Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information 1 Information International Associates, Inc. Susan Fagan, OEI, OIAA September 2006 Web Taxonomy.

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

1 Information International Associates, Inc.

Susan Fagan, OEI, OIAA

September 2006

Web Taxonomy Project

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

2 Information International Associates, Inc.

Taxonomy project progress

4/9 4/16 4/23 4/30 5/7 5/14 5/21 5/28 6/4 6/11 6/18 6/25 7/2

1 Business Case

Business case session (5/8)

Interviews

Kick-off meetings (4/12)

Business case

2 Metadata Specification Draft spec

Metadata session (5/16) via phone

4 Testing & Guidelines

EPA testing

Draft guidelines

Editorial session (6/20)

5 Governance Process

Governance session (7/6)

Draft & test taxonomy3 Vocabulary

Development ID & gather

Vocabularies session (5/25)

Added Metadata & vocabulary review session (6/7)

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

3 Information International Associates, Inc.

What was done

Defined the value of taxonomy to EPA and its constituencies.

Factored out the discrete facets (people, places, organizations, and things) from existing vocabularies.

Specified how to maintain them as separate controlled vocabularies.

Tagged some content using the facets in combination.

Developed editorial & governance guidelines.

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

4 Information International Associates, Inc.

Overall Web Taxonomy goals

Provide a single methodology for categorizing information across EPA offices, programs, and regions.

Reduce the time it takes to successfully target and find cross-Program/Region information Enable and enforce content linking across the agency

Build common agency-wide terminology resources Eliminate multiple, ambiguous taxonomies Eliminate multiple glossaries, abbreviations and acronyms

Group things differently depending on the context e.g., ground water with drinking water, or ground water with water

quality

Get the right content to the right people in the right format at the right time.

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

5 Information International Associates, Inc.

Metadata goals/recommendations

Require metadata.

Make it easy to add & change metadata. Incorporate metadata into content workflow. Pre-populate metadata for user approval.

Provide incentives for quality user-contributed metadata (search results, more links). Provide almost instantaneous feedback using that

metadata.

Make it easy to change website organization without having to re-index or re-code pages.

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

6 Information International Associates, Inc.

Personalized content delivery requires defining taxonomy facets

Facet Definition Source

Function EPA business function or service that is covered by or related to the content.

EPA Business Reference Model 4.7.3 (2006-03-08)

Human Health Specific disease or health concern referred to or associated with content.

EPA Controlled Vocabulary

Industry Industry sector that is covered by or related to the content.

EPA Controlled Vocabulary, NAICS

Organization EPA or external organizational unit that is covered by or related to the content.

EPA Website, EPA Controlled Vocabulary

Laws & Regulations

Specific regulation that is covered by or related to the content.

EPA Controlled Vocabulary, EPA Website, TRS

Substance Chemicals and substances covered by or related to the content.

EPA Controlled Vocabulary, EPCRA List of Lists

Topic Extensible list of topics that content is about, and/or why the content is important.

EPA Controlled Vocabulary

Information

Types

A typology that indicates what type of information this is.

Welchman Consulting, Taxonomy interviews, Website Analysis

Geography Place which the content covers or is related to.

EPA Controlled Vocabulary, USPS, ISO

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

7 Information International Associates, Inc.

EPA Web Taxonomy: Topics sub-facets

AdvisoryChildren’s HealthExposureFood SafetyHealth AssessmentHealth EffectHealth Risk Occupational HealthPesticide EffectsSenior's HealthSun ProtectionToxicity

Human Health

CommunitiesEconomics &

FinancingGlobal Climate

ChangeInternational

CooperationRisk AssessmentTechnical AssistanceTechnical CooperationVoluntary Partnerships

Economics & Policy Topics

Topics

Emergencies & Cleanup Topics

CleanupBrownfieldsCleanup Technology

Corrective ActionsStorage TanksSuperfund

EmergenciesAccidentsContingency PlansCounter-TerrorismDisastersEmergency Preparedness

Oil SpillsPoisoningRadiation Emergencies

Storage Tank Spills

Environmental Media Topics

AirEcosystemsWasteWater

Industrial

Industrial EcologyIndustrial processesLarge BuildingsOrphaned SourcesPesticide TopicsRadiation &

RadioactivitySmall BusinessStorage Tanks

Research, Prevention & Control

Pollution PreventionPhysical AspectsResearchTreatment & Control

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

8 Information International Associates, Inc.

Using the EPA Web Taxonomy is different

No longer parking content in just one place.

Tag content with as many terms as necessary to describe What the content is about & Why it is important.

Anticipate how the content will be searched for in the future, & how to make it easy to find.

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

9 Information International Associates, Inc.

Taxonomy tagging example 1

Title: Roles of Federal Agencies

URL: http://www.epa.gov/radiation/yucca/rolesof.htm

Facets Values

Info Types Basic Information & Facts

Functions Manage Radiation; Provide Public Information, Education & Outreach

Industries n/a

Laws & Regs Energy Policy Act

Organizations Office of Air and Radiation; Department of Energy; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Department of Transportation; Mine Safety and Health Administration

Substances Spent Fuels, High-Level Waste

Topics Waste Disposal, Radioactive Waste, Radiation Protection

Audiences All

Geography Yucca Mountain

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

10 Information International Associates, Inc.

EPA Web Taxonomy Editorial Rules

There are 24 rules covering issues such as

Capitalization, Abbreviations, Plural noun forms,

Spaces, Synonyms, Acronyms, Alphabetic ordering, etc

Microsoft Word Document

Rule Title Case Capitalization shall be used.

Example Term: Air Pollution Monitoring

NOT: AIR POLLUTION MONITORING

NOT: Air pollution monitoring

NOT: air pollution monitoring

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

11 Information International Associates, Inc.

Recommended governance outlook

Measure & improve mindset Gather & evaluate suggestions. Detect & correct errors. Examine user activity, such as query logs.

Integrated handling of Taxonomy, Metadata, UI, & Search To be most effective, these must work together. Governance structure can help that happen.

Form Taxonomy Committee which reports to the Web Council and is responsible for taxonomy maintenance (Gather changes, Review and prioritize changes, Approve changes)

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

12 Information International Associates, Inc.

Recommended governance structure

EPA Web Council

Taxonomy Committee

Chair

Taxonomy Editor Content Coordinators Infrastructure Coordinators

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

13 Information International Associates, Inc.

Workgroup Members

Ann-Marie Bramer, ASRC Contractors, WWG

Sam Boltik, ASRC Contractors, WWG

Serenety Hanley, OPA, CC

Cy Kidd, OW, IC

Lisa Jenkins, OSWER, IC

Margo Palmer, Region 01, IC

Dennis Schulte, Contractor, WWG

Glenna Shields, OAR, WWG

Shhonn Taylor, OECA, IC

Susan Woestman, Region 05, IC

Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

14 Information International Associates, Inc.

Questions?

Susan Fagan, OEI

202-566-2021, [email protected]

Two Sessions Wed Sept 13

3:00-3:45 or 3:45-4:30

EPA Web Taxonomy wiki http://taxonomy.jkshirey.us/doku.php