Module 9b: Issues in Classification

1. Module 9b: Issues in Classification IMT530: Organization of Information Resources Winter, 2008 Michael Crandall

2. Recap • Classification schemes can be classed (with notation) or alphabetico-classed (taxonomies) • They include schedules, an index, and notation • They are hierarchical and inherit properties through chains • Can be useful for arranging large collections and providing guided access • Most large classification schemes require high maintenance and investment • Smaller schemes may be a good solution for specific populations if user needs are the starting point • Built to satisfy Cutter’s Objects of the Catalog IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

3. Module 9b Outline • Issues in classification • Mai’s postulates • Bias in controlled vocabularies • The difficulty of grouping • Language issues IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

4. Back to the Beginning • Remember the cash register receipt in our first class? • Outside of its context, it is meaningless • But within the context, the content of the receipt has many meanings • Mai’s article states: • “The meaning of the words and the correct use of language cannot be studied separately from the community in which the words and the language are used” IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

5. Classification/Categorization • Origins of classification • Aristotle to present • Questioning through Wittgenstein and others • Are all members of a category the same? • Fuzzy sets based on perspective • Tall people category depends on your height • Prototype theory • Robin better example of a bird than ostrich • Ad hoc categories- back to folksonomies IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

6. Mai’s Postulates for Classification • The goal of the classification is to produce a usable tool and not to capture and represent an objective reality • The methodology for construction of classification schemes needs to rest on studies of users' information interactions, work and habits, as well as, the structures of domains. One cannot solely rely on standardized procedures and guidelines • The practice of classifiers and classificationists needs to be freed from attempts to be objective and neutral. The act of classification is inherently political and value-laden IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

7. Bias in Controlled Vocabularies • “There is always class in our classes [because] the act of classing itself presupposes power in the form of a superior instance authorized to decide the membership of the categories specified. A system of classes (of whatever kind) always implies evaluation, and hence its inevitable if guilty accompanist, subordination.” Terdiman, R. (1989). “Is there a class in this class.” In The New Historicism, ed. H. Aram Veeser. (New York: Routledge): 225-242. IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

8. What, If Anything, Is a Zebra? • Gould identifies three methods or theories of classification used in biology: • Cladistics: identifies classes based on evolution; attempt to establish the pattern of branching (evolutionary) or temporal ordering, for a set of related species. • Phenetics: identifies classes based on overall similarity (discovered by statistical methods – numerical taxonomy – cluster analysis) • Traditional Systematics – tries to balance both kinds of information – but they ‘often fall into hopeless confusion’ because this type of information frequently conflicts IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

9. Zebras and Classification • So, what does this article have to say about issues for controlled vocabularies (particularly classifications)? • Value is placed on one type of characteristic (evolutionary branching) over another (overall similarity in form, function, and biological role) over another (DNA) IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

10. More Zebras • What is “a characteristic”? • For example, what is a stripe? What is an eye? • Does DNA analysis really resolve these issues? • Many characteristics are (more or less) subjectively defined IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

11. Pit Bulls and Terrorists • “Generalizations involve matching a category of people to a behavior or trait—overweight middle-aged men to heart-attack risk, young men to bad driving. But, for that process to work, you have to be able both to define and to identify the category you are generalizing about.” • “It doesn’t work to generalize about a relationship between a category and a trait when that relationship isn’t stable—or when the act of generalizing may itself change the basis of the generalization.” Malcolm Gladwell, Troublemakers, The New Yorker, 2/26/2006 IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

12. Language • Cross-language systems pose numerous additional difficulties • Structural • Syntactic • Semantic • Cultural • Notational systems can help, but limitations • Can use as placeholders for concepts, allowing insertion of appropriate language terms • Need to be conscious of cultural impact • Makes machine translation a real problem IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

