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The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition, 4th Edition

Name: The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition, 4th Edition
Author: Robert J. Glushko
ISBN: 9781491997260

by Robert J. Glushko

August 2016

Intermediate to advanced

630 pages

32h 43m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Foreword to the First Edition
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Abstract
1. Foundations for Organizing Systems
1.1. The Discipline of Organizing
1.2. The “Organizing System” Concept
1.3. The Concept of “Resource”
1.4. The Concept of “Collection”
1.5. The Concept of “Intentional Arrangement”
1.6. The Concept of “Organizing Principle”
1.7. The Concept of “Agent”

1.8. The Concept of “Interactions”
1.9. The Concept of “Interaction Resource”
1.10. Organizing This Book
2. Design Decisions in Organizing Systems
2.1. Introduction
2.2. What Is Being Organized?
2.3. Why Is It Being Organized?
2.4. How Much Is It Being Organized?
2.5. When Is It Being Organized?
2.6. How (or by Whom) Is It Organized?
2.7. Where is it being Organized?
2.8. Key Points in Chapter Two
3. Activities in Organizing Systems
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Selecting Resources
3.2.1. Selection Criteria3.2.2. Looking “Upstream” and “Downstream” to Select Resources
3.3. Organizing Resources
3.3.1. Organizing Physical Resources3.3.1.1. Organizing with Properties of Physical Resources3.3.1.2. Organizing with Descriptions of Physical Resources3.3.2. Organizing Places3.3.2.1. Organizing the Land3.3.2.2. Organizing Built Environments3.3.2.3. Orientation and Wayfinding Mechanisms3.3.3. Organizing Digital Resources3.3.3.1. Organizing Web-based Resources3.3.3.2. “Information Architecture” and Organizing Systems3.3.4. Organizing With Descriptive Statistics3.3.4.1. Exploratory Analysis to Understand Data3.3.4.2. Detecting Errors and Fraud in Data3.3.5. Organizing with Multiple Resource Properties
3.4. Designing Resource-based Interactions
3.4.1. Affordance and Capability3.4.2. Interaction and Value Creation3.4.2.1. Value Creation with Physical Resources3.4.2.2. Value Creation with Digital Resources3.4.2.3. Accessibility3.4.3. Access Policies
3.5. Maintaining Resources
3.5.1. Motivations for Maintaining Resources3.5.2. Preservation3.5.2.1. Digitization and Preserving Resources3.5.2.2. Preserving the Web3.5.2.3. Preserving Resource Instances3.5.2.4. Preserving Resource Types3.5.2.5. Preserving Resource Collections3.5.3. Curation3.5.3.1. Institutional Curation3.5.3.2. Individual Curation3.5.3.3. Social and Web Curation3.5.3.4. Computational Curation3.5.3.5. Discarding, Removing, and Not Keeping3.5.4. Governance3.5.4.1. Governance in Business Organizing Systems3.5.4.2. Governance in Scientific Organizing Systems
3.6. Key Points in Chapter Three
4. Resources in Organizing Systems
4.1. Introduction4.1.1. What Is a Resource?4.1.1.1. Resources with Parts4.1.1.2. Bibliographic Resources, Information Components, and “Smart Things” as Resources4.1.2. Identity, Identifiers, and Names
4.2. Four Distinctions about Resources
4.2.1. Resource Domain4.2.2. Resource Format4.2.3. Resource Agency4.2.3.1. Passive or Operand Resources4.2.3.2. Active or Operant Resources4.2.4. Resource Focus4.2.5. Resource Format x Focus4.2.5.1. Physical Description of a Primary Physical Resource4.2.5.2. Digital Description of a Primary Physical Resource4.2.5.3. Digital Description of a Primary Digital Resource4.2.5.4. Physical Description of a Primary Digital Resource
4.3. Resource Identity
4.3.1. Identity and Physical Resources4.3.2. Identity and Bibliographic Resources4.3.3. Identity and Information Components4.3.4. Identity and Active Resources
4.4. Naming Resources
4.4.1. What’s in a Name?4.4.2. The Problems of Naming4.4.2.1. The Vocabulary Problem4.4.2.2. Homonymy, Polysemy, and False Cognates4.4.2.3. Names with Undesirable Associations4.4.2.4. Names that Assume Impermanent Attributes4.4.2.5. The Semantic Gap4.4.3. Choosing Good Names and Identifiers4.4.3.1. Make Names Informative4.4.3.2. Use Controlled Vocabularies4.4.3.3. Allow Aliasing4.4.3.4. Make Identifiers Unique or Qualified4.4.3.5. Distinguish Identifying and Resolving
