Utah Taxonomy
Introduction
Taxonomies classify and organize data to make it easier to search and access. A taxonomy consists of a collection of controlled vocabulary terms organized hierarchically into predefined categories. Taxonomies typically have broader terms (BT) and narrower terms (NT) for each entry so that each term has one or more parent-child relationships to other terms in the taxonomy.
The State of Utah is developing a taxonomy to provide a more systematic search terms and category definitions for terms used on the Utah.gov Web site and for online government services like Utah Government Publications Online. This follows the E-Government Act of 2002 which required that federal agencies develop an overall taxonomy for public Web sites by the end of 2004.
The Utah Taxonomy is a collection of independent controlled vocabulary terms. It is divided into discrete, mutually exclusive facets (i.e. node labels) with smaller controlled vocabularies. Each facet has “labels.” Labels are the names used within facets and these are organized into sub-hierarchies. Multiple facet labels are assigned to items in the collection.
The facets used in the State Publications Digital Library, each with its own attribute list or scheme, are:
| Element | Definition | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Collection | the larger physical or logical entity encompassing individual publications | Text XML |
| Topic | the broad content of what the publication is “about” (en Español) | |
| Type | the nature or genre of the publication’s content (used with DCMI Type) | |
| Agency | the simplified name of the government agency publishing the resource or making it available on web. Values reference, but do not use, Library of Congress name authorities. | XML |
| Publisher | the official name of the government agency publishing the resource or making it available on web (from Library of Congress name authorities) | |
| Place | a Utah geographic political jurisdiction that the publication is “about" (chosen from Library of Congress subject headings) | |
| Audience | the specific community sector for whom the publication or resource is intended | Text XML Español text Español hex |
| Format | the Internet Media Type (MIME type) of the publication | Text XML |
| Language | the language of the publication | Text XML |
| Decade | decade or time period when a publication was issued | Text XML |
| Subject | a specific topic of the content of the publication (utilizing a controlled vocabulary such as LCSH, MeSH, TGN, AAT, TGM I, TGM II, or LIV) |
Other facets useful for providing access to eGovernment offerings include:
- service : a system that providing function for end-users. Maps to dc.type.serviceType with DCMIType value “service."
- library : Utah public library jurisdictions (text)
Purpose
The taxonomy will integrate with the State Publications Digital Library’s navigation system by supporting faceted browse across multiple dimensions. Faceted browsing is a sophisticated means of discovery that allows users to find and arrange content dynamically, usually from multiple sources of information which were not initially intended to work together. You could, for example, select a record type such as “directory,” a decade of 1990s, and an agency such as “Health.” The facets can be very diverse, overlapping and describe properties, attributes, characteristics, relations, functions, and concepts. The controlled vocabularies also help to improve searching using the digital library’s search by metadata field capabilities.
The taxonomy values map to Dublin Core metadata. With the exception of DCMIType, local schemes are used exclusively. The Dublin Core metadata schema used by the digital library is fully described, along with the State Library's Dublin Core mappings, in the State of Utah Dublin Core Application Profile & Best Practices for Metadata (176 p. draft PDF) and in the brief State of Utah Metadata Best Practices Guide (13 p. PDF).
For more detailed information about the advantages of using the Utah Taxonomy for accessing state government information and comparisons with other government produced taxonomies, please see the Utah Taxonomy Application Guide (35 p. draft PDF).
The plan outlining the State's approach for using the Utah Taxonomy for building a consistent structure for finding online services on the Utah.gov Web site is Utah Government Taxonomy: Categorizing and Tagging Utah e-Government Services (15 p. PDF).