Understanding MetadataWorking with Stakeholders to build
the taxonomy
Ruven Gotz
Understanding Metadata
A supplement to: Practical SharePoint 2010 Information Architecture by Ruven Gotz
Buy the Book (or Kindle):http://amzn.to/JnxlcC
What is Metadata?
The BIG Question
Data about data
What is Metadata?
I think I get it
Oh! Now I see(Mostly)
What is Metadata?
I think I get it
The BIG Question
Meta for?
What is
Metaphor
Let’s use a
What does a cow say?
What does a chicken say?
What does a duck say?
The sounds these animals make are attributes that distinguish them
Example from Yoav Lurie
• Prince• Pop/Rock• 1984
Adapted from the “pea soup” story by Serge Tremblay
What is our Base Metaphorfor files?
What if we saw this?
Better…
Solve with folders
Hire an intern
What is metadata?
This is metadata!
Not this!
or this…
What is Taxonomy?
Carl Linnaeus (1751)
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Superclass
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Class
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Order
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Suborder
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Family
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Subfamily
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Genus
Animal Kingdom
Invertebrates Vertebrates
Mammals
Predators Primates Whales Rodents
Squirrels
Mice
Mice & Rats
Hamsters
and
Voles
Real Hamsters
Roborovski Hamster
Long-tailed
dwarf hamsters
Voles
Gerbils
Porcupines
Guinea Pigs
Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds
Taxonomy
Species
Shared Drive ZooX:
Production Sales & Marketing
Marketing
Commercial Industrial Governme
ntHealthcare
Labs
Hospitals
Private
Public
Large
Urban
Not Associated
University
Rural
Medium
Small
Clinics
Mobile
Sales Web Design
Newsletter Social
Taxonomy
As we’ve already seen: This always works out great
Findability vs. Putability: a basic asymmetry
Shared Drive ZooX:
Production Sales & Marketing
Marketing
Major Hospitals
Commercial Industrial Governme
nt Healthcare
Labs
Hospitals
Private
Public
Large
Urban
Not Associated
University
Rural
Medium
Small
Clinics
Mobile
Colleges
Big
Small
Sales Web Design
Newsletter Social
Moving this mess to SharePoint makes it worse
SharePoint Sux
The #1 rule of SharePoint?
Never use folders
Except when it makes sense
ever
Folders for Security
Permissions assigned per folder
A Brief Detour
Simple Mind Map
Mapping for Navigation
Mapping for Priorization
A SharePoint Taxonomy (Navigation)
Customer Type• Lab• Hospital• Clinic• Mobile
Sector• Private• Public
Size• Large• Medium• Small
Location• Urban• Rural
University• Yes• No
A SharePoint Taxonomy (Metadata)
Adding Metadata (when uploading)
A SharePoint Simulation
Document Type Inventory Worksheet
What is metadata?
What is Taxonomy?
What are content types?
Name _________Emp. # _________Date _________
Dates Requested:From __________To: __________
Manager ________Approved Y/N
Name _________Emp. # _________Date _________
Dates Requested:From __________To: __________
Manager ________Approved Y/N
Name _________Emp. # _________Date _________
Drug Used:Name __________Cost: $ _________
Manager ________Approved Y/N
Name _________Emp. # _________Date _________
Drug Used:Name __________Cost: $ _________
Manager ________Approved Y/N
Vacation Request
Drug Reimbursement
Both Content Types in One Library
Content Types for:
Workflow,
Policy,Security
Back to the Inventory Worksheet
Build Mind Map (based on inventory worksheet)
Why is it still so hard to get this to work?
Which leads to this:
Auto classification is a solution (demo to follow)
Rule-based tagging of metadata
Some great thinking by Carsten Knoch (Navantis)
Search
Business Process
Records ---Management
Search & DiscoverCompliance
Day-to-day workflow
Magic Metadata Intersection
Increasing the likelihood of metadata success
It’s a question of focus
Metadata• Why?• Where?• How?
Share the responsibility
Less is more
Thanks for your attention
Buy the Book (or Kindle):http://amzn.to/JnxlcCPractical SharePoint 2010 Information Architecture by Ruven Gotz