Joseph T. Tennis
University of Washington, Information School, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan's theory of classification spans a number of works over a number of decades. And while he was devoted to solving many problems in the practice of librarianship, and is known as the father of library... more
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan's theory of classification spans a number of works over a number of decades. And while he was devoted to solving many problems in the practice of librarianship, and is known as the father of library science in India (Garfield, 1984), his work in classification revolves around one central concern. His classification research addressed the problems that arose from introducing new ideas into a scheme for classification, while maintaining a meaningful hierarchical and systematically arranged order of classes. This is because hierarchical and systematically arranged classes are the defining characteristic of useful classification. To lose this order is to through the addition of new classes is to introduce confusion, if not chaos, and to move toward a useless classification – or at least one that requires complete revision. In the following chapter, I outline the stages, and the elements of those stages, in Ranganathan's thought on classification from 1926-1972, as well as posthumous work that continues his agenda. And while facets figure prominently in all of these stages; but for Ranganathan to achieve his goal, he must continually add to this central feature of his theory of classification. I will close this chapter with an outline of persistent problems that represent research fronts for the field. Chief among these are what to do about scheme change and the open question about the rigor of information modeling in light of semantic web developments.
Research Interests:
Social tagging, as a particular type of indexing, has thrown into question the nature of indexing. Is it a democratic process? Can we all benefit from user-created tags? What about the value added by professionals? Employing an evolving... more
Social tagging, as a particular type of indexing, has thrown into question the nature of indexing. Is it a democratic process? Can we all benefit from user-created tags? What about the value added by professionals? Employing an evolving framework analysis, this paper addresses the question: what is next for indexing? Comparing social tagging and subject cataloguing; this paper identifies the points of similarity and difference that obtain between these two kinds of information organization frameworks. The subsequent comparative analysis of the parts of these frameworks points to the nature of indexing as an authored, personal, situational, and referential act, where differences in discursive placement divide these two species. Furthermore, this act is contingent on implicit and explicit understanding of purpose and tools available. This analysis allows us to outline desiderata for the next steps in indexing
Research Interests:
Every indexing language is made up of terms. Those terms have morphological characteristics. These include terms made up of single words, two words, or more. We can also take into account the total number of terms.We can assemble these... more
Every indexing language is made up of terms. Those terms have morphological characteristics. These include terms made up of single words, two words, or more. We can also take into account the total number of terms.We can assemble these measures, normalize them, and then cluster indexing languages based on this common set of measures [1].Cluster analysis reviews discrete groups based on term morphology that comport with traditional design assumptions that separate ontologies, from thesauri, and folksonomies
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the context of the International Society for Knowledge Organization, we often consider knowledge organization systems to comprise catalogues, thesauri, and bibliothecal classification schemes ??? schemes for library arrangement. In... more
In the context of the International Society for Knowledge Organization, we often consider knowledge organization systems to comprise catalogues, thesauri, and bibliothecal classification schemes ??? schemes for library arrangement. In recent years we have added ontologies and folksonomies to our sphere of study. In all of these cases it seems we are concerned with improving access to information. We want a good system.And much of the literature from the late 19th into the late 20th century took that as their goal ??? to analyze the world of knowledge and the structures of representing it as its objects of study; again, with the ethos for creating a good system. In most cases this meant we had to be correct in our assertions about the universe of knowledge and the relationships that obtain between its constituent parts. As a result much of the literature of knowledge organization is prescriptive ??? instructing designers and professionals how to build or use the schemes correctly ???...
Research Interests:
Subtheme: Foundations and methods for Knowledge Organization Title: Intellectual History, History of Ideas, and Subject Ontogeny Objectives: Outline methodological stances in subject ontogeny research through examination of work in... more
Subtheme: Foundations and methods for Knowledge Organization Title: Intellectual History, History of Ideas, and Subject Ontogeny Objectives: Outline methodological stances in subject ontogeny research through examination of work in intellectual history, history of ideas, and in the philosophical commitments of realism and nominalism Methods: Comparative analysis and construct creation and naming, logical argumentation. Main results and conclusions: A rich vocabulary is available to us through this comparative work and we can begin to differentiate kinds of subject ontogeny work through these descriptions of methodologies. Keywords: Nature of Subjects; Subject Ontogeny; Comparative Work; Foundations in Knowledge Organization Intellectual History, History of Ideas, and Subject Ontogeny Joseph T. Tennis University of Washington In the context of subject ontogeny research, that is, the study of how subjects change or do not change through revision of indexing languages, there a number o...
Research Interests:
In contemporary practice, metadata application profiles define which metadata properties (sometimes called elements) are used in a particular instance. The rationale for this is the wide range and variety of metadata schema standards. We... more
In contemporary practice, metadata application profiles define which metadata properties (sometimes called elements) are used in a particular instance. The rationale for this is the wide range and variety of metadata schema standards. We can think of a metadata application profile as a mixing of only those relevant properties from different (and perhaps diverse) standard metadata schemas, combined for the purpose of describing resources (records, documents, etc.) in a particular context. One of the most common metadata schema standard comes from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. Originally designed to be parsimonious with only fifteen metadata properties, the concept of “core” was an attempt to be lightweight and versatile. The intention was to allow anyone to describe anything and put that description on the web so that anyone using the web could find anything. However, the one-size fits all appearance of the schema has been a source of criticism (Harper, 2011). One amelioration...
