Application of faceted classification structures in electronic knowledge resources

Abstract

This paper outlines a theoretical framework for the use of faceted languages in the design of information systems. It identifies controlled vocabulary, collocation and fixed citation order as fundamental principles driving traditional classification schemes and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses when applied to the organization of Web-based knowledge resources. By applying these principles within a conceptual rather than a linguistic framework, it proposes an approach to indexing that is flexible and dynamic in its application across knowledge domains.