A giant folksonomy of 27 000 “keywords” had quietly amassed in the CMS used by the World Health Organization over the course of 15 years. With an imminent migration, it was time to transform this list into something useful, and to take control of how content was being published on the web. How do you build the business case to tackle such a large list of terms? How do you actually whittle a list that size into something useful? And what insights into taxonomy development were learned on the way? Learn how the team at WHO transformed a jungle of terms to a small collection of controlled lists, brought in governance, and transformed the way they manage content on the web in the process.

1. Transforming folksonomy
Adam Ungstad
IA SUMMIT | VANCOUVER BC | 24 March 2017

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11. 25/03/2017 WHO Communications Strategy 11

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"a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being…
not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity."

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An aging
content management system

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16 years

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250 web producers

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110 000 pages

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Keyword:

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27 000 keywords

23. Keywords…
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Speeches from 2001
vct
A98.4
colección
dfsdf
21st
likelyMPH
cah_docs_es
Radiation Medicines

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A new
content management system
on the way…

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FOLKSONOMY
many users identifying what content is about

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TAXONOMY
classification into ordered categories

27. Keyword:
Content type:
Subject:
Country:

28. Keyword:
Content type:
Subject:
Country:

29. Keywords
Subjects

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32. Health
topics
Keywords
Subjects

33. Keywords
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Health topics
Subjects

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Where to start?
the key to all successful IA projects…

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Make friends.
management, developers, producers, writers, SMEs…

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Make your case.
show context and illustrate the problem

37. Core taxonomy

38. Core taxonomy
IRIS
Repository
(Archives)
Guidelines
News
releases
Media
library
World Health Organization
BulletinRegionsMultilingual

39. Core taxonomy
IRIS
Repository
(Archives)
Guidelines
News
releases
Media
library
World Health Organization
Public health
BulletinRegions
International
Classification of
Diseases
(ICD 11)
Medical Subject
Headings
(MeSH)
International
Committee on
Taxonomy of
Viruses
(ICTV)
Multilingual

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Project Charter
Make it official & create a common vision

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Low-hanging fruit

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Q: What can be removed…
• easily?
• quickly?
• without objections?
• that shows progress?

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A: Keywords not tagged on any page.

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7000 keywords
not tagged on any page

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Can we really delete them?
are you sure?

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Old fashioned working bee
people test to be sure

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Yes, we can delete them!
awesome.

48. 27 000 Keywords

49. 20 000
Keywords
27 000 Keywords
Removal of 7000 keywords not tagged on a page

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Further up the tree…

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Q: What are keywords used for?
• finding content in CMS?
• publishing metadata?
• auto-publishing?
• filters to group, sort & order?
• featured search results?

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A: Auto-publishing small collections.

53. 25/03/2017 WHO Communications Strategy 53

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Which keywords are used for
auto-publishing?
do we need the others?

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1800 keywords
used for auto-publishing

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18 200 keywords
NOT used for auto-publishing

57. 20 000
Keywords
27 000 Keywords
Removal of 7000 keywords not tagged on a page
1800
Keywords
Removal of 18 200 keywords not used for auto-publishing

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Putting things into buckets

59. 20 000
Keywords
27 000 Keywords
Removal of 7000 keywords not tagged on a page
1800
Keywords
Removal of 18 200 keywords not used for auto-publishing
Classification of remaining keywords

60. Keyword:
Content type:
Subject:
Country:

61. Keyword:
Content type:
Subject:
Country:
?

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Dublin Core
a project of ASIS&T

63. 25/03/2017 WHO Communications Strategy 63
Title Contributor Source
Creator Date Language
Subject Type Relation
Description Format Coverage
Publisher Identifier Rights

64. 25/03/2017 WHO Communications Strategy 64
Title Contributor Source
Creator Date Language
Subject Type Relation
Description Format Coverage
Publisher Identifier Rights

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66. 20 000
Keywords
27 000 Keywords
Removal of 7000 keywords not tagged on a page
1800
Keywords
Removal of 18 200 keywords not used for auto-publishing
Country
295
Date
40
Event
35
Health
Topic
905
Language
34
Issue /
Volume
75
TBD
187
Publication
22
Content
Type
91
WHO
Corporate
37
Stakeholder
39
Target
9
Classification of remaining keywords

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Content type (91 terms)
• multimedia
• toolkit
• Highlights
• guidance
• standards
• policies
• summary

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Country (295 terms)
• Guinea
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• vct
• Sierra Leone [country]
• hungarian
• Hong Kong (China)

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Date (40 terms)
• 2001
• Aug-08
• before2009
• emp-pub-2014

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Events (35 terms)
• world heart day
• meeting
• earthquake_searo_oct2005
• eb120
• wha60
• donor_event
• Zamboanga and Basilan Emergency