Research Interests:
Subject ontogeny is the life of the subject in an indexing language (e.g., classification scheme like the DDC). Examining how a subject is treated over time tells us about the anatomy of an indexing language. For example, gypsies as a... more
Subject ontogeny is the life of the subject in an indexing language (e.g., classification scheme like the DDC). Examining how a subject is treated over time tells us about the anatomy of an indexing language. For example, gypsies as a subject has been handled differently in different editions of the DDC
Research Interests:
Research poster about indexing theor
Research Interests:
Indexing languages appear in multiple versions. This is because they are revised. For example, the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is in its 23rd edition. This means that the editors of this particular indexing language felt they had... more
Indexing languages appear in multiple versions. This is because they are revised. For example, the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is in its 23rd edition. This means that the editors of this particular indexing language felt they had to make changes to the classes, their numbers, and what they are called. Elsewhere I have looked at a particular subject in the DDC and charted its life through the various editions from its first appearance to the present day. The subject I examined was EUGENICS; and it has, what I might call, a strange life in the DDC (Tennis, 2012). When it first appears as a subject in DDC, in 1911, it is named a biological science by virtue of the number assigned to the subject, 575.6. Because of revision it is no longer possible, via Dewey’s guidance, to class books on Eugenics in the 500s, the natural sciences. The classifier is guided to other disciplines in the scheme. This life of EUGENICS is what I call its ontogeny. Ontogeny is a term borrowed from biolog...
Research Interests:
The InterPARES 2 Terminology Cross-Domain has created three terminological instruments in service to the project, and by extension, Archival Science. Over the course of the five-year project this Cross-Domain has collected words,... more
The InterPARES 2 Terminology Cross-Domain has created three terminological instruments in service to the project, and by extension, Archival Science. Over the course of the five-year project this Cross-Domain has collected words, definition, and phrases from extant documents, research tools, models, and direct researcher submission and discussion. From these raw materials, the Cross-Domain has identified a systematic and pragmatic way establishing a coherent view on the concepts involved in dynamic, experiential, and interactive records and systems in the arts, sciences, and e-government.The three terminological instruments are the Glossary, Dictionary, and Ontologies. The first of these is an authoritative list of terms and definitions that are core to our understanding of the evolving records creation, keeping, and preservation environments. The Dictionary is a tool used to facilitate interdisciplinary communication. It contains multiple definitions for terms, from multiple disciplines. By using this tool, researchers can see how Archival Science deploys terminology compared to Computer Science, Library and Information Science, or Arts, etc. The third terminological instrument, the Ontologies, identify explicit relationships between concepts of records. This is useful for communicating the nuances of Diplomatics in the dynamic, experiential, and interactive environment.All three of these instruments were drawn from a Register of terms gathered over the course of the project. This Register served as a holding place for terms, definitions, and phrases, and allowed researchers to discuss, comment on, and modify submissions. The Register and the terminological instruments were housed in the Terminology Database. The Database provides searching, display, and file downloads – making it easy to navigate through the terminological instruments.Terminology used in InterPARES 1 and the UBC Project was carried forward to this Database. In this sense, we are building on our past knowledge, and making it relevant to the contemporary environment
Research Interests:
This chapter discusses conceptual provenance, the phenomenon of conceptual change in indexing languages through the introduction of the author’s previous work. Observations from looking at large classification schemes, like ontogeny,... more
This chapter discusses conceptual provenance, the phenomenon of conceptual change in indexing languages through the introduction of the author’s previous work. Observations from looking at large classification schemes, like ontogeny, semantic gravity, and collocative integrity, are introduced. The chapter closes with a discussion of key challenges in the methodology and outlines future research.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
There is potential disconnect between a view of classification as historically and culturally contingent and the ethics of KO. For instance, Mai (2011) urges a shift away from the ‘modernity’ of received classification theory, towards a... more
There is potential disconnect between a view of classification as historically and culturally contingent and the ethics of KO. For instance, Mai (2011) urges a shift away from the ‘modernity’ of received classification theory, towards a more pluralistic view that acknowledges the social, political, and historical contingency of classification as a practice. While this is a view shared by many, it is not evident how such an approach can support an ethics which prioritizes a commitment to truth, fairness, democracy, and the common good. A view of such values as merely contingent factors in classification activities would seem to undermine their use as ethical ideals, posing a choice between abandoning modernist tendencies and a workable ethics of KO. An ethics that is consonant with core methodological commitments is critical if we seek to preserve both disciplinary rigor and claim to serve the common good. Rorty's thought is presented as an ethics compatible with a view of classi...
