We kick off 2025’s Bite-sized programme with a terrific keynote from our 2024 Taxonomy Practitioner of the Year. Amy describes her success in turning a messy landscape of unconnected taxonomies into a coherent enterprise taxonomy - a challenge many taxonomists have to confront at some stage.

From spreadsheet to strategy: insights from the Vilans taxonomy journey

First steps with the four elements of findability

Joyce and Annemieke present an in-depth case study of how they embedded a robust taxonomy function within their organisation as part of its digital transformation and single headless CMS programme. Tom dives into the detail of activities Cancer Research undertook to improve findability of content in different locations, including the central role played by taxonomies and ontologies.

The O Word: Ontologies in the spotlight - what do taxonomists need to know?

Wait – you have HOW many taxonomies? Mapping the semantic layer

Ontologies and the semantic layer offer new opportunities for taxonomists and this session hears from experts in both, Fran, Bob and Sherrard, who present essential background information and practical advice so that taxonomists are equipped to take on these new skills.

No taxonomy project exists in isolation, and there will inevitably be a need to draw on the knowledge and support of subject matter experts. Melissa provides a range of tips, tricks and techniques to get the most out of this key business relationship.

Tips for designing taxonomy facets

SharePoint tagging and classification

This session presents expert perspectives on two weighty and popular areas of taxonomists’ work. Heather provides tips and advanced best practices for designing faceted taxonomies for various purposes, while Rob presents an accessible introduction to tagging and classification in SharePoint, including Term store, Content types and Site columns.

From chaos to clarity: Building a unified taxonomy for healthcare knowledge

A game like ... : A deep dive on improved video game classification

Whatever the use case or the sector, taxonomies prove their value time and again. Carol’s talk comes from the healthcare sector; her organisation needed a taxonomy to serve as the backbone for its knowledge strategy. Ed describes how he developed video game classifications beyond the traditional buckets of genre, to a richer schema that better supports discoverability across search, LLMs and more.

AI has been one of the hottest topics of recent years and Lauren’s talk, which is suitable for beginners, highlights all the skills, terminology and use cases taxonomists will need to understand in order to engage meaningfully with AI products and teams.

The past, present and future of taxonomies

Building a content graph

This session takes us all the way from the historical beginnings of information retrieval to cutting-edge applications that bring together content, taxonomies and knowledge graphs. Martin offers a thought-provoking overview of current issues in the use of taxonomies, informed by the rich history of information management. Ian describes a project to integrate content and metadata from disparate sources using a CMS and semantic repositories into a functioning content graph.

No conspiracies here! Clear and transparent taxonomy foundations

How to influence digital product teams towards intentional taxonomy selection and adoption best practice

Enterprise taxonomies and ontologies are increasingly vital assets for organisations looking to join up and exploit their data and content, especially with machine learning or LLM applications. Ahren focuses on the important topic of finding the right ways to show information from semantic models to users without overwhelming them with unneeded detail. Jane’s talk presents tried and trusted methods for taxonomists to best support colleagues on digital product teams who may have little prior knowledge of working with taxonomies.