Assignment 4B: Classification

Classification is when any idea or words are organized into categories based on their similar characteristics and traits. Classification is the process in which objects are put into specific groups with relation to other in order to be able to  retrieve information much faster. The process of classifying is important because it helps narrow the broad search of an information or document.Classification is also important because it enables us to retrieve information in an easier way. There is a vast amount of material found on the internet, classification helps by allowing us to find the material we are looking for with just a few keywords.

Each content has its unique important characteristics and is often classified according to its difference in perspective. According to William Badke, “Any database is only as useful as its retrieval capability” (73). Therefore, the usefulness of data is determined by the choice of organization and labeling system used. Metadata, as defined by Rosenfeld, Morville, and Arango, is the data providing information about one or more aspects of the data and are the tags used to describe documents, pages, images, software, video and audio files.

Badke states that this metadata model comes in the form of a “data record”,  a short description of the data (75). This information is displayed in keywords and made available through search engine searches. According to Jessica Dye, the author of the Folksonomy: A Game of High-tech (and High-stakes) Tag, it is “the spectrum of tags that folksonomy generates can be a fascinating indicator of not just how people individually interpret content, but also how that content evolves over time” (2). Yet the important point is that classification makes it easier to obtain access to contents of data and information.According to William Badke, “The keyword has become the main tool of research in today’s electronic database environment.”

Jessica Dye states that, “A vast amount of digital data goes online every day. When people tag that data, they aren’t just creating more data—they’re creating metadata, which is used by search engines to interpret the content to which it’s attached.” When one goes on the world wide web and searches for something specific one can simply write a short phrase or even a single world and the result will be many different items that fall under that category.In Jessica Dye’s article about folksonomy, she discusses how it is becoming commonplace for users of the internet to tag different sources of digital information so they can find the same information later on. People are able to find whatever they are interested easier by creating tags.

According to Alex Wright classification allows us to exercise our cognitive capabilities. When exercising cognitive capabilities one is able to distinguish different things from each other and therefore able to retain this information longer.Wright states that classification comes from two basic cognitive capabilities: binary discrimination and liberalization.Wright goes into how the taxonomy we still use to classify species  is the Linnaean taxonomy which is: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and species. As well how many different cultures use certain similar taxonomies and references how organisms in genus level are named .I believe that classification is absolutely necessary in providing order to our lives. Classification helps us put things in order and put things by categories based on their similar characteristics.