Taxonomy Book Camp SharePoint IA 11-17-10

Earley & Associates, Inc. | Classification: PUBLIC USE
Copyright © 2010 Earley & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Information Architecture and
Taxonomy Management in
SharePoint
Taxonomy Boot Camp, November 16th, 2010
Jeff Carr - Senior Information Architect & Search Consultant
Paul Wlodarczyk - Director, Solutions Consulting

SharePoint is very
easy to implement
badly

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Typical SharePoint Projects
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“Hey! We got SharePoint! It has got blogs, wikis, workspaces, team sites, and
search—let us have all of that. We don't need anyone to help us. It is easy to set
up, and we’ll just learn as we use it. We only need a site or two to store the
documents in. If the users want in, we’ll give them some sites to play with.”
“Hey! We have 20 sites now. Lots of content. Not sure what we are doing. Not
sure how it all connects together. We think we know how to manage it, though
we don’t know how big it will get. And we also can’t control how big it gets
because we are not entirely sure who is using it and why.”
then, a couple months later…
Source: Managing and Implementing Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 Projects - O’Reilly Media

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• It’s commonplace with SharePoint to start with the technology first and push off the
gathering and documentation of requirements until later, if at all.
 Adopted by IT followed by the provisioning of a few sites as business users become aware
of its existence (easy to deploy).
 Mass proliferation of sites, lists and libraries and an assortment of individuals and groups
start to turn on various bits of functionality resulting in a deployment that is haphazard and
confusing.
• SharePoint has been specifically designed to remove management of the
information environment away from IT and into the hands of business users.
 Site management is (oftentimes) dropped into the lap of a single or small group of
uninformed individuals that are unaware of best practices in areas like content
management, information architecture, taxonomy and metadata
 Information governance becomes crucial since many organizations lack standard ways of
managing content.
The Technology-Centric Approach
Where is the information architecture?

RequirementsResearch
Use Cases &
Personas
Site Map &
Navigation
Wireframes
Taxonomy
Content
Modeling
/Metadata
Prototyping
/Testing
The IA Process
Taxonomy
Content
Modeling
/Metadata

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• The success of SharePoint in any environment will be measured by your user’s
ability to easily find information
• The technology will process the inputs that we provide whether they make sense or
not (garbage-in/garbage-out)
• Information Architecture…
 Establishes the foundation for Findability - but Findability is not an attribute of technology, it
is a set of standards and processes that are applied to organizational information
 Involves modeling content in a way that captures both “is-ness” and “about-ness”
 How we describe our content - information lifecycles, retention, metadata and taxonomy
 Understanding our users and their needs - Roles, responsibilities, tasks and activities
required to support the pursuit business goals and processes
• Requires that we leverage features and functionality to support both
What Goes In Must Come Out…

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Importance of Defining Standard Terminology
High potential for confusion:
• Safe Work Procedure
• Safe Operating Procedure
• HSEOP (HSE Operating Procedure)
• HSE Manual

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Core IA Architectural Concepts
Site
Collection
Collection of sites
Primary source of global
navigation
Sites &
Sub-Sites
Container for lists/libraries
source of “quick launch”
navigation
Lists &
Libraries
Basic unit of storage,
collection of
documents or items

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• Content Type - A reusable collection of settings that define the behavior and
properties for a specific type of information. Comprised of a collection of metadata
attributes, information management policies, workflow and standard templates.
• Site Column - Metadata attribute (also known as a field) that can be assigned to
one or more content type definitions, lists or document libraries. Used to help
ensure consistent application of metadata across content in SharePoint.
 Date, Single or Multiline Text, People, Choice, Lookup (taxonomy)
• Site List - A tabular structure of items presented in a row (content) and column
(metadata) format. Some examples:
 Contact, Task, Calendar
 Custom List - Taxonomy or controlled vocabulary used to populate dropdown menu
(defined as Choice or Lookup column types).
Core IA Architectural Concepts
Taxonomy

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• Steps involved in surfacing controlled lists of terms for tagging:
Enabling Tagging
1. Site List 2. Site Column 3. Content Type
Tagging in the user interface (when adding new or editing an existing Policy)

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• Metadata can only be tagged and stored as flat controlled vocabulary – no
hierarchy possible
Limitations of Site Lists
PolicyType
• Education
• Environmental
• Health
• Information
Information Policy Sub-Type
• Archiving Information
• Intellectual Property
• Privacy & eCommunications
• Records Management
PolicyType
• Education
• Education Sub-Types
• Environmental
• Environmental Sub-Types
• Health
• Health Sub-Types
• Information
• Archiving Information
• Intellectual Property
• Privacy & eCommunications
• Records Management
Possible Possible Not Possible

