[Sigia-l] Classification is an essential skill

[Philip Hall]

Gerry McGovern wrote:
> Classification is hard. So? Lots of things are hard. Classification is 
> imperfect. So? Lots of things are imperfect. In my opinion, the 
> information architect must develop an expertise in developing 
> classifications. The greater that skill, the better the information 
> architect.

One way to look at this is to say we are discussing what are the 
essentials of the information architect as a professional. In this case 
we are, so far, a "profession" with a small "p" but none the less, 
there is a certain set of skills that I think should be common among 
all IA's. Classification is certainly one of them.

Classification is fraught with arbitrariness and subjectivity and is 
liable to be full of the bias of the classifier. All the more reason to 
embrace it as an essential skill and understand how to be the best at 
it. And being the best means understanding that same arbitrariness and 
subjectivity and learning how to manage it to best advantage. It means 
recognizing bias and learning to control it.

When I think of the difficulties that a badly-done classification can 
cause, I don't shrink in horror (or retreat into some semantic bay 
while shouting that classification must be evil). Instead I see an 
opportunity and challenge for the skills I have developed.

In a formal sense, I come from the Profession of Librarian. In a 
practical sense, I come from the understanding that all of the 
information out there came from *people*. The computers used to corral 
that information were built and run by people. All of those people use 
language and information in their own way and they will never all agree 
on what that language means or what the information says to them. My 
profession is to wade into this sea of information and help  make some 
sense of it. Whether that is by helping one group of people prepare 
their information before it goes out to the sea that is the web or by 
sifting the information-flow from the web to gather the useful bits for 
another group, the essential skill of classification is still there.

So. I'm with Gerry. Let's talk about how, when, where and get out off 
the ground floor.

Regards,
Phil
www.philiphall.ca