Thursday, November 8th

Taxonomy FAQs
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.
Ron Daniel, Disruptive Technologies Director, Elsevier
Get the brief and basic answers to the most common questions about developing and implementing taxonomies in this fast-paced introduction to taxonomies and metadata.Taxonomy Boot Camp assumes attendees already know taxonomy fundamentals,so attend this optional FAQ course if you want to get up-to-speed quickly.


WELCOME & JOINT KEYNOTE
9:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Tags,Categories,& Knowledge Sharing
Dave Snowden, Founder & Chief Scientist, The Cynefin Company
Using tags and categories effectively is a primary challenge to progress in knowledge management and social computing today.  According to David Snowden,we are continuing to use old ways.We are still looking for truth linked to the validity of a tag.We place too much significance on the symbolic nature of language and fail to take advantage of valuable context to increase meaning.In this forward-looking keynote,Snowden discusses new ways of dealing with this issue,suggests how we can create context-rich approaches to organizing and interpreting our knowledge,and takes a controversial look ahead as he forecasts where we may be going in the future.


Thoughts on Social Tagging
[10:30 am - 11:15 am]
Marti Hearst, Professor, School of Information, University of California - Berkeley
From blogging to human-response search engines to PowerPoint slide sharing sites,social media is booming in popularity.One important aspect occurring across many different types of social media is social tagging, or the creation of ìfolksonomies.î Although powerful,social tagging can create a disorganized mess since tags are usually not drawn from a well-thought-out vocabulary system.There has been much talk but little academic work on this phenomenon.In this keynote,Marti Hearst will discuss work in progress,including the relationship between faceted metadata and tags and research issues on social tagging for search,and review her qualitative work on tag clouds.


Tagging with a Taxonomy
11:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Joseph Busch, Principal, Taxonomy Strategies
Developing a taxonomy has little or no value until content can be organized using it.Tagging of any kind is better than the words that happen to occur in a piece of content.End-user tagging and tagging by librarians are useful,as are tags automatically assigned by business rules and language processing algorithms.Content should be tagged throughout its life cycleó each time the content is handled and used - so that it accrues value.This session will address the practical considerations and proven approaches to tagging content with a taxonomy.


The Process and Politics of Implementing a Corporate Taxonomy
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Lee Romero, Senior Manager, Global Knowledge Platforms, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Limited
Novell has successfully established an enterprise taxonomy.Learn how it established a taxonomy review board from across the business,about the processes for managing the taxonomy,and how the taxonomy has become embedded in Novellís content management system and a number of corporate repositories to provide a cohesive language for the companyís knowledge workers.  Hear about the business rules that are now in place to enhance search throughout Novellís knowledge repositories.


Lunch Break in the Exhibit Hall
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Spec & Select:How to Be Efficient & Effective in Purchasing Taxonomy Software
1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Marti Heyman, Executive Director, Metadata Standards and Services, Cengage Learning
It's hard not to be dazzled and baffled by vendors when itís time to purchase software to support your taxonomy development and management efforts.  Yet this may be a critical step to ensuring the success,or the failure,of your taxonomy program.How do you know what you need to avoid buying too much, or too little, functionality? This session presents a data-based process to guide you in selecting the right tool based on your requirements and constraints and provides you with a logical argument supporting your selection of software that will enable a successful taxonomy program.


Selecting Taxonomy Software
1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Tom Reamy, Chief Knowledge Architect & Founder, KAPS Group Author, Deep Text
With the trend toward integrated software solutions,it is becoming difficult to find simple stand-alone taxonomy management tools.  Using examples from recent projects,Tom Reamy discusses selecting the right taxonomy software in the context of developing and applying taxonomies with enterprise search and content management software.Hear the major feature sets that this class of software should have,and understand how to integrate the right variations of features with the other major components such as search and content management.You will learn how to find the best mix of features and software offerings for taxonomy management,distributed taxonomy development, entity extraction,and categorization capabilities.