4.5. Resources over Time
4.5.1. Persistence4.5.1.1. Persistent Identifiers4.5.1.2. Persistent Resources4.5.2. Effectivity4.5.3. Authenticity4.5.4. Provenance
4.6. Key Points in Chapter Four
5. Resource Description and Metadata
5.1. Introduction
5.2. An Overview of Resource Description
5.2.1. Naming {and, or, vs.} Describing5.2.2. “Description” as an Inclusive Term5.2.2.1. Bibliographic Descriptions5.2.2.2. Metadata5.2.2.3. Tagging of Web-based Resources5.2.2.4. Resource Description Framework (RDF)5.2.2.5. Aggregated Information Objects5.2.3. Frameworks for Resource Description
5.3. The Process of Describing Resources
5.3.1. Determining the Scope and Focus5.3.1.1. Describing Instances or Describing Collections5.3.1.2. Abstraction in Resource Description5.3.1.3. Scope, Scale, and Resource Description5.3.2. Determining the Purposes5.3.2.1. Resource Description to Support Selection5.3.2.2. Resource Description to Support Organizing5.3.2.3. Resource Description to Support Interactions5.3.2.4. Resource Description to Support Maintenance5.3.2.5. Resource Description for Sensemaking and Science5.3.3. Identifying Properties5.3.3.1. Intrinsic Static Properties5.3.3.2. Extrinsic Static Properties5.3.3.3. Intrinsic Dynamic Properties5.3.3.4. Extrinsic Dynamic Properties5.3.4. Designing the Description Vocabulary5.3.4.1. Principles of Good Description5.3.4.2. Who Uses the Descriptions?5.3.4.3. Controlled Vocabularies and Content Rules5.3.4.4. Vocabulary Control as Dimensionality Reduction5.3.5. Designing the Description Form5.3.6. Creating Resource Descriptions5.3.6.1. Resource Description by Professionals5.3.6.2. Resource Description by Authors or Creators5.3.6.3. Resource Description by Users5.3.6.4. Automated and Computational Resource Description5.3.7. Evaluating Resource Descriptions5.3.7.1. Evaluating the Creation of Resource Descriptions5.3.7.2. Evaluating the Use of Resource Descriptions5.3.7.3. The Importance of Iterative Evaluation
5.4. Describing Non-text Resources
5.4.1. Describing Museum and Artistic Resources5.4.2. Describing Images5.4.3. Describing Music5.4.4. Describing Video
5.5. Key Points in Chapter Five
6. Describing Relationships and Structures
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Describing Relationships: An Overview
6.3. The Semantic Perspective
6.3.1. Types of Semantic Relationships6.3.1.1. Inclusion6.3.1.2. Attribution6.3.1.3. Possession6.3.2. Properties of Semantic Relationships6.3.2.1. Symmetry6.3.2.2. Transitivity6.3.2.3. Equivalence6.3.2.4. Inverse6.3.3. Ontologies
6.4. The Lexical Perspective
6.4.1. Relationships among Word Meanings6.4.1.1. Hyponymy and Hyperonymy6.4.1.2. Metonymy6.4.1.3. Synonymy6.4.1.4. Polysemy6.4.1.5. Antonymy6.4.2. Thesauri6.4.3. Relationships among Word Forms6.4.3.1. Derivational Morphology6.4.3.2. Inflectional Morphology
6.5. The Structural Perspective
6.5.1. Intentional, Implicit, and Explicit Structure6.5.2. Structural Relationships within a Resource6.5.3. Structural Relationships between Resources6.5.3.1. Hypertext Links6.5.3.2. Analyzing Link Structures6.5.3.3. Bibliometrics, Shepardizing, Altmetrics, and Social Network Analysis
6.6. The Architectural Perspective
6.6.1. Degree6.6.2. Cardinality6.6.3. Directionality
6.7. The Implementation Perspective
6.7.1. Choice of Implementation6.7.2. Syntax and Grammar6.7.3. Requirements for Implementation Syntax
6.8. Relationships in Organizing Systems
6.8.1. The Semantic Web and Linked Data6.8.2. Bibliographic Organizing Systems6.8.2.1. Tillett’s Taxonomy6.8.2.2. Resource Description and Access (RDA)6.8.2.3. RDA and the Semantic Web6.8.3. Integration and Interoperability
6.9. Key Points in Chapter Six
7. Categorization: Describing Resource Classes and Types
7.1. Introduction
7.2. The What and Why of Categories
7.2.1. Cultural Categories7.2.2. Individual Categories7.2.3. Institutional Categories7.2.4. A “Categorization Continuum”7.2.5. Computational Categories
