No subject

meaning) and navigation (perhaps findability), one salient point to me
has been thinking of the information object as multivalent (as was
mentioned in the note first mentioning the Summit panel). Thinking of
the word multivalent in terms of the word valence put me in a (perhaps)
limited number of readers :)

My memory of valences in beginning chemistry was that chemical elements
(like iron and oxygen) have a typical number of electons at the first
level of interaction with other elements and thus tend to combine with
other elements based on the valences of the combining elements.
Multivalent (metaphorically) might have to do with the possibility of
having different valences and thus different possible combinations with
elements. In terms of information (and not chemical elements) a
multivalent information item may combine well in a book review or a book
citation or a list of subjects in a book and so on.

Here's the online Merriam-Webster definition of valence.

Main Entry: va·lence 
Pronunciation: 'vA-l&n(t)s
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin valentia power, capacity, from Latin valent-,
valens, present participle of valEre to be strong -- more at WIELD
Date: 1884
1 : the degree of combining power of an element as shown by the number
of atomic weights of a univalent element (as hydrogen) with which the
atomic weight of the element will combine or for which it can be
substituted or with which it can be compared
2 a : relative capacity to unite, react, or interact (as with antigens
or a biological substrate) b : the degree of attractiveness an
individual, activity, or object possesses as a behavioral goal 

I'm still not sure what a meaning classification is versus a
navigational classification (classification as group or subject). Could
navigational (as NOT having to do with meaning) classification be
represented as a set of folders that do not really indicate the meaning
of the contents? Is such a kind of labeling likely? It seems like any
labeling will indicate something having to do with meaning of the items
(reasoning out loud :) , even labels such as 

company announcements
online store
electronic documents

Yet, to take the label from the list that perhaps most conveys item
meaning, company announcements, that label doesn't convey any stated
meaning within any announcement. That the announcement IS an
announcement seems in a way to be an ATTRIBUTE of the document, not the
meaning of the document, though it is important and possibly at times
even most important that the document is a company announcement. The
company saying we're going to use Windows only is very different than a
worker saying they think that the company is going to use Windows only.

I do not yet understand the difference between navigational
classification and meaning-oriented navigation. (Is it OK to state the
options that way?)

Have a nice day
John Paul Fullerton
j-fullerton at tamu.edu