The document discusses integrating folksonomies with traditional metadata. It defines folksonomy as personal free tagging done socially and explains that folksonomies provide value by allowing people to use their own vocabularies and add explicit meaning. While taxonomies provide structure and efficiency, folksonomies are emergent, inexpensive, and continually validated. The document explores combining taxonomies and folksonomies by validating folksonomy tags and identifying gaps to fill with the taxonomy.

1. ThomasVander Wal - InfoCloud Solutions, Inc.
15 November 2010
Taxonomy Bootcamp - Washington, DC
Integrating Folksonomies With
Traditional Metadata

2. OneView...

3. Workshop Orientation
Low use can have high value

4. Validation

5. Identify Gaps

6. Fill Gaps

7. How?

8. InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. - 2010
The “F” Word

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Folksonomy

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❖ Folksonomy is the result of personal free
tagging of pages and objects for one's own
retrieval
❖ The tagging is usually done in a social
environment (shared and open to others)
❖ The act of tagging is done by the person
consuming the information
Folksonomy: Definition

11. InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. - 2010
The value in this external tagging is derived
from people using their own vocabulary
and adding explicit meaning, which may
come from inferred understanding of the
information/object.
Folksonomy:Value
The value in this external tagging is derived
from people using their own vocabulary
and adding explicit meaning
People are not so much categorizing, as
providing a means to connect items
(placing hooks) to provide their meaning in
their own understanding.

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Object Identity
Metadata
Interest
Vocabulary
Definition
Folksonomy Triad

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Object Identity
Metadata
Definition
Vocabulary
Terminology
Interest
Culture
Community
Dual Folksonomy Triad

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Taxonomy Folksonomy
Business Employees
Object
Taxonomy vs. Folksonomy

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Taxonomy Folksonomy
Taxonomy & Folksonomy

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70% of Folksonomy tag
terms not in Taxonomy
J.Trant regarding Steve.museum

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Compensating
Taxonomy Folksonomy
+ Structure - Messy
+ Efficiency - Difficult Findability
+ Solid foundation - Slow to emerge
- Resource intensive + Relatively inexpensive
- Not emergent + Emergent by nature
- Difficult to validate + Continual validation

18. InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. 2010
Terms Around an Object
Taxonomy Folksonomy
- Ball
- Sphere
- Blue
- #A6437
- Ball (89)
- Circle (63)
- Blue (23)
- Orb (11)
- Sphere (6)
- Gradient (3)
- ToBuy (3)
- Darkblue (2)
- Round (2)
- … 26 more

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Part #A6473 Terms
0
22.5
45.0
67.5
90.0
A6473
Distribution of Terms
Validate
taxonomy
or add to
taxonomy Interest
& watch
Value in
Synonyms &
Unique views

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Part #A6473 Terms
0
22.5
45.0
67.5
90.0
A6473
Distribution of Terms
Validate
taxonomy
or add to
taxonomy Interest
& watch
Azure

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❖ Their OWN use/value first
❖ Add Perspective/Context
❖ Missing metadata
❖ EmergentVocabulary
❖ Personal descriptors
❖ Refindability
❖ Aggregation of information
❖ Task-based aggregation
❖ State Interest
❖ Sociality
Reasons People Tag

22. Where is it?

23. Social Bookmarking

24. Social Software
Applications

25. SearchSearch

26. Mainstream Enterprise
Tools

27. Context

28. Metadata

29. Core Elements
•Object
•Tag
•Identity

30. Ancillary Metadata
• Date Added (last modified)
• What Service
• Corpus of tags (co-occurrence)
• Who else tagged
• Role: Publisher / Authority / End user

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1, 1, 2, 2 ?
Design
= Software Design
= Visual Design

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Object Identity
Metadata
Interest
Vocabulary
Definition
Device/Service Context
Context1

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Object Identity
Metadata
Interest
Vocabulary
Definition
Device/Service Context
Context2

34. Disambiguation
• Spelling
• Tagging Conventions
• Multi-word tag terms
• Mashed-up
• Word delimiters ( _ . - )

35. Lack of Use From:
• Inconsistent and/or poor interface
• Lack of familiarity
• Personal use value missing

36. The 4 rings of
enterprise social tools

37. Tools
Enterprise Social Tool:
Components for Success

38. Tools Interface /
Ease of Use
Enterprise Social Tool:
Components for Success Capabilities

39. Tools Interface /
Ease of Use
Sociality
Capabilities
Intelligence &
Business Needs
Enterprise Social Tool:
Components for Success

40. Tools Interface /
Ease of Use
Encouraging
Use
Sociality
Capabilities
Expand Use &
Increase ROI
Social Comfort
Intelligence &
Business Needs
Enterprise Social Tool:
Components for Success

41. Moving to Taxonomy

42. Validation

43. Identifying Gaps

44. Filling Gaps

45. Automate Check
• Validate in taxonomy
• Ensure same understanding
• Identify co-occurrence of other terms

46. Term Not in Taxonomy
• Useful term easy review
• Repetitive use
• Term in objects or links to objects
• Term in related objects
• Synonym

47. Term Not in Taxonomy
• Human examination
• Some repetitive use
• Who / Group / Role
• Cyclical
• Other occurrences of the term

48. Metadata Structures
• Microformats
• XRD / XRI - iTags
• Common Tag Format

49. Pulling it all Together

50. InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. - 2010
URL: http://infocloudsolutions.com
E-mail: thomas@infocloudsolutions.com
AIM: vanderwal
Skype: tjvanderwal
Twitter: @vanderwal or @infocloud