As someone who both teaches and builds taxonomies (and ontologies), and
perhaps more importantly with experience as an organisational leader working
to raise understanding of the value of taxonomies in the face of a sometimes
loudly expressed view that "their day is done", I think there are few areas
so misunderstood as this one.

I agree with Carol that there (ought to be) no standard RM taxonomy.  The
defaults in taxonomies tend to be the default structure provided in
accountng packages, for example, and anyone who has used these knows that
they both go beyond a specific need, and fail to reach the extent of that
need by being, well, generic.  

A good word to keep in mind is: vocabulary.  A taxonomy essentially
establishes (and should reflect) the agreed vocabulary in the domain(s)
covered by it.  In business, that is not the "official" vocabulary--it is
the working vocabulary (which may become "official" through taxonomy design.  

Business functions, workflow, user needs and more all come into play in
taxonomy design.  Enhancing the taxonomy with representation of
non-hierarchical relationships moves into the ontology realm--but the term
taxonomy is often used interchangable.  In my own view, and that of
Australian colleague Marita Keenan, the definition of metadata is a critical
component of bringing taxonomies to life in organisations.  Not sure if
Marita is on the list, but I believe that the work she has done for Patrick
Lambe in Singapore  has contributed to his grasp of taxonomies and their
place in RM. (This is a delight as we need to build understanding in Asia!)
 As he and I have discussed, there are those who believe that technology has
eliminated the need for structure.  Of course, in the RM domain, we know
that with the structure, there can be no effective--conscious--retention
management.  Whether the taxonomy is visible to the users or not, it must
exist somewhere.

It's important to delved deeply into taxonomies--but remember many do not
work.  The lessons learned from these are, IMO, more important than
reference to ones that do!

Regards,
Joh

John James O'Brien, CRM, MALT
www.irmstrategies.com

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