7.3. Principles for Creating Categories
7.3.1. Enumeration7.3.2. Single Properties7.3.3. Multiple Properties7.3.3.1. Multi-Level or Hierarchical Categories7.3.3.2. Different Properties for Subsets of Resources7.3.3.3. Necessary and Sufficient Properties7.3.4. The Limits of Property-Based Categorization7.3.5. Probabilistic Categories and “Family Resemblance”7.3.6. Similarity7.3.6.1. Feature-based Models of Similarity7.3.6.2. Geometric Models of Similarity7.3.6.3. Transformational Models of Similarity7.3.6.4. Alignment or Analogy Models of Similarity7.3.7. Goal-Derived Categories7.3.8. Theory-Based Categories
7.4. Category Design Issues and Implications
7.4.1. Category Abstraction and Granularity7.4.2. Basic or Natural Categories7.4.3. The Recall / Precision Tradeoff7.4.4. Category Audience and Purpose
7.5. Implementing Categories
7.5.1. Implementing Enumerated Categories7.5.2. Implementing Categories Defined by Properties7.5.3. Implementing Categories Defined by Probability and Similarity7.5.3.1. Probabilistic Decision Trees7.5.3.2. Naïve Bayes Classifiers7.5.3.3. Categories Created by Clustering7.5.3.4. Neural networks7.5.4. Implementing Goal-Based Categories7.5.5. Implementing Theory-Based Categories
7.6. Key Points in Chapter Seven
8. Classification: Assigning Resources to Categories
8.1. Introduction8.1.1. Classification vs. Categorization8.1.2. Classification vs. Tagging8.1.3. Classification vs. Physical Arrangement8.1.4. Classification Schemes8.1.5. Classification and Standardization8.1.5.1. Institutional Taxonomies8.1.5.2. Institutional Semantics8.1.5.3. Specifications vs. Standards8.1.5.4. Mandated Classifications
8.2. Understanding Classification
8.2.1. Classification Is Purposeful8.2.1.1. Classifications Are Reference Models8.2.1.2. Classifications Support Interactions8.2.2. Classification Is Principled8.2.2.1. Principles Embodied in the Classification Scheme8.2.2.2. Principles for Assigning Resources to Categories8.2.2.3. Principles for Maintaining the Classification over Time8.2.3. Classification Is Biased
8.3. Bibliographic Classification
8.3.1. The Dewey Decimal Classification8.3.2. The Library of Congress Classification8.3.3. The BISAC Classification
8.4. Faceted Classification
8.4.1. Foundations for Faceted Classification8.4.2. Faceted Classification in Description8.4.3. A Classification for Facets8.4.4. Designing a Faceted Classification System8.4.4.1. Design Process for Faceted Classification8.4.4.2. Design Principles and Pragmatics
8.5. Classification by Activity Structure
8.6. Computational Classification
8.7. Key Points in Chapter Eight
9. The Forms of Resource Descriptions
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Structuring Descriptions
9.2.1. Kinds of Structures9.2.1.1. Blobs9.2.1.2. Sets9.2.1.3. Lists9.2.1.4. Dictionaries9.2.1.5. Trees9.2.1.6. Graphs9.2.2. Comparing Metamodels: JSON, XML and RDF9.2.2.1. JSON9.2.2.2. XML Information Set9.2.2.3. RDF9.2.2.4. Choosing Your Constraints9.2.3. Modeling within Constraints9.2.3.1. Specifying Vocabularies and Schemas9.2.3.2. Controlling Values
9.3. Writing Descriptions
9.3.1. Notations9.3.2. Writing Systems9.3.3. Syntax
9.4. Worlds of Description
9.4.1. The Document Processing World9.4.2. The Web World9.4.3. The Semantic Web World
9.5. Key Points in Chapter Nine
10. Interactions with Resources
10.1. Introduction
10.2. Determining Interactions
10.2.1. User Requirements10.2.2. Socio-Political and Organizational Constraints
10.3. Reorganizing Resources for Interactions
10.3.1. Identifying and Describing Resources for Interactions10.3.2. Transforming Resources for Interactions10.3.2.1. Transforming Resources from Multiple or Legacy Organizing Systems10.3.2.2. Modes of Transformation10.3.2.3. Granularity and Abstraction10.3.2.4. Accuracy of Transformations
10.4. Implementing Interactions
