Knowledge Organisation

Scenario
You have just been employed as Information Manager of an imaginary research/study establishment 1either self-standing or as part of a larger organisation. Following your first meeting with colleagues, you have appraised the situation as follows:

-the library holds specialist journals and monographs, research reports and a collection of multi-media material;

-the whole collection can be accessed via an online catalogue (OPAC) but the existing subject index is out of date;

-staff use specialised Internet resources increasingly;

-an audit of staff activities has just been completed but these need to be represented formally;

-it has been agreed that a portal would be the most suitable point of access to all information needed by staff.

-It has also been suggested that part of the information contained in this portal could be made available to the public

Task
You recommend that the information content of such a portal should be organised formally, in this case, by implementing an all encompassing corporate taxonomy based on a faceted classification from which a thesaurus would be generated.

1 You are free to choose one of the following knowledge domains: 1) health condition, 2) production of any food or drink product; 3) the planning of an artistic events; 4) management of a heritage site.

2
Drawing from your knowledge of the role of Knowledge Organisation Systems (KOS) in addressing the issues which you have identified, you will provide in a 3,000 words2 report the theoretical framework within which you present your proposed solution; a critical commentary of the steps involved in building a corporate classification using the faceted approach and the rationale behind your decision at each of the major steps.
Note that the classification and the thesaurus entries which you will produce are only indicative of what could be achieved if the Management were to accept your proposal.

However, evidence that you have attempted the three major steps of thesaurus construction (the controlled vocabulary, the formalised lay-out of the classification, sample thesaurus entries) should be placed in appendices to which you will refer clearly in your report.

Equally the Management would expect to see an illustration of the ultimate usefulness of your KO system. Therefore it would be helpful to provide a mock home page of the portal, displaying a range of useful access points to information relevant to users. Again, this can be displayed in appendix.
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Overall this assignment will constitute 100% of the assessment for this module and it will be assessed using the following criteria:

Theoretical knowledge (40%): you must demonstrate a clear understanding of the main KO issues. You should not just describe the techniques that you apply in building the corporate taxonomy but show a critical awareness of the principles which underpin them and you should assess their effectiveness in addressing the situation that you have identified.

Practical skills (40%): although it is agreed that there are no such things as perfect and definitive systems of Knowledge Organisation, it is important to apply rigour and consistency in controlling the vocabulary, in analysing facets and in ensuring that the thesaurus entries tally with the classification. The mock home page should provide a comprehensive range of access points to information on your chosen knowledge domain.

Presentation, Structure and Style (20%): your work must be presented in a report format with due attention to standard English grammar and spelling. Note that the aesthetic aspects of the mock site map will not be taken into consideration in the assessment.

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