Taxonomy Management Consulting

I recently wrote an article on taxonomy management for the online magazine FreePint. By “taxonomy management” I mean taxonomy maintenance, governance, and long-term planning.  I’m not going to repeat that article here, because you can look it up. The short version is available without a subscription: “The Care and Feeding of Taxonomies: Taxonomy Management.” In summary, in the long version I discussed:

• The reasons for managing a taxonomy
• The distinction between taxonomy development and taxonomy management
• The parts of an organization responsible for taxonomy management
• Factors in selecting a taxonomy management software system
• Components of taxonomy editorial policies
• Components of taxonomy maintenance procedures and a governance plan

Writing this article got me thinking about the role of taxonomy consulting in taxonomy management. As more and more taxonomies get created, over time, the need for new taxonomy creation may diminish, while the need for better taxonomy management increases. This should be good news for those in the taxonomist profession, especially for those who serve as in-house staff taxonomists. As for those of us who are taxonomy consultants, there is still a role, just a slightly different one.

The design and creation of a new customized taxonomy is an appropriate task for an external consultant because it:

• is a limited-term project that needs extra assistance while existing staff probably lacks the time
• requires a specialized skill that perhaps no one on staff has
• can benefit from an external point of view that is not biased, but can appreciate the perspectives of various users.

The ongoing maintenance of a taxonomy, on the other hand, is best suited for an internal staff taxonomist or information specialist, who:

• can be immediately responsive to changing needs or circumstances
• is familiar with the subject matter of the organization when it comes to additions or changes of highly specific taxonomy terms
• can devote at least a little time each day or week as needed, but the time can be flexible.

Consultants still have a role in maintenance. They can study the issues and write the taxonomy editorial policies, indexing policies, maintenance plans, governance plans etc. In fact, this is where taxonomy consultants really serve as consultants, and not merely as taxonomy designers and initial developers. Sometimes I think the designation of “consultant” is a bit of a stretch for someone spending most of their time actually building taxonomies. On all of my taxonomy projects, however, I also do provide advice and suggestions, so do some consulting all along. Taxonomy management, though, relies more heavily on actual consulting services.

Even though the needs of many organizations are shifting from taxonomy design and creation to taxonomy maintenance and revision, there exists a lot more information (books, articles, workshops, presentations, etc.) on taxonomy design than on taxonomy management. The relative lack of written sources on taxonomy management is another reason why a taxonomy consultant can be especially helpful. Finally, like taxonomy design, taxonomy management plans and procedures also need to be tailored to the circumstances of a specific organization.

When I create a taxonomy, I take a personal interest in it and hope that it will have a long useful life, so I want to create taxonomy guidelines and maintenance plans that are part of taxonomy management to ensure that my good work is kept up to date. If I don’t create an organization’s taxonomy, I am still just as interested in providing guidance for improving and maintaining what taxonomy exists, because my ultimate interest in taxonomies is seeing them get used and being useful.

The Accidental Taxonomy Consultant

It’s well known that most taxonomists become taxonomists by accident, as the title of my book attests.  As I look back on my career, I see this progression continuing one step further in accidentally becoming a taxonomy consultant.

Not all consultants are accidental, though. Bright college graduates in the social sciences with strong analytical skills are often attracted to entry level jobs at consulting firms.  They then pick up technical consulting skills by practice over time, and these could even involve taxonomy work.  As such, they are not accidental consultants, but they may become accidental taxonomy consultants.

Those who are already taxonomists, as myself, often end up as consultants, because that’s where they find the work. Full-time taxonomist jobs are still relatively rare and are often not in one’s geographical location. So, if an experienced taxonomist loses a job due to a layoff or relocation, and looks around and cannot find another conveniently located taxonomist job, consulting becomes an option. Employers of full-time taxonomists tend to be limited to either certain industries (publishing, media, ecommerce, etc.) or to very large companies in any industry with large internal content management needs, but then the taxonomist job is only at their headquarters location. However, companies of all industries and various medium to large sizes have taxonomy needs and can often afford a taxonomy consultant on a temporary project if not a full-time staff member. Thus, taxonomy consultants are in greater demand than are full-time employed taxonomists.

In seeking to contract a taxonomy consultant, you may wonder whether it is better to hire a consultant-turned-taxonomist or a taxonomist-turned-consultant. If you hire a skilled taxonomist who is less experienced in consulting, you ought to get a good taxonomy, although the process might not be that smooth. More likely, though, the experienced taxonomist who is inexperienced in consulting will not likely make as good a first impression and sell the services as well as professional consultant. The professional consultant-turned-taxonomist will provide a better project experience, although the end-result taxonomy may not be as good.  If you can plan and manage the project yourself, then it is the experienced taxonomist you want, but if you want the entire project managed by a consultant, you need a good consultant.

You might not have to compromise, though. A senior enough consultant could be sufficiently skilled in both consulting and taxonomies, that the career sequence does not matter.  If you can afford to hire a firm or partnership, or even a consultant with subcontractors, you may not need to make the choice of experience either, because you can hopefully get some of each on the consultant team serving you. That’s why you should look at the resumes of each member of a consulting team, to ensure that at least one member has very solid taxonomy experience, while at least another member has considerable consulting and project management experience.

Among the things I have learned about consulting is that it helps to have standard consulting processes and procedures, including standard questions that the consultant should ask the client at the very beginning of a project to clarify the scope and understand the context. Consulting firms may additionally have standard deliverables, reports, etc. But in the particular field of taxonomy consulting, the variables are too great, and standard deliverables rarely fit.

There are a lot of books on consulting, but none about taxonomy consulting. When I came across a potential title, Information Consulting: Guide to Good PracticeI (Chandos Publishing, 2011), I found that even this book addressed consulting more generally, and when it occasionally discussed “information consulting” it was more about the work of independent research librarians. So, accidental taxonomy consultants lack written guidance that is just for them.

This is my story. I became a taxonomist by accident. Then after getting laid off, more than once, I became a taxonomy consultant by accident. Then I joined a consulting company of intentional consultants, some turned taxonomy-consultant by accident, but I did not feel I fit in with them or their choice of projects, since I was a taxonomist first. So, I recently chose to go on my own again as an independent consultant or partnering with another on a case-by-case basis.