Tagging
As discussed in my earlier post on Web 2.0 tools, tagging content is one of the tools people are using to enhance the usefulness of internet and intranet content. I was reminded of the value of intelligent tagging to categorize information when I read a report in yesterday's Washington Post.The report dealt with the Department of Homeland Security's allocations of 2006 anti-terror funding to states and localities. Here's the passage that particularly caught my eye:
A DHS risk assessment sheet for New York said the home of the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks had zero "national monuments and icons." The assessment also tallied only four banking and finance institutions worth more than $8 billion. Republican Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's office says there are at least 20.It seems to me that the DHS could have saved itself considerable grief by attaching multiple "tags" (jurisdiction, landmark, tall building, etc.) to vulnerable assets like the Statue of Liberty, rather than trying to assign every item to a single category. Doing so would have made their explanation of their risk assessment much easier for people to understand. (Each item would still be counted only once in calculating a metro area's overall risk score.)
Maybe the secretary will come meet us at the Empire State Building so we can show him the many national icons in New York," said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York).
[Tracy A.] Henke [assistant secretary for grants and training at DHS] said the Statue of Liberty was included in the state risk rating but was not counted in the city rankings at all, in part because the statue is federal property. She also said other landmarks, such as the Brooklyn Bridge or Empire State Building, were counted in other categories, such as bridges or tall buildings.
Wired magazine summarizes tips for smart tagging here.
Labels: Taxonomy and tagging
posted by Karen Nelson @ 9:58 PM
<< Home