Research Interests: Sociology, Epistemology, Library Science, Information Ethics, Knowledge organization, and 11 moreRichard Rorty, Pragmatism (Philosophy), Information Studies, Pluralism, Solidarity, Library and Information Studies, Social Science Research Network, Classification, Universalism, Contingency, and Meta Ethics
Classification is of interest to many disciplines. It is a fascinating phenomenon, though it might not be obvious to researchers in classification theory and knowledge organization with our intimate association meetings, however many... more
Classification is of interest to many disciplines. It is a fascinating phenomenon, though it might not be obvious to researchers in classification theory and knowledge organization with our intimate association meetings, however many groups are interested in it. For everyone who comes to it, classification is a profoundly abstract and complex process, riddled with problems of contradictions, universality, semantics, and provincialism - heady and important topics for social science. In the first 50 pages of the May 2006 issue of Theory, Culture, & Society, a journal of cultural sociology, theory, and interdisciplinary social science (Sage 2006) - the contributors address questions of definition and scope of classification. This is only part of a larger 616-page project called the New Encyclopedia project.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad,... more
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et a ̀ la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. 1
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad,... more
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et a ̀ la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. 1
References 1. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Forms, Knowledge, and Forms of Knowing. Talk given at ISKO-Brazil 2. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Precepts for an Engaged Knowledge Organization. Talk given at UNESP, Brazil 3. Loori, J. D. Eight Gates of Zen.... more
References 1. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Forms, Knowledge, and Forms of Knowing. Talk given at ISKO-Brazil 2. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Precepts for an Engaged Knowledge Organization. Talk given at UNESP, Brazil 3. Loori, J. D. Eight Gates of Zen. Dharma Comm. 4. Suzuki, S. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Shambhala. 5. Loori, J. D. The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans. Dharma Comm. FORM, FOUNDATIONS, AND THE ETHOS OF FOREMOST: Zen Practice, Epistemology, and Ontology in Reflective Knowledge Organization
Research Interests:
References 1. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Forms, Knowledge, and Forms of Knowing. Talk given at ISKO-Brazil 2. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Precepts for an Engaged Knowledge Organization. Talk given at UNESP, Brazil 3. Loori, J. D. Eight Gates of Zen.... more
References 1. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Forms, Knowledge, and Forms of Knowing. Talk given at ISKO-Brazil 2. Tennis, J. T. (2011). Precepts for an Engaged Knowledge Organization. Talk given at UNESP, Brazil 3. Loori, J. D. Eight Gates of Zen. Dharma Comm. 4. Suzuki, S. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Shambhala. 5. Loori, J. D. The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans. Dharma Comm. FORM, FOUNDATIONS, AND THE ETHOS OF FOREMOST: Zen Practice, Epistemology, and Ontology in Reflective Knowledge Organization
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Metatheory is meta-analytic work that comes from sociology and its purpose is the analysis of theory. Metatheory is a common form of scholarship in knowledge organization (KO). This paper presents an analysis of five papers that are... more
Metatheory is meta-analytic work that comes from sociology and its purpose is the analysis of theory. Metatheory is a common form of scholarship in knowledge organization (KO). This paper presents an analysis of five papers that are metatheoretical investigations in KO. The papers were published between 2008 and 2015 in the journal Knowledge Organization. The preliminary findings from this paper are that though the authors do metatheoretical work it is not made explicit by the majority of the authors. Of the four types of metatheoretical work, metatheorizing in order to better understand theory (Mu) is most popular. Further, the external/intellectual approach, which imports analytical lenses from other fields, was applied in four of the five papers. And, the use of metatheory as a method of analysis is closely related to these authors’ concern about epistemological, theoretical and methodological issues in the KO domain. Metatheory, while not always explicitly acknowledged as a meth...
Research Interests:
Metatheory is meta-analytic work that comes from sociology and its purpose is the analysis of theory. Metatheory is a common form of scholarship in knowledge organization (KO). This paper presents an analysis of five papers that are... more
Metatheory is meta-analytic work that comes from sociology and its purpose is the analysis of theory. Metatheory is a common form of scholarship in knowledge organization (KO). This paper presents an analysis of five papers that are metatheoretical investigations in KO. The papers were published between 2008 and 2015 in the journal Knowledge Organization. The preliminary findings from this paper are that though the authors do metatheoretical work it is not made explicit by the majority of the authors. Of the four types of metatheoretical work, metatheorizing in order to better understand theory (Mu) is most popular. Further, the external/intellectual approach, which imports analytical lenses from other fields, was applied in four of the five papers. And, the use of metatheory as a method of analysis is closely related to these authors’ concern about epistemological, theoretical and methodological issues in the KO domain. Metatheory, while not always explicitly acknowledged as a meth...
Research Interests:
The work of knowledge organization requires a particular set of tools. For instance we need standards of content description like Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Edition 2, Resource Description and Access (RDA), Cataloging Cultural... more
The work of knowledge organization requires a particular set of tools. For instance we need standards of content description like Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Edition 2, Resource Description and Access (RDA), Cataloging Cultural Objects, and Describing Archives: A Content Standard. When we intellectualize the process of knowledge organization – that is when we do basic theoretical research in knowledge organization we need another set of tools. For this latter exercise we need constructs. Constructs are ideas with many conceptual elements, largely considered subjective. They allow us to be inventive as well as allow us to see a particular point of view in knowledge organization. For example, Patrick Wilson’s ideas of exploitative control and descriptive control, or S. R. Ranganathan’s fundamental categories are constructs. They allow us to identify functional requirements or operationalizations of functional requirements, or at least come close to them for our systems and schemes...
