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I would probably agree with the proposition "traditional classification is now time limited" - but only if limited to IT systems. It is us poor humans that need it.
Imagine a library without Dewey Decimal. A computer would have no problem as it could browse the whole contents in seconds - I will still need to find the Science Fiction section to ensure my Foundation book is not about make-up.
Similar considerations apply to records and information. If I want to share information on X with another authority I would not be able to rely on a search engine to find X and nothing but X without a classification.
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Dodgson
Sent: 06 September 2006 08:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Definition of Classification
Stuart
Very interesting.
This brings me to another issue.
I have been musing about the proper use of metadata. If one uses metadata in accordance with acknowledged standards and applies the likes of subject based metadata accurately (I am thinking here about the IPSV
v2) will we find ourselves in an environment when search engines become sufficiently well designed to render classification by traditional (hierarchical means) redundant? I think so and believe we are not too far away. The argument against is the need to use a consistent framework to ensure that the customer gets what they want irrespective of source, and we all know how well we communicate!
I am of the opinion that traditional classification is now time limited and we will not need to group things systematically save in a virtual environment. I would be interested to learn more about developing such a virtual environment.
Views/argument much appreciated.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stuart Orr
Sent: 06 September 2006 07:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Definition of Classification
Paul
I used to work in the Old Bailey and your question about classification reminds me of those lawyers that insisted a witness replied either Yes or No to a question that could not be answered so simply. I therefore do not think my response will win your lollipop.
Classification is simply grouping things systematically. The latter element is the bit that is usually missing in records management classifications I have seen. Aristotle talked about classes or
categories:
"...a category was like [a] container with things either inside or outside the container...the properties the things inside the container had in common were what defined the category" (Taylor. 'The organisation of information'). Bowker & Starr talking about classification in its broadest sense described it as "...a set of boxes (metaphorical or
literal)
into which things can be put to do some kind of work - bureaucratic or knowledge production...".
Various people of the past twenty years have suggested that records managers have misunderstood and misused the term classification and I think that was right and is still in part right. Much older US and UK literature seems to have used the word to describe filing order.
Two of the classic principles of classification are firstly that each scheme (or at least each level in a hierarchical scheme) should be based on a single classificatory principle, such as classification by size, and secondly that the classes should be mutually exclusive. These elements are frequently missing and the schemes fail to add value.
Stuart Orr
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