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Site Boundaries & Inheritance
Problem: Constructs are specific to the
site collection in which they were created
Global
Content Types,
Site Columns and
Site Lists
Local
Content Types,
Site Columns and
Site Lists
Solution: Requires manual or custom
development for replication/syncing of
constructs across Site Collections

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Navigational Limitations
Problem: Fragmented UX when navigating
between different site collections
Navigation is
“naturally” only
within a Site
Collection
Solution: Requires custom development
for the creation of a consistent
experience across the environment
• Specific to a Site Collection
• Based largely on Sites and Sub Sites
• Quick launch shows “current site” elements
• Top-level navigation shows sub sites and peers

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• Problem - Search is often installed and simple OOTB configurations ignored
• Full-text indexing along with the document title, short snippet and ten results per
page become the common default experience
• Frequently filled with redundant, outdated or irrelevant content (clear reflection of
the information that has been uploaded into the system)
 Inconsistencies in how information is enriched will result in a poor search experience
• Ref: http://www.earley.com/blog/enterprise-search-why-we-cant-just-get-google
Search Experience
• Best Bets
• Search thesaurus
• Authoritative sites
• Search scopes
• Managed properties

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• In addition to site collections, content types, site columns, lists, libraries and
views…
• Managed Metadata - A hierarchical collection of predefined centrally managed
terms that are applied by publishers as metadata attributes for content items.
 Managed Term - A predefined word or phrase created and managed by a user with
appropriate permissions and often organized into a hierarchy (controlled vocabularies,
taxonomic in nature).
 Enterprise Keywords - A non-hierarchical word or phrase that has been added to the
keyword set directly by a system user (uncontrolled vocabularies, folksonomic in nature).
• Term Store - A database that is used to house both Managed Terms and Managed
Keywords.
 Groups - From a taxonomy perspective, a group is a flat list or hierarchical collection of
related attributes comprised of one or more Term Sets.
 Term Set - A flat list or hierarchical collection of related Terms that belong to a Group.
 Term - A word or phrase that can be applied by publishers and system users as metadata
to content.
Core Architectural Concepts

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Term Store Management Tool
Group
Term Set
Terms
Term
Attributes
Centralized
Management
of Metadata

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• Auto-Suggest - Display of taxonomy terms as a user types characters into a
Managed Metadata field.
Tagging: Auto-Suggest
Preferred Term
Term Hierarchy
Term Definition
Synonym

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• Hierarchy - Display of taxonomy terms in a popup window that provides the ability
to browse through the defined hierarchy.
Tagging: Browsing the Hierarchy
Preferred Term
Term Definition
Synonyms

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Content Type Hub
Centralized Management
of Content Types
Global
Content Types,
Site Columns and
Site Lists
Create and manage global content types in a
single location and push them out to
subscribing site collections

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• In addition, we now have the Refinement Panel and document previews…
Search Enhancement
Metadata
Document
Previews Scope
Presentation

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• Physically oriented and architectural constructs bound by site collections
• A lack of cross site collection synchronization of fundamental IA building blocks
 content types, metadata, taxonomy and navigation
• Metadata and taxonomy is simplistic
 Inability to create and manage taxonomic relationships between terms (no hierarchy,
associations, synonyms defined separately as part of the thesaurus file)
• OOTB search reflects all limitations (inability to easily surface and leverage
metadata)
Overall Shortcomings
• Physically oriented and architectural constructs such as navigation are bound by
site collections
• Improved metadata and taxonomy, but still basic application
 Ability to define synonyms, but applied to the tagging process (search thesaurus is still
separate)
 Inability to create and manage taxonomic complex relationships between terms
(associative)

