial-sun exposure
74. patios
75. perennials
76. pergolas
77. pest management
78. pesticides
79. pests
80. plant diseases
81. plant hardiness zones
82. plant nutrition
83. plant placement
84. plant selection
85. planting
86. plants
87. ponds
88. potting
89. preserving
90. pruning
91. rabbits
92. rainwater
93. raised beds
94. rakes
95. rock garden
96. rocky soil
97. roof garden
98. sandy soil
99. seasons
100. seeds
101. shovels
102. shrubs
103. simplicity
104. sodding
105. soil
106. soil acidity
107. soil aeration
108. soil amendments
109. soil fertility
110. soil improvement
111. soil texture
112. sprinkler systems
113. staking
114. terrace
115. texture
116. tilling
117. topiary
118. trees
119. trelllises
120. trowels
121. tubers
122. unity
123. vegetable plants
124. vines
125. water conservation
126. watering
127. weeding
128. weeds
129. weevils
130. windowsill garden
131. worms
132. xeriscaping