Research Interests:
The work of knowledge organization requires a particular set of tools. For instance we need standards of content description like Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Edition 2, Resource Description and Access (RDA), Cataloging Cultural... more
The work of knowledge organization requires a particular set of tools. For instance we need standards of content description like Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Edition 2, Resource Description and Access (RDA), Cataloging Cultural Objects, and Describing Archives: A Content Standard. When we intellectualize the process of knowledge organization – that is when we do basic theoretical research in knowledge organization we need another set of tools. For this latter exercise we need constructs. Constructs are ideas with many conceptual elements, largely considered subjective. They allow us to be inventive as well as allow us to see a particular point of view in knowledge organization. For example, Patrick Wilson’s ideas of exploitative control and descriptive control, or S. R. Ranganathan’s fundamental categories are constructs. They allow us to identify functional requirements or operationalizations of functional requirements, or at least come close to them for our systems and schemes...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology and Autism
Research Interests: Psychology and Autism
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As the universe of knowledge and subjects change over time, indexing languages like classification schemes, accommodate that change by restructuring. Restructuring indexing languages affects indexer and cataloguer work. Subjects may split... more
As the universe of knowledge and subjects change over time, indexing languages like classification schemes, accommodate that change by restructuring. Restructuring indexing languages affects indexer and cataloguer work. Subjects may split or lump together. They may disappear only to reappear later. And new subjects may emerge that were assumed to be already present, but not clearly articulated (Miksa, 1998). In this context we have the complex relationship between the indexing language, the text being described, and the already described collection (Tennis, 2007). It is possible to imagine indexers placing a document into an outdated class, because it is the one they have already used for their collection. However, doing this erases the semantics in the present indexing language. Given this range of choice in the context of indexing language change, the question arises, what does this look like in practice? How often does this occur? Further, what does this phenomenon tell us about ...
Research Interests:
Describes the effect of scheme change on the semantics in faceted classification. Two types of change are identified: ecological change and lexical change. Examples from different editions of the Colon Classification are used to... more
Describes the effect of scheme change on the semantics in faceted classification. Two types of change are identified: ecological change and lexical change. Examples from different editions of the Colon Classification are used to illustrate change.
Research Interests:
This article presents an inventory what theorists describe as the definition of domain analysis. Survey writings on and of domain analyses for their distinct attributes and arguments. Compile these components and attributes, linking them... more
This article presents an inventory what theorists describe as the definition of domain analysis. Survey writings on and of domain analyses for their distinct attributes and arguments. Compile these components and attributes, linking them to their function, and from there. Describe a proposed ideal form of domain analysis. Evidence that while the debate about the substance and form of the epistemic and ontological character of domain analysis will continue, some might find it useful to give shape to their ideas using a particular form that follows function. If our purpose is to delineate and communicate what it is that we are analyzing when we engage in domain analysis, then I hope this small contribution can be of use.
Research Interests:
This article presents an inventory what theorists describe as the definition of domain analysis. Survey writings on and of domain analyses for their distinct attributes and arguments. Compile these components and attributes, linking them... more
This article presents an inventory what theorists describe as the definition of domain analysis. Survey writings on and of domain analyses for their distinct attributes and arguments. Compile these components and attributes, linking them to their function, and from there. Describe a proposed ideal form of domain analysis. Evidence that while the debate about the substance and form of the epistemic and ontological character of domain analysis will continue, some might find it useful to give shape to their ideas using a particular form that follows function. If our purpose is to delineate and communicate what it is that we are analyzing when we engage in domain analysis, then I hope this small contribution can be of use.
Research Interests:
The MARS (Media Asset Retrieval System) Project is the collaborative effort of public broadcasters, libraries and schools in the Puget Sound region to create a digital online resource that provides access to content produced by public... more
The MARS (Media Asset Retrieval System) Project is the collaborative effort of public broadcasters, libraries and schools in the Puget Sound region to create a digital online resource that provides access to content produced by public broadcasters via the public libraries. Convergence Consortium The Convergence Consortium is a model for community collaboration, including organizations such as public broadcasters, libraries, museums, and schools in the Puget Sound region to assess the needs of their constituents and pool resources to develop solutions to meet those needs. Specifically, the archives of public broadcasters have been identified as significant resources for the local communities and nationally. These resources can be accessed on the broadcasters websites, and through libraries and used by schools, and integrated with text and photographic archives from other partners. MARS goal Create an online resource that provides effective access to the content produced locally by KCTS (Seattle PBS affiliate) and KUOW (Seattle NPR affiliate). The broadcasts will be made searchable using the CPB Metadata Element Set (under development) and controlled vocabularies (to be developed). This will ensure a user friendly search and navigation mechanism and user satisfaction. Furthermore, the resource can search the local public library's catalog concurrently and provide the user with relevant TV material, radio material, and books on a given subject. The ultimate goal is to produce a model that can be used in cities around the country. The current phase of the project assesses the community's need, analyzes the current operational systems, and makes recommendations for the design of the resource.
Research Interests:
Objective: Study about the epistemic stances that influence the knowledge organization domain by analyzing its scholarly literature. It aims to describe the conception of epistemology in the journal Knowledge Organization through... more
Objective: Study about the epistemic stances that influence the knowledge organization domain by analyzing its scholarly literature. It aims to describe the conception of epistemology in the journal Knowledge Organization through metatheory. Methods: It is an exploratory and descriptive research that develops a metatheoretical study based on Ritzer’s metatheory. In the analysis stage, two grounded theory tools were used, coding and memoing. Results: Three attribute families arose from the coding and memoing processes: the concept of epistemology in knowledge organization, the purpose of epistemology of knowledge organization and, epistemic stances influencing the knowledge organization domain. The third attribute family is analyzed in this paper. Empiricism, rationalism, historicism and pragmatism are described as the mains epistemic stances influencing the domain. The pragmatist stance is prominent in the analysis, followed by critical theories and historicism. Conclusions: The stu...