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Health topics (905 terms)
• early detection
• SAM
• vectors
• gcvp
• VSN site
• financial protection 2014
• essential medicines [subject]

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Issue / Volume (75 terms)
• 26
• A98.4
• a83.0
• sy01
• sy02
• j10-11
• b55

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Languages (34 terms)
• german
• 黄热病
• табак
• 2005年世界卫生日
• холера
• ‫طيور‬
• д-р ЛИ

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Target (9 terms)
• nutrition target 1
• NCD target 6
• Millenium_development_goals
• SDG 3
• Sustainable Development Goals

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Compound tags
• cah_docs_es
• ghwa_news_2015mainpage
• earthquake_searo_oct2005

76. 20 000
Keywords
27 000 Keywords
Removal of keywords not tagged on a page
1800
Keywords
Removal of keywords used as a tag but not for auto-publishing
Country
295
Date
40
Event
35
Health
Topic
905
Language
34
Issue /
Volume
75
TBD
187
Publication
22
Content
Type
91
WHO
Corporate
37
Stakeholder
39
Target
9
Classification of remaining keywords

77. Keyword:
Content type:
Subject:
Country:

78. Event:
Content Type:
Target:
Health Topic:
Country:
Stakeholder:

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Refining controlled lists….
• do these lists already exist?
• standards and formats?
• variants?

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WHO Editorial Style Guide
Grammar, punctuation, formatting, terminology & spelling

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ISO 3166
international country codes

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ANSI / NISO Z39.19
Guidelines for Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies

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ANSI / NISO Z39.19
• selecting preferred terms
• formatting terms
• specifity
• types of concepts
• display & presentation
• construction, maintenance & mgmt

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88. Health
Topic
905

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Health topics

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Q: How do you keep buy-in for IA?

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Q: Tie it to UX.

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Topics vs Programmes
what content is about vs org structure

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What content is about

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Organizational structure

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99. Health
topics
Keywords Subjects
Programmes

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101. Health
topics
Keywords Subjects
Programmes
Fact
sheets

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103. Health
topics
Keywords Subjects
Programmes
Fact
sheets
Search

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Health
topics

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Health
topics
Variants

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Variants
• Synonyms
• Alternate spellings
• Abbreviations & acronyms
• Popular vs scientific names
• Loanwords (from another language)
…More on these in ANSI / NISO Z39.19

107. 25/03/2017 WHO Communications Strategy 107

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Thesaurus software
• MultiTes
• Synaptica
• Smartlogic Semaphore
• PoolParty
• Data Harmony Thesaurus Master
…for an overview of these:
heather@hedden.net
http://www.hedden-information.com/taxonomy-workshop-online.htm

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Q: How do you choose preferred terms?

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A: Use the terms people know.
Consider:
• Literary warrant
• Organizational warrant
• User warrant
…More on these in ANSI / NISO Z39.19

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356 core health topics

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Governance

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Taxonomy
• How will it be…
• built?
• maintained?

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Tagging
• How will we ensure…
• that it gets done?
• consistency?
• comprehensiveness?

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ROI
• How will we…
• use the taxonomy?
• benefit from it?

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Metadata maturity
• What is there already?
• What can be leveraged or adapted?
• What additional resources are needed?

118. Awesome
taxonomy
Web CMS
Intranet CMS
Archives
DAM
ERMS
Request
Review

119. Web CMS
Intranet CMS
Archives
DAM
ERMS
Request

120. Awesome
taxonomy
Web CMS
Intranet CMS
Archives
DAM
ERMS
Request
Review

121. 25/03/2017 WHO Communications Strategy 121
Project brief
Policy &
workflow
User guide

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You have to start somewhere.
every journey starts with a single step

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Keyword:

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129. Thank you
129
Adam Ungstad
Web Editor & Writer
Department of Communications
World Health Organization
ungstada@who.int | www.who.int

130. Disclaimers
130
The author is a staff member of the World Health Organization. The author
alone is responsible for the views expressed in this presentation and these
views do not represent the decisions, policy, or views of the World Health
Organization.
The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does
not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health
Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.
Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are
distinguished by initial capital letters.
© World Health Organization 2017

131. Photographs
131
Earth day flag – John McConnell
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Earth_Day_Flag.png
San Josef Bay – Mike Munroe Photography
http://www.mikejmunroe.com/
Lake Beautiful – Mike Munroe Photography
http://www.mikejmunroe.com/
Goldstream Estuary – Mike Munroe Photography
http://www.mikejmunroe.com/
Sea Lion – Mike Munroe Photography
http://www.mikejmunroe.com/

132. Photographs
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Orange Tree – Muffett
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/4404049182/) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Cherry tree and ladder – © Nevit Dilmen
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Tepic fruit stand – Tomas Castelazo (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

133. Photographs
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Juan de Fuca Sunset – Mike Munroe Photography
http://www.mikejmunroe.com/
All other images copyright WHO