Making Decisions in Creating Taxonomies
2:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Heather Hedden, Taxonomy Consultant, Hedden Information Management Author, The Accidental Taxonomist
Developing a hierarchical taxonomy (or set of taxonomies) involves a great deal of decision making.While stakeholders can provide some answers,they often leave decisions to the individual developing the taxonomy,who "knows best."  The taxonomist,therefore,needs to anticipate issues that will arise and know how to make the best decisions for specific applications.This practical how-to session covers a number of issues that require a decision on the part of the taxonomy developer and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of taking alternate approaches. 


Coffee Break - Last Chance to Visit the Exhibit Hall
2:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
From Taxonomy to Ontology: Laying the Groundwork for the Semantic Web
3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Jennifer Borrell, Senior Taxonomist, Etsy
Learn about the relationship between taxonomies and ontologies and hear a case study about the challenges Abbott Laboratories faced as it changed the way it manages product information.Jennifer Borrell will describe how Abbott's taxonomy strategy evolved from using a simple hierarchical taxonomy stored in a spreadsheet to using a knowledge management tool to create an ontologica model with rich, semantic relationships.Discover how simple it can be to link disparate information,allowing users to quickly and easily find all the information they need in one place.


Everything You Wanted to Know About Auto-Classification (But Were Afraid to Ask)
3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
How to Determine If Auto-Categorization Software Is Right for You
Wendi Pohs, Chief Technology Officer, InfoClear Consulting
This session discusses the ever-increasing use of auto-categorizers to support enterprise applications.Drawing from practical experience, Wendi Pohs will describe the pros and cons of using auto-categorization software,what you should look for in product user interfaces, and the kinds of resources you need to support this work.Hear about her best practices and also learn what to avoid when using auto-categorization tools.


Auto-Categorization Tools,Rules,& Techniques
Jim Wessely, President, Advanced Document Sciences
This session will examine issues surrounding the use of auto-categorizers, including when to use these tools (i.e.,when will and when won't auto-categorization work successfully);auto-categorization technologies and their strengths and weaknesses;an overview of auto-categorization techniques and tools;and auto categorization approaches,schemes,and how to write auto-categorization rules.  You will learn when to consider auto-categorization for an application,what you will have to do to make it work correctly,and how to select the right tools.


What Does It Cost to Implement Auto-Classification?
Marjorie M.K. Hlava, President & Chairman, Access Innovations, Inc. Data Harmony My blog is TaxoDiary.com
The full cost of the implementation for an automatic indexing system includes the creation of the rule base or training sets and the time from your purchase to actual productivity enhancementsóin addition to acquisition costs.  Then,once the software is in the production line,what does it cost to keep it current?  Learn about the real and hidden expenses of using auto-classification software so you can make an informed cost-benefit decision for your own project.


Using Auto-Classification Software
Susan Fagan, Program Analyst, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Hear how the EPA used Documentumís Content Intelligence Service (CIS) to auto-classify its Web content by loading the EPA controlled vocabulary and then classifying some test documents.The EPA then adjusted the default configuration of the tools to achieve satisfactory results.


Welcome Reception
5:15 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception
[Willow Glen Room (Second Floor) San Jose Marriott ]
Continue the day's discussions with new colleagues and old friends over drinks and hors d'oeuvres.  Meet and talk with the speakers and the conference sponsors.


Friday, November 9th

Continental Breakfast & Roundtable Discussion Groups
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Join colleagues and Taxonomy Boot Camp speakers for breakfast and discussion groups built around topics of common interest.  Trade ideas, share solutions, and tap into the experience of other attendees before you begin the day's sessions.