Research Interests:
This poster presents the authors’ work to date on developing an application profile for authenticity metadata (the IPAM, or InterPARES Authenticity Metadata), including (1) the functional requirements, (2) metadata elements derived from... more
This poster presents the authors’ work to date on developing an application profile for authenticity metadata (the IPAM, or InterPARES Authenticity Metadata), including (1) the functional requirements, (2) metadata elements derived from the Chain of Preservation model from the InterPARES research project, (3) a crosswalk of a sample of IPAM elements to Dublin Core, PREMIS, and MoReq2010, (4) those elements deemed essential to presume the authenticity of a record as it moves from creation to permanent preservation, and (5) next steps, integrating the application profile into the Archivematica preservation system the core elements of the application profile relating to maintaining the presumption of authenticity through preservation and access.
Research Interests:
Classification schemes are powerful constructions in our information environments. They represent the intentional and unintended biases of those who construct them and are structurally bound by the technical systems in which they are... more
Classification schemes are powerful constructions in our information environments. They represent the intentional and unintended biases of those who construct them and are structurally bound by the technical systems in which they are built. As the study of what concepts exist in the world and how expressions of these concepts interconnect , classifications are fundamental to how we come to imagine and subsequently position ourselves embedded within a system of entities. On a more practical level, classification systems become the means by which we materially structure information within knowledge delivery systems, especially in the digital realm. Given the expressive qualities of classifications, they are also unavoidably political entities: they include and exclude, express and repress, facilitate and restrict. Actively identifying and addressing the political aspects of KO systems is a necessary activity within the KO community. This workshop will articulate possible courses of ac...
Research Interests:
This paper proposes a dual conception of work in knowledge organization. The first part is a conception of work as liminal, set apart from everyday work. The second is integrated, without separation. This talk is the beginning of a larger... more
This paper proposes a dual conception of work in knowledge organization. The first part is a conception of work as liminal, set apart from everyday work. The second is integrated, without separation. This talk is the beginning of a larger project where we will characterize work in knowledge organization, both as it is set out in our literature (Sauperl, 2004; Hjorland 2003 Wilson, 1968), and in a philosophical argument for its fundamental importance in the activities of society (Shera, 1972; Zandonade, 2004).But in order to do this, we will co-opt the conception of liminality from the anthropology of religion (Turner, 1967), and Zen Buddhist conceptions of moral action, intention, and integration (Harvey, 2000 and cf., Harada, S., 2008).The goal for this talk is to identify the acts repeated (form) and the purpose of those acts (intention), in knowledge organization, with specific regard to thresholds (liminal points) of intention present in those acts.
Research Interests:
Introduction In our contemporary networked information landscape we have many different regimes of descriptive practice. Many, but not all, come from the information field comprising Library and Information Science, Archival Science,... more
Introduction In our contemporary networked information landscape we have many different regimes of descriptive practice. Many, but not all, come from the information field comprising Library and Information Science, Archival Science, Semantic Web, and the like. Others grow out of other forms of communication, both formal and informal. Examples of other forms include social tagging, wikis, ambient metadata given off by location based technology, and search behavior logs on our devices as informal communication cum description.
Research Interests:
Examines the limitations of the dynamic theory of classification in accommodating the changes and rapid growth of new topics in the universe of knowledge. Change in an analytico-synthetic scheme for classification is much more a web of... more
Examines the limitations of the dynamic theory of classification in accommodating the changes and rapid growth of new topics in the universe of knowledge. Change in an analytico-synthetic scheme for classification is much more a web of connections and mapping these changes is a complex process. Suggests that there is need for exploration of this complexity for both improving systems, and revisiting our theory.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper describes the philosophical and operational challenges to methodology in subject ontogeny research. The observation that indexing languages, comprising thesauri, classification schemes, taxonomies, and ontologies change over... more
This paper describes the philosophical and operational challenges to methodology in subject ontogeny research. The observation that indexing languages, comprising thesauri, classification schemes, taxonomies, and ontologies change over time has been a concern of the first order. The need to question the methods and aims of subject ontogeny and scheme change are second order work requiring ontological and epistemic assumptions. Operational concerns for the study of scheme change and subject ontogeny are species of one two-sided issue: isolation quantification. While some foundational issues make the study of the topic difficult, there may be some helpful techniques including phenomenology.
Research Interests:
In this concept paper I sketch these potential ameliorations at a high level and then work to address some foundational issues associated with attempts at communicating multiple perspectives in a single classification scheme. These... more
In this concept paper I sketch these potential ameliorations at a high level and then work to address some foundational issues associated with attempts at communicating multiple perspectives in a single classification scheme. These include both Melanie Feinberg’s work on rhetorical stance of the classificationist (2010, 2012) and Birger Hjørland’s work on explicit philosophical grounding and classification scheme design (2013).
