The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition, 3rd Edition

7.7. Key Points in Chapter Seven

• Classification is the systematic assignment of resources to a system of intentional categories, often institutional ones.

  (See §7.1, “Introduction”)

• A classification system is foremost a specification for the logical arrangement of resources because there are usually many possible and often arbitrary mappings of logical locations to physical ones.

  (See §7.1.3, “Classification vs. Physical Arrangement”)

• A classification creates structure in the organizing system that increases the variety and capability of the interactions it can support.

  (See §7.2.1.2, “Classifications Support Interactions”)

• Classifications are always biased by the purposes, experiences, professions, politics, values, and other characteristics and preferences of the people making them.

  (See §7.2.3, “Classification Is Biased”)

• Three types of bias in technical systems are pre-existing, technical, and emergent bias.

  (See §7.2.3, “Classification Is Biased”)

• Classification schemes in which all possible categories to which resources can be assigned are defined explicitly are called enumerative.

  (See §7.1.4, “Classification Schemes”)

• When multiple resource properties are considered in a fixed sequence, each property creates another level in the system of categories and the classification scheme is hierarchical or taxonomic.

  (See §7.1.4, “Classification Schemes”)

• Classification and standardization are not identical, but they are closely related. Some classifications ...