13. Ma mignonne, Je vous donne Le bon jour; Le sejour C’est prison. Guerison Recouvrez, Puis ouvrez Votre porte Et qu’on sorte Vitement, Car Clement Le vous mande. Va, friande De ta bouche, Qui se couche En danger Pour manger Confiture; Si tu dures Trop malade, Couleur fade Tu prendras, Et perdras L’embonpoint. Dieu te doint Sante bonne, Ma mignonne. My sweet, I bid you A good day; The stay Is prison. Health Recover, Then open Your door, And go out Quickly, For Clement Tells you to. Go, indulger Of thy mouth, Lying abed In danger, Off to eat Fruit preserves; If thou stay’st Too sick, Pale shade Thou wilt acquire, And wilt lose Thy plump form. God grant thee Good health, My sweet. A Une Damoyselle malade / To a Sick Damsel IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

14. My Sweet/Cute [One] (Feminine) My sweet/cute [one] (feminine), I [to] you (respectful) give/bid/convey The good day (i.e., a hello, i.e., greetings) The stay/sojourn/visit (i.e., quarantine) [It] is prison. Cure/recovery/healing (i.e., [good] health) Recover (respectful imperative) Your (respectful) door, And [that one (i.e., you (respectful)) should] go out Fast[ly]/quick[ly]/rapid[ly] For/because Clement It (i.e., thusly) [to] you (respectful) commands/orders. Go (familiar imperative), fond-one/enjoyer/partaker Of your (familiar) mouth, Who/which herself/himself/itself beds (i.e., lies down) In danger; For/in-order-to eat Jams/jellies/confectionery. If you (familiar) last (i.e., stay/remain) Too sick/ill, [A] color pale/faded/dull You (familiar will take [on], And [you (familiar)] will waste/lose The plumpness/stoutness/portliness (i.e., well-fed look). [May] God [to] you (familiar) give/grant Health good, My sweet/cute [one] (feminine). IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

15. My small princess, I send you a warm hello. Your long stay in bed has been like a term in prison. Uncle Clement urges you to recuperate, and to get out of there soon. You’ve always loved sweets, so don’t let being bed-ridden stop you from indulging—have some jam! And don’t stay sick too long, because you’ll get ghostly pale and start looking like skin and bones. God will surely bring you back to good health, my small princess. Vous: Cuteness; hail. Quarantine, cure. Egress; speed. Clement; insistence. Tu: Epicurism; threat. Appetite; jams. Pallor; gauntness. Prayer; cuteness. My Small Princess / Touchstones IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

16. Hey, chick, You sick? Ungood. Rx food. Eat fruit, Stay cute, My chick. Poet greets dear. Poet sheds tear. Poet hints cheer. Poet comes clear. Poet’s sincere. Poet vents fear. Poet greets dear. Hey, Chick / Fun Key-words IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

17. Goldilocks, Feisty fox, You’re a pip, Whom the grippe, Sad to say, Has in sway. Gotta fight! With a right To the chin, Babe, you’ll win! No kid gloves! Clement loves You, ya vamp— You’re his champ! Champs must eat; Wimpy wheat Bread’s a sham, Without jam! To gain brawn, Champs chomp on Jelly dough- Nuts; they go Nuts for pies (Your top prize- Fighters do). As for you, Box that pox, Goldilocks! My nice, I give you The hello. The stay, It is prison. Cure Cover, Then open Your door, Vitement Kind For Clement You it mande. Goes, fond of delicacies Of your mouth, Which lie down In danger, To eat Jams. If you hard Too sick, Insipid couleur You will take, And lose The embonpoint. God you doint Good health, My nice. Goldilocks / My Nice IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

18. Questions? IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

19. Exercise 9b • Spend the next 45 minutes exploring the examples in Exercise 9b • Ask questions and talk!!! • Be sure to hand in completed work at the end of class for credit!!! IMT530- Organization of Information Resources

20. Next Week • Last week- almost there • We’ll be looking at some interesting ways to use metadata for display and navigation • Remember to read Week 10 assignments BEFORE class IMT530- Organization of Information Resources