Research Interests:
Abstract This article provides an interpretation of the structure of classification theory literature, from the late 19th Century to the present, by dividing it into four orders, and then describes the relationship between that and... more
Abstract This article provides an interpretation of the structure of classification theory literature, from the late 19th Century to the present, by dividing it into four orders, and then describes the relationship between that and manuals for classification design.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As our practice in digital cultural heritage work matures, and as we realize the confluence of what might have been separable metadata practices from archives, museums, and libraries - as well as historical societies, personal papers, and... more
As our practice in digital cultural heritage work matures, and as we realize the confluence of what might have been separable metadata practices from archives, museums, and libraries - as well as historical societies, personal papers, and novel reinterpretations of all of these in the digital space. However, we can see a benefit from looking across traditions. This paper describes concepts in archival metadata and description and exports them to LIS.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT In this paper, we approach questions raised by revelations of government metadata surveillance programs by drawing upon theory and literature in both law and archival studies. We conclude that, because metadata surveillance can... more
ABSTRACT In this paper, we approach questions raised by revelations of government metadata surveillance programs by drawing upon theory and literature in both law and archival studies. We conclude that, because metadata surveillance can be highly intrusive to personal privacy and that certain types of metadata are inextricably linked with the records of our digitally mediated lives, legal distinctions that draw a line between communications “content” and metadata are inappropriate and insufficient to adequately protect personal privacy.
Research Interests: Information Science, Law, Human Rights, Privacy, Metadata, and 11 moreArchival science, Surveillance Studies, National Security Law, Information Security and Privacy, Surveillance, Archival Sciences, National Security, Privacy and data protection, Privacy Law, Library and Archival Science, and Security and Surveillance
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Knowledge organization is usually discussed in the Library and Information Science community, but it is a concept rarely applied to archival science. It occurs, among other things, due the fact that until the late twentieth century the... more
Knowledge organization is usually discussed in the Library and Information Science community, but it is a concept rarely applied to archival science. It occurs, among other things, due the fact that until the late twentieth century the discipline did not recognize information as its object of study, studying only the record and the archive. Archival science began to consider information asits object of study when in 1988, in North America, the authors Couture, Ducharme, and Rousseau, proposed the use of the terms “organic information” and “nonorganic information”, defining the former as one created and received by a physical person or entity in the course of a practical activity, and the latter as one contained in bibliographical records, replacing therefore the concepts of archival and bibliographic records, in archival science research.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
SOCIAL CLASSIFICATION: PANACEA OR PANDORA? 17th Annual ASIS&T SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop Saturday, November 4, 2006--Austin, TX Workshop Co-Chairs: Jonathan Furner (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) Joseph T. Tennis... more
SOCIAL CLASSIFICATION: PANACEA OR PANDORA? 17th Annual ASIS&T SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop Saturday, November 4, 2006--Austin, TX Workshop Co-Chairs: Jonathan Furner (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) Joseph T. Tennis (University of British Columbia, Canada) ABSTRACTS OF POSTERS October 1, 2006 Social bookmarking in the enterprise 2 Michael D. Braly and Geoffrey B. Froh (University of Washington, USA) Cognitive operations behind tagging for one's self and tagging for others 5 Judd Butler (Florida ...
Research Interests:
Three paths of interdisciplinary work shape the future of classification research. They are emergence, encyclopedism, and ecology. Each of these, in method, approach, and in substantive inquiry outline both the boundaries and the... more
Three paths of interdisciplinary work shape the future of classification research. They are emergence, encyclopedism, and ecology. Each of these, in method, approach, and in substantive inquiry outline both the boundaries and the intersections of the many fields that contribute to our overall understanding of classification research. This paper outlines some high level claims of
The presumption of authenticity of records is predicated on capturing information about the records' identity and integrity over the course of the lifecycle. Extant metadata schemas do not capture the totality of this metadata... more
The presumption of authenticity of records is predicated on capturing information about the records' identity and integrity over the course of the lifecycle. Extant metadata schemas do not capture the totality of this metadata required by International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES). This paper presents research to date that addresses this need-the functional requirements, domain model, and sample properties from the IPAM (InterPARES Authenticity Metadata) schema.
Research Interests:
Knowledge organization is usually discussed in the Library and Information Science community, but it is a concept rarely applied to archival science. It occurs, among other things, due the fact that until the late twentieth century the... more
Knowledge organization is usually discussed in the Library and Information Science community, but it is a concept rarely applied to archival science. It occurs, among other things, due the fact that until the late twentieth century the discipline did not recognize information as its object of study, studying only the record and the archive. Archival science began to consider information as its object of study when in 1988, in North America, the authors Couture, Ducharme, and Rousseau, proposed the use of the terms “organic information” and “non organic information”, defining the former as one created and received by a physical person or entity in the course of a practical activity, and the latter as one contained in bibliographical records, replacing therefore the concepts of archival and bibliographic records, in archival science research. In archival science, respect des fonds, since the second half of the nineteenth century has been considered the most important principle to the ...
