Building a customers Taxonomy

Problem: I need to create a taxonomy for my client's business that represents entities in a specific industry.

Initial Hypothesis: Either start by interviewing stakeholders and building up a taxonomy that is offered as a Service application or
Buy an existing industry taxonomy http://blog.wandinc.com/2011/02/list-of-taxonomies-for-sharepoint-2010.html and offer it via a Service Application

Resolution: My preferred option would be to buy a taxonomy and try amend the taxonomy with key stakeholders.  WAND have good taxonomies I believe: http://www.wandinc.com/

Taxonomy Definition: A hierarchical classification system that organizes concepts into parent-child relationships.  Tree-like structure e.g., categories and subcategories. Used too group and categorize items based on shared characteristics.

Example: Animal Kingdom > Mammals > Primates > Humans

Ontology Definition: A more complex and flexible framework that defines the relationships between concepts, not just hierarchical ones.   Graph-like structure (can include many types of relationships).Used to model knowledge domains, including properties, rules, and interconnections.

Example: API Graphs.  Railway Track has railway sleepers made by different manufacturers.  Uses semantic web and linked data links.

SP2010 Connections Conference in The Hague - Day 2

Managed Meta data in custom solutions by AC was a real eye opener.  Managed Metadata Service (MMS) is very powerful and i need to be using it to a much greater degree.  AC's earlier talk on WCM was interesting but not a technical discussion but we were warned so not AC's fault. 

Mirjam van Olst gave a presentation on Logging, Monitoring & throttling.  It's the 1st time I've been to 1 of her presentations and I was hugely impressed she really knows her stuff.

Dan Holme gave a good session on Information Architecture (IA) and the MMS.  Useful as after AC's session i decided i definatelty needed more MMS info.

The last session I went to Wouter van Vugt's session on Access Services - Access services could potentially be huge in SP2010 and it was good to see a techy like Wouter highlight what it was good and bad at.

Generally a good day and a good conference.  Not exactly Vegas 2009 or even Berlin 2007 in quality but worth the trip and met some nice people that are really passionate about SharePoint.