The Catch-22's of Taxonomy & 22 Ways to Prove Value
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Jie-hong Morrison, Search Engine & Taxonomy Consultant, Computer Technologies Consultants
Anyone who has worked on taxonomy projects knows the challenges of making a business case.One important solution is to visually demonstrate the values of taxonomy.However,until the taxonomy is implemented in real-world applications, we sometimes find ourselves in a Catch-22 scenario: The value of the taxonomy needs to be demonstrated to gain a go-ahead to successfully complete the project.  But a completed taxonomy or implementation is required to demonstrate the value.Are we trapped? The good news is there are 22 or more ways to demonstrate value creatively and progressively throughout the project cycle.This session presents a set of demo techniques you can use to make your case.


sponsored by
Ontologizing Taxonomies:Toward a Deeper Representation of Meaning
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Ian Niles, Taxonomist, Microsoft
Ontologies are often presented as next-generation taxonomies,but how do ontologies differ from taxonomies?  What does it mean to ontologize a taxonomy?  What is the business value of an ontology?  How are ontologies likely to evolve in coming years?  Learn about the distinctive advantages of an ontological representation and how to determine if it's appropriate for your needs.



Taxonomy Governance Through Metrics
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Alex Barnes, Senior Architect, Strategic Technology Solutions, Hitachi Consulting
Tom Witczak, Manager, Hitachi Consulting
Too often,taxonomies fall off the organizational radar after deployment.  To ensure ongoing support and success,it is crucial that a robust taxonomy governance program is in place post-deployment.  To ease adoption,Barnes and Witczak propose a pragmatic, tools-agnostic approach that uses existing process knowledge.Learn how to implement taxonomy maintenance processes, including organizational roles and structures from the development process;how to transition from development-focused metrics to operational metrics; how to structure the taxonomy maintenance to look like existing enterprise data and software maintenance processes; and how to coordinate taxonomy changes with other system changes.


Coffee Break
10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
The Hard Road to Simple:Testing Your Taxonomy
10:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Marilyn Carr, Director, Knowledge Services, KPMG LLP
This session presents a case study on a taxonomy designed for a government general inquiry service.It will discuss the journey from taxonomy chaos to order and why the obvious is never simple.  Hear how five simple questions lead to a sound taxonomy and why low-tech trumps high-tech when testing a taxonomy.


Building Bilingual Taxonomies
11:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Edward Castelli, System Administrator, Media Archive, General Motors
Julia Daniel, Taxonomy Specialist, Media Archive, General Motors
The General Motors Media Archive began tagging and indexing its content in 1993 using a customized controlled vocabulary.  The Adam Opel Public Relations Archive began doing the same in 1997 with a different customized controlled vocabulary.  Hear about the process of merging these two disparate vocabularies into one bilingual (German and English) faceted taxonomy, which enabled GM to understand its visual heritage, gain insight into the cultural/corporate context reflected in its imagery, and discover the impact of its imagery on customers and staff.


sponsored by
How Associated Press Manages Rich News Content
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Amy Sweigert, Director of Information Management, Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) has undertaken a mission-critical project to increase the speed and flexibility in how it describes and delivers rich (multimedia) news content.  AP has integrated metadata management into every aspect of the content acquisition,storage,and delivery process using SchemaLogicís SchemaServer as the semantic backbone.  Amy Sweigert will describe the project and business advantages and the use of both simple and complex taxonomies.


Attendee Luncheon
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Working with Large-Scale Taxonomies
1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Seth Earley, CEO, Earley Information Science Author, The AI Powered Enterprise
You've developed a taxonomy or perhaps leveraged a public source of terms.  For certain applications, such as tagging content via drop-downs in a content management system, using the taxonomy is reasonably straightforward.  But what if there are hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of terms?  How can large taxonomies be leveraged through clustering, entity extraction, faceted search,
and plain old content tagging?  How can changes to public taxonomies be reconciled with the taxonomy, especially after terms have been adapted for internal use?  These and other challenges related to managing and updating large-scale taxonomies will be covered.