Research Interests:
Introduction. This paper presents three metaphors of time present in knowledge organization systems. Analysis. These three metaphors the architectonic, ouroboric, and lachesic, can be used as lenses to analyse extant or newly designed... more
Introduction. This paper presents three metaphors of time present in knowledge organization systems. Analysis. These three metaphors the architectonic, ouroboric, and lachesic, can be used as lenses to analyse extant or newly designed knowledge organization systems. Conclusion. A foundational view of evaluating and theorizing about knowledge organization systems must account for change and time in order for us to take a long view of improving knowledge organization and our understanding of knowledge organization systems, and these metaphors might be helpful. s
Research Interests:
The U.S. National Science Foundation metadata registry under development for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is a repertory intended to manage both metadata schemes and schemas. The focus of this draft discussion paper is on... more
The U.S. National Science Foundation metadata registry under development for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is a repertory intended to manage both metadata schemes and schemas. The focus of this draft discussion paper is on the scheme side of the development work. In particular, the concern of the discussion paper is with issues around the creation of historical snapshots of concept changes and their encoding in SKOS. Through framing the problem as we see it, we hope to find an optimal solution to our need for a SKOS encoding of these snapshots. Since what we are seeking to model is concept change, it is necessary at the outset to make it clear that we are not talking about changes to a concept of such a nature that would require the declaration a new concept with its own URI. In the project, we avoid the use of the terms “version” and “versioning” with regard to changes in concepts and reserve their use to the significant changes of schemes as a whole. Significant chan...
Research Interests:
In knowledge technology work, as expressed by the scope of this conference, there are a number of communities, each uncovering new methods, theories, and practices. The Library and Information Science (LIS) community is one such... more
In knowledge technology work, as expressed by the scope of this conference, there are a number of communities, each uncovering new methods, theories, and practices. The Library and Information Science (LIS) community is one such community. This community, through tradition and innovation, theories and practice, organizes knowledge and develops knowledge technologies formed by iterative research hewn to the values of equal access and discovery for all. The Information Modeling community is another contributor to knowledge technologies. It concerns itself with the construction of symbolic models that capture the meaning of information and organize it in ways that are computer-based, but human understandable. A recent paper that examines certain assumptions in information modeling builds a bridge between these two communities, offering a forum for a discussion on common aims from a common perspective.In a June 2000 article, Parsons and Wand separate classes from instances in informatio...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Nowadays, many Library & Information Science (LIS) professionals still do not know their precise role in the development of the Semantic Web, especially those aspects concerning ontologies. This paper intends to contribute clarifying this... more
Nowadays, many Library & Information Science (LIS) professionals still do not know their precise role in the development of the Semantic Web, especially those aspects concerning ontologies. This paper intends to contribute clarifying this issue in a twofold manner: 1) identifying main trends, issues and problems concerning ontology research; and 2) identifying possible contributions from the LIS area to the development of ontologies for the semantic web. To do so, a thorough literature review based on searches in international databases (LISA, SCI, SSCI, ACM Digital Library and IEEE Explore) is carried out. Then, the paper presents a discussion of the main trends, issues and problems concerning ontology research. Recommendations of possible LIS contributions to the development of ontologies for the semantic web are finally presented.
Objetivo: Estudo sobre posições epistêmicas que influenciam o domínio da organização do conhecimento a partir da análise da literatura científica. Objetiva descrever a concepção de epistemologia no periódico Knowledge Organization por... more
Objetivo: Estudo sobre posições epistêmicas que influenciam o domínio da organização do conhecimento a partir da análise da literatura científica. Objetiva descrever a concepção de epistemologia no periódico Knowledge Organization por meio da metateoria. Método: Pesquisa exploratória e descritiva que desenvolve um estudo metateórico baseado na metateoria de Ritzer. Duas ferramentas da teoria fundamentada em dados foram utilizadas, codificação e memorando. Resultado: Três famílias de atributos foram identificadas a partir do processo de codificação e do memorando: o conceito de epistemologia na organização do conhecimento, seu propósito e as posições epistêmicas que influenciam o domínio. A terceira família de atributos é analisada neste artigo. Empirismo, racionalismo, historicismo e pragmatismo são descritos como as principais posições epistêmicas que influenciam o domínio. O pragmatismo predomina na análise, seguido das teorias críticas e do historicismo. Conclusões: O estudo conc...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
When we organize knowledge we act. The wholesomeness of our actions can be measured in the proportion of good or harm they do. How then do we identify and define potential harm in knowledge organization systems? A starting point for... more
When we organize knowledge we act. The wholesomeness of our actions can be measured in the proportion of good or harm they do. How then do we identify and define potential harm in knowledge organization systems? A starting point for contributing to the greater good is to examine and interrogate existing knowledge organization practices that do harm, whether that harm is intentional or accidental, or an inherent and unavoidable evil. As part of the transition movement, the authors propose that we take inventory of the manifestations and implications of the production of suffering by knowledge organization systems through constructing a taxonomy of harm. The aim of our work is (1) to heighten awareness of the violence that classifications and naming practices carry, (2) to unearth some of the social conditions and motivations that contribute to and are reinforced by knowledge organization systems, and (3) to advocate for intentional and ethical knowledge organization practices to achi...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The presumption of authenticity of records is predicated on capturing information about the records' identity and integrity over the course of the lifecycle. Extant metadata schemas do not capture the totality of this metadata... more
The presumption of authenticity of records is predicated on capturing information about the records' identity and integrity over the course of the lifecycle. Extant metadata schemas do not capture the totality of this metadata required by International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES). This paper presents research to date that addresses this need–the functional requirements, domain model, and sample properties from the IPAM (InterPARES Authenticity Metadata) schema.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As interest in video games increases, so does the need for intelligent access to them. However, traditional organization systems and standards fall short. Through domain analysis and cataloging real-world examples while attempting to... more
As interest in video games increases, so does the need for intelligent access to them. However, traditional organization systems and standards fall short. Through domain analysis and cataloging real-world examples while attempting to develop a formal metadata schema for video games, we encountered challenges in description. Inconsistent, vague, and subjective sources of information for genre, release date, feature, region, language, developer and publisher information confirm the imporatnce of developing a standardized ...