Earley & Associates, Inc. | Classification: PUBLIC USE
Taxonomy in SharePoint Search
and Metadata
Paul Wlodarczyk
Director Solutions Consulting
Earley & Associates
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• Integration of Taxonomy with SharePoint
• Vendor Landscape
 Tagging and Auto-classification
 Search User Experience and Search Relevance
• How to Decide
Agenda
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•
 Tagging and Taxonomy: Out of the box: just flat lists. Can be
extended to hierarchical controlled vocabularies with third party
extensions
 Search: No faceted search out of the box, but advanced search
can behave in a faceted way using metadata.
 Tagging and Taxonomy: Hierarchical Term Stores, Suggested
Terms, Definitions.
 Search: Search refinement (facets) based on metadata
• Third Party Solutions
 Enterprise Taxonomy and Metadata Management
 Content Classification
 Custom Search Applications
 Search
Taxonomy Management, Classification, and Search in SharePoint
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Taxonomy Integration with SharePoint
There are several points of integration
for taxonomy in SharePoint:
1. Content Metadata: Taxonomy as
source of terms for metadata
2. Search Configuration:
Thesaurus and Best Bets can be
derived from taxonomy
3. Content Index: Leverage
taxonomic relationships for
classification rules, modify
relevancy ranking in the search
index
4. Search User Experience: Create
a custom search application that
uses taxonomy for driving facets,
navigation, related searches,
suggested searches, etc.
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1
2
3
4

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Taxonomy Integration with SharePoint
There are several points of integration
for taxonomy in SharePoint:
1. Content Metadata: Taxonomy as
source of terms for metadata
2. Search Configuration:
Thesaurus and Best Bets can be
derived from taxonomy
3. Content Index: Leverage
taxonomic relationships for
classification rules, modify
relevancy ranking in the search
index
4. Search User Experience: Create
a custom search application that
uses taxonomy for driving facets,
navigation, related searches,
suggested searches, etc.
5. Third Party Search Engine:
replace SharePoint Search with
another platform that can
consume taxonomy
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1
2
3
4
3rd Party
Query
Engine
3rd Party
Index
Engine
5

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Third Party Application Scope
• Applications vary in
depth, breadth, and
complexity
 Tagging plug-ins
 Search UX plug-ins
 Taxonomy Management
Suites
 Classifiers
 Search engines with user
experience toolkits
27

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TAXONOMY AND CONTENT
CLASSIFICATION
28

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• Manual Tagging
 Users can generate keywords for specific SharePoint columns, either
as free text, or chosen from controlled vocabularies defined during
configuration of the column.
• Taxonomy-driven Manual Tagging
 Taxonomy / term store is source of preferred terms for tagging
metadata. In SharePoint 2010, third-party tools integrate with the term
store. In SharePoint 2007, third-party add-ons provide a hierarchical
user experience for manual tagging, based upon a taxonomy.
• Taxonomy-driven Auto-classification
 Third party classification engine uses taxonomy and/or other methods
to inform a rules-based classification of documents. Metadata are
generated, usually as a flat list of terms in a keyword column that can
be manually revised, often with a hierarchical view of the vocabulary.
Approaches to SharePoint Classification
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• Centrally manage an enterprise taxonomy
• Use enterprise taxonomy as source of preferred terms /
controlled vocabularies (and synch with 2010 Term Store)
• Auto-classification using the taxonomy as a source of
SharePoint metadata
• Make up for term store shortcomings in 2007:
 Manage SharePoint Metadata
 Map controlled vocabularies to SharePoint columns
 Display hierarchy in tagging user interface
 Persisting the taxonomic relationships in the metadata
Key Capabilities for Classification in SharePoint
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Manual Tagging Example: WordMap
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Metadata columns defined by SharePoint
Admin – Department, Product, Locations
Controlled vocabulary from taxonomy
mapped to columns

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Creating new columns and associating
them with controlled vocabularies

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Hierarchy is preserved in the
metadata (can be viewed on
hover) and is available for search
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Controlled vocabulary
presented for selection, then
shown in view

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Auto-classification Example: Smartlogic
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Documents can be auto-classified
in SharePoint based upon policies

35
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Documents can be auto-classified
using a manual trigger

36
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Auto-classify results shown
in Edit Properties dialog
Can be manually edited
using Add or Remove

37
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Tagging interface enables
multiple terms to be selected
from a taxonomy-driven CV to
edit the automatically applied
terms

38
Auto-classification Example: Concept Searching
Metadata columns defined by SharePoint
Admin – “Agricultural”
Metadata results from auto-classification
of concepts that are related to preferred
terms in the taxonomy

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• Concept Searching
 Taxonomy Management and Auto-Classification
 Full integration with SharePoint and MS Office Applications
 Classifier is concept-based: finds concepts then maps them to the preferred
terms in the taxonomy
• SchemaLogic
 SharePoint Metadata Management – MetaPoint
 Integration with Term Store for manual metadata tagging
 Suggests tags in MS Word
 No auto-classification solution
• Smartlogic
 Taxonomy Management and Auto-Classification
 Classifier is rules-based: Rules are derived from taxonomic relationships, and
preferred / non-preferred / related terms
Tagging and Classification Applications for SharePoint
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TAXONOMY AND SEARCH
40

