[Sigia-l] tagging versus taxonomy

[Ziya Oz]

Jonathan Baker-Bates:

> And hence the current IA ambivalence towards tagging and folksonomy in
> general then: if I tag something as "cat," do I mean the animal, the
> lens type, the instrument of punishment or the contraction of the name
> "Catherine?" 

All of the above. :-)

See, in the commercial world, one doesn't get an assignment to tag something
as "cat." Don't know what those crazy academics do :-) but in the real
world, there's (almost) always a context. The product/service generally
determines the context, within which users implicitly or explicitly
interpret/consume the tag.

Stuff happens when we start talking about tagging/taxonomy in the abstract,
as if its consumption is destined for the entire universe for eternity. Just
how relevant is Dewey today? :-)

----
Ziya

Usability >  Simplify the Solution
Design >  Simplify the Problem