Knowledge organisation and knowledge organisation systems

Abstract:

This chapter presents a review of literature dealing with the meaning of knowledge organisation and knowledge organisation systems. It also discusses literature that deals with history and trends in knowledge organisation and knowledge organisation systems. Literature that discusses the importance and functions of knowledge organisation systems is also reviewed in this chapter.

Key words

knowledge organisation

knowledge organisation systems

Introduction

Human societies have been characterised as knowledge-sharing societies. Knowledge is the sum total of ideas, emotions, beliefs and experiences conserved by the society (Satija, 2008). Knowledge can be categorised into two categories, i.e. subjective knowledge (knowledge as a thought in the individual's mind) and objective knowledge (knowledge as an independent object). Zins (2004) distinguished between subjective and objective knowledge and explained the importance of knowledge organisation by stating that knowledge organisation plays a key role in the creation, learning and dissemination of knowledge. Knowledge organisation has its own epistemological foundation and has implications for: (i) classification research; (ii) development of classification schemes; and (iii) knowledge maps. All of these are core elements of librarianship; knowledge organisation also forms a core component of librarianship.

What is knowledge organisation? According to Hjorland (2008b), knowledge organisation consists of activities such as document description, indexing, classification performed in libraries, databases, archives, etc. These activities are carried out by librarians, archivists, subject specialists as well as by computer algorithms. Knowledge organisation as a field of study is concerned with the nature and quality of knowledge-organising processes as well as knowledge organisation systems. Knowledge organisation systems are used to organise documents, document representations and concepts. Knowledge organisation has various theories and different historical and theoretical approaches which are related to different views of knowledge, cognition, language and social organisation. Hjorland expressed that each of these approaches tends to answer differently the question: 'What is knowledge organisation?' He finally offers an understanding of knowledge organisation explicitly based on theory of knowledge. All knowledge organisation systems basically organise concepts. Thus, there is a symbiosis between the concept theory and knowledge organisation systems (Hjorland, 2009).

Knowledge organisation is facilitated by a knowledge organisation system. As defined by Hodge (2000) and quoted by Zeng (2008), a knowledge organisation system encompasses all types of schemes for organising information and promoting knowledge management, such as classification schemes, gazetteers, lexical databases, taxonomies, thesauri and ontologies. While providing an overview of these knowledge organisation systems, Zeng (2008) added two more systems - i.e. authority files and synonym rings - and categorised the various knowledge organisation systems into two categories based on their structure (from flat to multi-dimensional) and main functions (e.g., eliminating ambiguity, controlling synonyms or equivalents, establishing explicit semantic relationships, hierarchical and associative relationships, etc.).

Knowledge organisation and knowledge organisation systems - history and trends

Knowledge organisation systems are as old as librarianship itself. Though the present review is of recent literature, scholars have written about the past of knowledge organisation systems and so also about the current trends. While writing on the occasion of the 50 years of the Institute of Information Scientists (UK), Dextre Clarke (2008) presented a historical review and discussed the current status of the developments in knowledge organisation tools, theories and principles. According to Dextre Clarke, research in classification principles, faceted classification, theories and practices in thesaurus construction, use of technology in the design and development of knowledge organisation tools are some of the landmarks in the development of knowledge organisation tools. By 1958 (the year in which the Institute of Information Scientists was launched) the principles of classification, especially faceted classification, were well established, which provided an excellent springboard for developments in knowledge organisation systems. In the next two decades of the Institute's existence, the principles of thesaurus construction and use were worked out. Then arrived the desktop computer, soon followed by the growth of networks, providing access to an almost unimaginable quantity and variety of resources, which stimulated evolution of knowledge organisation schemes to exploit the technology available.

The changing trends in knowledge organisation are analysed by Saumure and Shiri (2008). For this the authors searched the literature on knowledge organisation in the LISTA (Library and Information Science and Technology Abstracts) database by using the term 'knowledge organisation' or 'information organisation'. The retrieved literature was analysed into pre-and post-web era to explore the current trends in the knowledge organisation. Through the analysis the authors observed that the classic knowledge organisation principles remained prominent throughout both eras but the focus of the knowledge organisation literature has shifted from indexing and abstracting to new areas, such as metadata. Nevertheless, the issues of cataloguing and classification are still dominating the landscape in the post-web era. Saumure and Shiri's findings will be useful particularly to those interested in learning about upcoming trends in the knowledge organisation. Knowledge organisation systems are further gaining momentum because the development of the Internet as a major medium of publication has stretched the capacity of search engines to cope with retrieval (Broughton and Lane, 2000). Like any other field, computers and related technologies are increasingly used for designing and developing knowledge organisation tools. For example, using the WINISIS, the Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS) developed three knowledge organisation tools: an index to Colon Classification, edition 7; a toolkit for learning and teaching postulational approach to classifying subject; and a machine-readable biosciences thesaurus (Neelameghan, 2002c). More information about the developments and trends in knowledge organisation systems with special reference to the online and Internet era can be obtained from Chan and Zeng (2004).

Importance and functions of knowledge organisation systems

What is the real problem in organisation and retrieval of knowledge and how old is it? According to Garshol (2004), to be faced with a document collection and not be able to find the information you know exists somewhere within it is a problem as old as the existence of document collections. Information architecture (which, according to the author, is synonymous with knowledge organisation) is the discipline that deals with the modern version of this problem, i.e. how to organise websites so that users can actually find what they are looking for. Classification, thesauri and taxonomies are the various traditional tools used in the creation of information architecture/knowledge organisation and retrieval.

The initial purpose of knowledge organisation systems was to help in the organisation of printed documents in libraries. With changes in the knowledge-containing formats and increase in their volume, newer knowledge organisation systems were developed. Each of the knowledge organisation systems came into existence with new purpose and/or to add to the strength of an existing knowledge organisation system. Electronic form of documents is one of the newer forms. Nielsen (2008) opines that the different knowledge organisation tools are designed and developed for different purposes. These purposes include: indexing of information and documents; search and retrieval of information; developing semantic-based domain maps; providing conceptual basis for knowledge-based systems, e.g., automated classification systems, etc. Nielsen reported that there are still challenges involved in leveraging the full potential of the above-mentioned knowledge organisation tools for advanced digital library applications. These challenges were addressed at the 7th European Networked Knowledge Organisation Systems/Services (NKOS) workshop.

Do we find a specific trend in the adoption of the various knowledge organisation tools in a specific country? Shiri and Molberg's (2004) survey answers this curiosity. The authors conducted a survey to know which of the various knowledge organisation tools are incorporated by the Canadian digital library collections in their search interfaces. The survey was based on literature review, deep scanning of Canadian governmental and academic institutions' websites, discussions with researchers involved in knowledge organisation and with knowledge organisation people in governmental organisations. The survey revealed that a total of 33 digital library collections widely used knowledge organisation systems such as...