Managing Information from Scientific Research Projects: Exposing Hidden Knowledge
Managing Information from Scientific Research Projects: Exposing Hidden Knowledge, ASIST Annual Meeting 2004
Suzanne Cristina, Hamilton Sunstrand, United Technologies
Jayne Dutra, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Robert Allen, Drexel University
Moderator: Joseph Busch: Taxonomy Strategies
Suzanne reviewed how scientists currently record and share information in Hamilton Sunstrand, including their use of Knovel.
Jayne told us about a taxonomy project she’s working on for NASA. She talked about the different hats she has to wear for the different audiences her project will serve, from new site visitors to NASA employees who have been with the agency for years. Because it’s a cross-agency project, they must address interoperability and extensibility.
They use a faceted classification system. Some of the data repositories have very detailed, hierarchical categorization systems. Some of these systems can be brittle, Jayne said, and not be very interoperable. Her team focused on developing something that would be flexible and last through time.
Faceted classification schemes also show relationships. Their schema is a polyarchy, too, so terms can appear multiple times. They wanted people to have multiple entry points. They’re working on mapping local vocabulary back to the grand schema. Joseph investigated a number of standards and recommended using as many as possible.
Jayne reviewed many facets and why they’re important, like business purpose, instruments, and content types. One benefit of the taxonomy is that it brought old, forgotten material to the surface, impressing the CIO.
Bob Allen, who has a background in experimental psychology, Project Metadata, Project Libraries, and Beyond
Bob reviewed a number of projects related to space exploration and their information needs. He mentioned the need to save data and knowledge for many years and how many different formats and kinds of documents need to be saved.
