Building a controlled vocabulary does not mean you must invent a proprietary schema from scratch.
To teach non-experts, it is best to borrow existing public domain schemes rather than constructing rigid, monolithic trees. Monolithic trees are inflexible, scale poorly, and are incredibly difficult to change as data evolves.
Best practices for democratizing taxonomy include:
🕹️ Leverage Existing Standards: Borrowing resources like the Library of Congress authority files provides a validated fact basis.
🔪 Slice and 🎲 Dice: Focus on slicing and dicing information using multiple categories, such as geography, time, or physical attributes.
🖼️ Simple Frameworks: Non-experts can use simple circle and arrow mind-mapping tools or spreadsheets to organize their collections efficiently.
Only build a vocabulary when no alternative authoritative source exists.
– Joseph Busch
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