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• Search Relevance / Indexing
 Integrate a taxonomy-driven classifier with the
indexing process for SharePoint or Third Party
search (Google, FAST, Attivio, etc.)
 Use taxonomy as source for preferred terms /
equivalence terms in search
• Search User Experience
 Use taxonomic relationships to drive navigation (e.g.
tree browse) and faceted search or tag clouds
 Use taxonomic relationships to suggest related
searches
Key capabilities for Taxonomy Integration with Search
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Search User Experience: Smartlogic
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• Related terms in Smartlogic Semaphore. The user searched for “rights”
in the SharePoint search box. Smartlogic shows related terms on the
right for “rights” from the taxonomy. Search term highlighting is native
MOSS functionality, showing search terms, not taxonomy terms.

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Search User Experience: Smartlogic
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• Faceted search in Smartlogic Semaphore. The user refined their search
for “rights” by selecting “Employment Rights” in related terms.
• A facet is added for “Employment Rights”; the suggestion box changes to
show Related Categories. Multiple facets will be shown if the user drills
down, and facets can be removed by clicking the X on the facet

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Search User Experience: BA Insight
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• “Refine your search” for
faceted search and tag clouds
• Facets can be hierarchical
based upon taxonomy (e.g.
Client, Practice, Matter), and
can show calculated ranges
(e.g. dates) and document
metadata (e.g. Author).

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• Document preview - User
interaction with the preview
affects relevancy rankings.

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• Search term highlighting in the preview
• Key concepts are search terms used
like folksonomic tags
• Key concepts can be used as facets in
the full view – so can quickly find the
most relevant pages
• Pages can be saved to a “research
notebook”

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• In the Taxonomy Browse view using the SharePoint search engine, the user can
narrow the search to a sub-tree within the taxonomy.
• Here they will search for the concept “water quality” within the “Environment” sub-
tree of preferred terms (and their clues).
Search User Experience: Concept Searching
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• Search results pages can be enhanced using taxonomy-driven facets for search
refinement (right) and related searches (left).
• The search results can be filtered on individual terms or the concept, and search
terms are highlighted in the extracts.
Search User Experience: Concept Searching
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• FAST can create custom search applications for SharePoint
Search User Experience: FAST
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• FAST facets can include graphical representations (e.g. date sliders, pies, maps).
Search User Experience: FAST
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• Attivio can provide faceted search and custom applications atop SharePoint.
Search User Experience: Attivio
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• Attivio custom “active dashboards” can integrate structured and unstructured data
into rich business intelligence applications..
Search User Experience: Attivio
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• With so many options, it can be daunting to know where
to begin
• Our advice: Choose Search technology first…
 Recall and relevance drives business results
 User experience drives adoption
… Then decide on classification tools …
… Then decide on taxonomy management.
 Only required if taxonomy is consumed outside of SharePoint
and Search, or for large / complex / volatile taxonomies, or to
support auto-classification
How to decide?
53

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How much do you need?
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SharePoint OOB
Basic Faceted Search
Taxonomy-Driven
Faceted Search
Advanced Faceted Search
Use advanced search for filtering on metadata fields.
Navigation is based on site architecture / folder structure
Expose facets on main search screen, basic tree view
(SharePoint 2010)
Auto-classification;
Related search suggestions,
broader/narrower, thesaurus relates
search terms to preferred terms, tree
browse (BA Insight, Concept
Searching, Smartlogic)
Facets span content types,
fully-flexible UX,
deep indexing, relate to
structured data (FAST, Attivio)
Faceted Search in SharePoint

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• Organizations are really good at creating information and a well planned
and intelligently constructed foundation is the basis for successful
information architectures and high quality user experiences
• A taxonomy by itself lacks value - it becomes powerful when it’s applied to
content and surfaced through information access mechanisms like search
and navigation
• Don’t skip IA process just because SharePoint is easy to implement
• Master OOTB features first and ensure it’s configured properly to meet
your needs
• Keep your eye on consistency across sites, site collections through
governance (must be enforced)
• SharePoint itself is not intended to be an enterprise taxonomy
management tool.
Summary

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Contact
Jeff Carr
Senior Information Architect & Search Consultant
Email: jeff@earley.com
Twitter: @siftonpark
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/siftonpark
Paul Wlodarczyk
Director, Solutions Consulting
Email: paul@earley.com
Twitter: @ twitcontentguy
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paulw

Taxonomy Book Camp SharePoint IA 11-17-10

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