1. SharePoint 2010 introduces a new Managed Metadata Service that allows for centralized storage and management of terms across sites and site collections. This provides a consistent way to organize content.
2. The Managed Metadata Service supports both taxonomies for structured terms as well as folksonomies for user-generated keywords and tags. It integrates with other features like Business Connectivity Services.
3. While powerful, the Managed Metadata Service requires planning to set up terms and administer the term store. Considerations include importing structures metadata, separating terms with commas, and preventing misspellings.
1. Food for Thought
A man walks into a pet store looking to buy a monkey. The proprietor takes him to the back
of the store and shows him three identical looking monkeys.
"This one costs $600," says the owner. "Why so much?" asks the customer. "Because it can
sing and play the Banjo" answers the owner.
The customer asks about the next monkey and is told, "That one costs $1,200, because it
can talk, translate 20 languages and mix cocktails."
The man is astonished and asks about the third monkey. "That one costs $4,000," answers
the proprietor. "4,000 dollars!" exclaims the man. "What can that one do?" To which the
owner replies, "To be frank, I've never seen it do anything, but it calls itself a consultant."
3. About Me
From the great State of Alaska
Masters in Instructional Design (from
UAB)
Working with SharePoint since v.1
User Experience Enthusiast
Certified Athletic Trainer
Blog:
http://bananablog.highmonkey.com
Twitter: @vman916
4. About HMC
High Monkey Consulting is a biz-tech SERVICES:
consulting company with a sense of Three core competencies -
humor. We specialize in planning, Collaboration
management, and delivery of biz-
Interface Design
tech projects. With over a decade of
service in challenging and diverse Usability Analysis
markets, we are versatile and able to Other services -
adapt to the demands of our clients. Analysis & Planning
Our consultants are well-versed in
Content Management Systems
business, technology, training, and
communication. We provide our E-Learning
clients with common sense solutions .NET development
crafted with one eye on their Software Integration/Development
business strategy and the other on Training
delivering cost-effective results.
6. The New Managed Metadata Service
• In 2007 managing metadata was complicated
– Sometimes more a hazard than a feature
– Create choice fields or lookups
– Custom fields
– Buy a vendor solution
– Use search in hopes the content contains what users are looking
for
7. The New Managed Metadata Service
• 2010 brings managing metadata out-of-the-box
(SharePoint Server Only – as of now)
– Truly centralized storage of terms
– Terms available for use…ANYWHERE
– Social / User tagging
– Integration with BCS
– Navigation / Search
11. The New Managed Metadata Service
• Virgil’s 2010 MMS Greats
– Managing term store across site collections
– Importing of structured metadata
– Metadata navigation
– Search
– Everything you can do with terms
12. The New Managed Metadata Service
• Virgil’s 2010 MMS Gotchas
– Setting up MMS (must be an MMS admin, even if farm)
– Separating terms by commas
– Term suggestion gotchas
• Must be disciplined in planning
• Misspellings
• Managed Keywords
13. How do we figure out our
metadata (taxonomy)
in the first place
15. How We Think
• Information architecture starts with the user and
why one comes to a site in the first place:
– they have an information need
• Information needs can vary and each need can cause
users to exhibit specific information-seeking
behaviors
16. How We Think
The too-easy information seeking model
User asks
question
MAGIC
HAPPENS
User received
answer
17. How We Think
Why doesn’t this model work?
• Users may not know what they are looking for
• User may not know the term to look for
• User may just want to explore
22. Info-Seeking Models
• Berry picking model
1. Search
2. View results
3. Use results to enhance search
4. Repeat until end result is found
23. What is information architecture?
• The structural design of shared information environments.
• The combination of organization, labeling, search, and
navigation systems within web sites and intranets.
• The art and science of shaping information products and
experiences to support usability and findability.
• An emerging discipline and community of practice focused
on bringing principles of design and architecture to the
digital landscape.
24. What is information architecture?
4 basic IA concepts
• Information
• Structuring, organizing, and labeling
• Finding and managing
• Art and science
25. Why IA Matters
• The cost of finding information
• The cost of not finding information
• The value of education
• The cost of construction
• The cost of maintenance
• The cost of training
• The value of the brand
26. The 3 Circles of IA
Business goals, funding,
politics, culture, technology,
resources and constraints
Audience, tasks, needs,
Context information seeking
behavior, experience
Content Users
Document / data types,
content objects, volume,
existing structure
27. The 3 Circles of IA
Context
Context
• All web sites and intranets exist
Content Users
within a particular business or
organizational context
• Each organization has a mission, goals, strategy, staff,
processes and procedures, physical and technology
infrastructure, budget, and culture
• the key to success is understanding and alignment
28. The 3 Circles of IA
Context
Content
• Includes documents, applications,
Content Users
services, schema, and metadata that
people need to use or find on your site
– How much content do you have?
– What are the formats your content is in?
– Who owns your content?
29. The 3 Circles of IA
Context
Users
• Every user has different experiences Users
Content
and abilities to draw from
• Every user has different needs and wants
• Do you know how your users use your site now?
31. What is taxonomy?
• The science of categorization, or classification, of
things based on a predetermined system.
• In reference to web sites and portals, a site’s
taxonomy is the way it organizes its data into
categories and subcategories.
37. What is Card Sorting?
• Card sorting is a technique that many
information architects (and related
professionals.) use as an input to the
structure of a site or product.
38. Why use Card Sorting?
• Card sorting can help you identify trends
– Do the users want to see the information grouped
by subject, process, business group, or
information type?
– How similar are the needs of the different user
groups?
– How many potential main categories are there?
• What should those groups be called?
39. Types of Card Sorting
• Open Card Sorting
– Participants are given cards showing site content
with no pre-established groupings.
• Closed Card Sorting
– Participants are given cards showing site content
with an established initial set of primary groups.
41. Challenges of Organizing Info
• Ambiguity
– What kind of language is being used
– i.e. BSE vs Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
• Heterogeneity / Homogeneous
– i.e. storing all project documents vs. storing project plans
• Differences in perspectives
– i.e. Looking for invoice by client vs. by project
• Internal politics
– Mine, mine, mine!!!
43. In summary
• To be successful in making information findable, we need to:
– First, understand how people find information
– Provide users with a consistent navigation experience (don’t stray
from the natural patterns if possible)
– Learn from your users (Don’t be afraid to test them)
– Decide what organizational needs are most important, and provide
users options
44. HMC 2007 Document Library Planning Worksheet
Setting up security around versioning can allow editors to work on new
versions of documents / items while allowing other users to see the
latest approved version
45. HMC 2007 Content Type Planning Worksheet
Tying metadata to content types can allow for storage of multiple types
of information in one location, while enabling ease of differentiation and
search