Research Interests:
In this volume are represented the proceedings of the Third North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization held at Ryerson University in Toronto Canada on June 16-17, 2011. It contains 21 papers and one abstract. ... Proceedings of... more
In this volume are represented the proceedings of the Third North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization held at Ryerson University in Toronto Canada on June 16-17, 2011. It contains 21 papers and one abstract. ... Proceedings of the Third North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization. Richard Smiraglia (Ed.). Ryerson University in Toronto Canada, June 16-17, 2011. ... Items in IDEALS are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Research Interests:
In order to facilitate subject access interoperability a mechanism must be built that allows the different controlled vocabularies to communicate meaning, relationships, and levels of extension and intension so that different user groups... more
In order to facilitate subject access interoperability a mechanism must be built that allows the different controlled vocabularies to communicate meaning, relationships, and levels of extension and intension so that different user groups using different controlled vocabularies could access multiple collections in a networked environment. However, this is not a simple solution, nor a simple mechanism to build. Controlled vocabulary compatibility and conversion have been attempted from the advent of discipline specific thesauri (Dahlberg, 1996b; Dahlberg, 1996c), and work is still being done on issues of compatibility (Doerr, 2001). The past and present work on compatibility research strongly influences subject access interoperability, but varies from it through the control of variables such as meaning, relationships, and levels of extension and intension. Compatibility methods use a single layer to create a translation between participant In general, controlled vocabularies are built...
Ethos is the spirit that motivates ideas and practices. When we talk casually about the ethos of a town, state, or country we are describing the fundamental or at least underlying rationale for action, as we see it. Ideology is a way of... more
Ethos is the spirit that motivates ideas and practices. When we talk casually about the ethos of a town, state, or country we are describing the fundamental or at least underlying rationale for action, as we see it. Ideology is a way of looking at things.
It is the set of ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations, and actions. In this brief essay I want to create a space where we might talk about the ethos and ideology in knowledge organization from a particular point of view; combining ideas and inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early Twentieth Century, critical theory in extant knowledge organization work, the work of Slavoj Žižek, and the work of Thich Nhat Hahn on Engaged Buddhism.
I will expand more below, but we can say here and now that there are many open questions about ethos and ideology in and of knowledge organization, both its practice and products. Many of them in classification, positioned as they are around identity politics of race, gender, and other marginalized groups, ask the classificationist to be mindful of the choice of terms and relationships between terms. From this work we understand that race and gender requires special consideration, which manifests as a particular concern for the form of representation inside extant schemes. Even with these advances in our understanding there are still other categories about which we must make decisions and take action. For example, there are ethical decisions about fiduciary resource allocation, political decisions about standards adoption, and even broader zeitgeist considerations like the question of Fordist conceptions (Day, 2001; Tennis 2006) of the mechanics of description and representation present in much of today’s practice.
Just as taking action in a particular way is an ethical concern, so too is avoiding a lack of action. Scholars in Knowledge Organization have also looked at the absence of what we might call right action in the context of cataloguing and classification. This leads to some problems above, and hints at larger ethical concerns of watching a subtle semantic violence go on without intervention (Bowker and Star, 2001; Bade 2006).
The problem is not to act or not act, but how to act or not act in an ethical way, or at least with ethical considerations. The action advocated by an ethical consideration for knowledge organization is an engaged one, and it is here where we can take a nod from contemporary ethical theory advanced by Engaged Buddhism. In this context we can see the manifestation of fourteen precepts that guide ethical action, and warn against lack of action.
It is the set of ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations, and actions. In this brief essay I want to create a space where we might talk about the ethos and ideology in knowledge organization from a particular point of view; combining ideas and inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early Twentieth Century, critical theory in extant knowledge organization work, the work of Slavoj Žižek, and the work of Thich Nhat Hahn on Engaged Buddhism.
I will expand more below, but we can say here and now that there are many open questions about ethos and ideology in and of knowledge organization, both its practice and products. Many of them in classification, positioned as they are around identity politics of race, gender, and other marginalized groups, ask the classificationist to be mindful of the choice of terms and relationships between terms. From this work we understand that race and gender requires special consideration, which manifests as a particular concern for the form of representation inside extant schemes. Even with these advances in our understanding there are still other categories about which we must make decisions and take action. For example, there are ethical decisions about fiduciary resource allocation, political decisions about standards adoption, and even broader zeitgeist considerations like the question of Fordist conceptions (Day, 2001; Tennis 2006) of the mechanics of description and representation present in much of today’s practice.
Just as taking action in a particular way is an ethical concern, so too is avoiding a lack of action. Scholars in Knowledge Organization have also looked at the absence of what we might call right action in the context of cataloguing and classification. This leads to some problems above, and hints at larger ethical concerns of watching a subtle semantic violence go on without intervention (Bowker and Star, 2001; Bade 2006).
The problem is not to act or not act, but how to act or not act in an ethical way, or at least with ethical considerations. The action advocated by an ethical consideration for knowledge organization is an engaged one, and it is here where we can take a nod from contemporary ethical theory advanced by Engaged Buddhism. In this context we can see the manifestation of fourteen precepts that guide ethical action, and warn against lack of action.