10.4.1. Interactions Based on Instance Properties10.4.1.1. Boolean Retrieval10.4.1.2. Tag / Annotate10.4.2. Interactions Based on Collection Properties10.4.2.1. Ranked Retrieval with Vector Space or Probabilistic Models10.4.2.2. Synonym Expansion with Latent Semantic Indexing10.4.2.3. Structure-Based Retrieval10.4.2.4. Clustering / Classification10.4.3. Interactions Based on Derived Properties10.4.3.1. Popularity-Based Retrieval10.4.3.2. Citation-Based Retrieval10.4.3.3. Translation10.4.4. Interactions Based on Combining Resources10.4.4.1. Mash-Ups10.4.4.2. Linked Data Retrieval and Resource Discovery
10.5. Evaluating Interactions
10.5.1. Efficiency10.5.2. Effectiveness10.5.2.1. Relevance10.5.2.2. The Recall / Precision Tradeoff10.5.3. Satisfaction
10.6. Key Points in Chapter Ten
11. The Organizing System Roadmap
11.1. Introduction
11.2. The Organizing System Lifecycle
11.3. Defining and Scoping the Organizing System Domain
11.3.1. Scope and Scale of the Collection11.3.2. Number and Nature of Users11.3.3. Expected Lifetime11.3.4. Physical or Technological Environment11.3.5. Relationship to Other Organizing Systems
11.4. Identifying Requirements for an Organizing System
11.4.1. Requirements for Interactions11.4.2. About the Nature and Extent of Resource Description11.4.3. About Intentional Arrangement11.4.4. Dealing with Conflicting Requirements
11.5. Designing and Implementing an Organizing System
11.5.1. Choosing Scope- and Scale-Appropriate Technology11.5.2. Architectural Thinking11.5.3. Distinguishing Access from Control11.5.4. Standardization and Legacy Considerations
11.6. Operating and Maintaining an Organizing System
11.6.1. Resource Perspective11.6.2. Properties, Principles and Technology Perspective
11.7. Key Points in Chapter Eleven
12. Case Studies
12.1. A Multi-generational Photo Collection
12.2. Knowledge Management for a Small Consulting Firm
12.3. Smarter Farming in Japan
12.4. Single-Source Textbook Publishing
12.5. Organizing a Kitchen
12.6. Earth Orbiting Satellites
12.7. CalBug and its Search Interface Redesign
12.8. Weekly Newspaper
12.9. The CODIS DNA Database
12.10. Honolulu Rail Transit
12.11. The Antikythera Mechanism
12.12. Autonomous Cars
12.13. IP Addressing in the Global Internet
12.14. The Art Genome Project
12.15. Making a Documentary Film
12.16. The Dabbawalas of Mumbai
12.17. Managing Information About Data Center Resources
12.18. Neuroscience Lab
12.19. A Nonprofit Book Publisher
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Glossary
Index

Content preview from The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition, 4th Edition

1.6. The Concept of “Organizing Principle”

The arrangements of resources in an Organizing System follow or embody one or more organizing principles that enable the Organizing System to achieve its purposes. Organizing principles are directives for the design or arrangement of a collection of resources that are ideally expressed in a way that does not assume any particular implementation or realization. We call this design philosophy “Architectural Thinking” (§11.5.2.)

An alternative to organizing spices alphabetically is to organize them according to cuisines or flavor profiles, which can be defined in terms of ingredients and spices that tend to be used together. Patricia Glushko organizes her spices into three groups: Indian (includes cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric), Mediterranean / Middle Eastern (includes basil, dill, oregano, paprika, thyme), and seeds. Each group of spices is in a separate large container, which makes it convenient when cooking.

(Photo by R. Glushko.)

When we organize a bookshelf, home office, kitchen, or the MP3 files on our music player, the resources themselves might be new and modern but many of the principles that govern their organization are those that have influenced the design of Organizing Systems for thousands of years. For example, we organize many collections of resources using the properties that are easiest ...

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The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition, 4th Edition

by Robert J. Glushko

1.6. The Concept of “Organizing Principle”

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