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Taxonomies are not fun, unless you have OCD.  But they are far better than folders, and an opportunity for organizations to unify the categorization of their content.  In my last blog post “Folders are the new F word”, I talked briefly about taxonomy and its value.  I received several comments stating that Taxonomy is too complex for users.  It’s time consuming, but not complex.  This blog post is a starting point for designing taxonomies in any ECM system.  I demonstrate specifically using SharePoint, but the concepts are true anywhere.  Some key points are:

Best Practices:

•        Avoid transient terms

•        Avoid plural terms

•        Repeating child terms is ok

•        Use synonyms for flexibility

•        Let the users tell you what the language is

•        No deeper than 4 terms

•        Avoid “Other” buckets

Common Mistakes

•        Trying to do a taxonomy retroactively is bad news

•        Asking IT to build your taxonomy

•        Trying to build an organization wide taxonomy

•        Don’t like the word “Taxonomy”? Change it.  Do you call dogs “Canis lupus familiaris”?

What to expect

•       6 hours per file taxonomy per fucntion/division

•       100-180 terms per function/divison

•       Frustration, it's not fun for most

Resources:

•        Blank SharePoint Taxonomy Template

•        Sample HR Taxonomy

•        SharePoint Ready

•        Standard CSV