[Sigia-l] Everything Else - was: The category of "Miscellaneous"

[Peter VanDijck]

I've been meaning to write about the "Everything Else" category for a
while now, have to find some time to finish my research. There are
indications from the cognitive science folks that an "Everything Else"
category is very commonly used by humans, in folk categorization systems
(the category systems 'normal' people use) and maybe even in linguistic
categories (the words we have for certain categories). 

There are also indications that they are useful in (buzzword alert) the
social construction of taxonomies, in other words, when you have to put
useless stuff on the intranet but want a dumping ground where nobody
will find it.

I haven't figured out yet what that means for using that category on the
web, but I think that the general information architect's reflex of
"Everything-Else categories are bad" is a bit dumb. I have the feeling
"Everything Else" is an important category, that can come in quite handy
once we understand its properties a bit better.

As I said, I need to do some more research first though.

Cheers,
PeterV