Using Linked or Mapped Taxonomies to Leverage Content in a Global Organization
1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Andrea Alliston, Director of Knowledge Management, Stikeman Elliott LLP
Sylvie Hebert, Director, Knowledge Management and Precedents, Stikeman Elliott LLP
In global organizations,one taxonomy does not fit all.Often,the concepts and terms used in different jurisdictions and business units are different.  Linked or mapped taxonomies can assist with this challenge.  Users in one jurisdiction or business unit are only required to classify and search for content based on terms that they know.  By mapping or linking their terms to a taxonomy used in another jurisdiction or business unit, they can search its content without needing to understand its taxonomy or concepts.  The work of linking the concepts together is done by managing the taxonomy lists.  This session illustrates how linked and mapped taxonomies are used to classify and organize content at a Canadian law firm.


sponsored by
Corralling Wild Horses:Meeting the Challenge of Unstructured Information
2:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Reginald J. Twigg, Manager,ECM Classification & Taxonomy, IBM Corporation
Gaining central control over metadata is the key to realizing the IT and business benefits of enterprise content management (ECM).  Providing central control of metadata and offering critical content management services,including taxonomy and classification management, enable an organization to derive the critical benefits of ECM, such as reduced risk, lower costs,and greater content leverageability.  This session outlines the business problems and the classification challenges for unstructured business content and shows how normalizing metadata from heterogeneous content sources works to enable the standardization of platform, policies, processes, and content management best practices across the enterprise.


Eliciting Vocabularies:A Community-of-Interest Path to Semantic Data
2:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Andy Podolsky, Consulting Ontologist,Garnet Educational Consulting, Stone Associates
Harry A. Pape, Principal, Stone Associates
Over the past year the U.S.Air Forceís Enterprise Vocabulary Team has developed a range of "bottom-up" vocabularies for use in automated metadata tagging of structured and unstructured content.  Recognizing dramatic problems of ambiguity, its most critical task was aligning the different vocabularies: reconciling differences without imposing definitions.  Learn about the Air Force's dynamic process for developing, maintaining, and implementing large-scale vocabularies and how your organization might implement such a process.  The driver for this massive effort is the growing reality of a "net-centric" environment, where every member (and every sensor) can be connected to the enterprise store of information assets regardless of location or time.


Coffee Break
3:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Capturing the Voice of the User in Taxonomies
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Richard Beatch, Search & Information Architect, Allstate
We all know the importance of ensuring that taxonomies offer user interactions that reflect the language that users really use.  However, in a Web 2.0 world it is not enough to simply tailor the language of the taxonomy to the lexicon of our average or target user.  Web 2.0 gives us countless ways of interacting with our users to better respond to their needs and reflect their voice in our design.  This session explores some of the emerging ways we can leverage technology to bring the user into our taxonomies and expand our ability to deliver quality user interactions through taxonomy development and deployment.


sponsored by
Relational Navigation:A Taxonomy-Based Approach to Information Access & Discovery
4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Brad Allen, Founder & CTO, Siderean Software
The newest discovery technologies, such as relational navigation, allow users to tumble across search results, moving between data repositories at any step along the way.  Relational navigation leverages faceted metadata to provide users with context to back up content.  It illuminates dynamic relationships between data points from information sources across the enterprise and on the Web to deliver high-value, high-impact information in a personalized and intuitive way.  Relational navigation enables improved information discovery by harnessing taxonomy's ability to guide navigation without the downside of offering just one path through the taxonomy.  Attendees will learn about the importance of faceted taxonomies in improving information access and discovery and how organizations are using relational navigation to harness increasing volumes of enterprise and Web-based information.


A Semantic Infrastructure for Taxonomy 2.0
4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tom Reamy, Chief Knowledge Architect & Founder, KAPS Group Author, Deep Text
Taxonomies and folksonomies each have their strengths,and new forms of knowledge representation, including facets, facts, and new visualization techniques, are showing more and more promise.  This thought-provoking endnote session describes recent research that studied combining the formal strength of taxonomies with the social and collaborative nature of folksonomy creation and utilization, theoretical ideas (complexity theory), collaborative software, and traditional taxonomy governance methods.  The project then extended that approach to include the development of faceted metadata and the use of facts (sets of RDF-based Subject-Verb-Object triples).  The basic finding was that for a small increase in the task of adding tags, their usefulness was greatly improved, and by including facets and facts in the mix, the result was a powerful new way to develop knowledge structures that are both formal and social and theoretical and practical.