How to Teach Taxonomies

It's been said that organizing concepts leads to less complicated thinking. According to Senior Analyst and Taxonomy Consultant Heather Hedden, a growing need for taxonomy training means taxonomists from every skill level may at some point be expected to teach the fundamentals. Whether you're coming from a strategic business perspective or looking to classify key concepts in an emerging academic field, you can use these tips to effectively teach taxonomies.

Instructions

    • 1

      Define your examples in terms your audience can relate to. Whether you're educating consumers about your brand, training personnel how to compare your most popular product line, or teaching organismal biology to a group of college freshmen, the methods you use depend on who you communicate with. For instance, a group of computer scientists might use "Schematic Structures" and "Java Data Types" as a springboard to postulate hierarchy by size, importance or frequency of use. But a group of journalists, while applying a more print-specific understanding of "Schematic Structures." might not be as quick to fit "Java Data Types" in with the same journalism-based mental model. Whatever the case, be sure to separate and define concepts in a way that effectively relates to the experience and expectations of your audience.

    • 2

      Use associative relationships. The collections of things that make up taxonomies are connected through relationships. Associative relationships are often what we use to separate topics into categories, and are sometimes called sydetic structures or "See Also" relationships. For example, a group of software engineers might group "Laptop" and "Notebook" under "Names for Computers," whereas a group of journalists might group the same words under "Writing Implements."

    • 3

      Modify exercises whenever appropriate. Don't be afraid to be both spontaneous and creative with your trainees. You should avoid ambiguous examples, but you might not know a term is ambiguous until you test it out. For instance, by using the term "Human Resources," you may be thinking about "resources" and "humans," but your trainees may associate the term with business, corporate structure or sick-day policies. To make the term unambiguous, you might try "Human Labor" or "Workforce" -- understanding that the term might need to be changed again.

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