Folksonomy is a fairly new term created in 2004 by Thomas Vander Wal<\/a> and is a portmanteau<\/a> of the words \u201cfolk” and \u201ctaxonomy\u201d. Folksonomy is defined as a \u201ccollaborative classification system of applying user-created keywords, or tags, to online content to describe and categorize information\u201d (Society of American Archivists<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Examples of folksonomy are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The classification system that would come to be known as taxonomy was created by Swiss Botanist Carolus Linnaeus<\/a> in the mid-18th<\/sup> Century, with the actual term created in 1813 by Swiss Botanist A.P. de Candolle<\/a>. Taxonomy is defined as \u201ca structure used for classifying materials into a hierarchy of categories and subcategories\u201d (Society of American Archivists<\/a>). Generally, when people think about taxonomies, they are more likely to think about them in the scientific sense with the classification of various flora and fauna. However, taxonomy is a part of our daily lives without most of us even realizing it. Some examples of taxonomies in everyday life include grocery stores (organized by types of food, popularity, and price), online shopping (organized by size, color, price, or gender), and libraries (Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress classifications of materials).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do these two classifications pertain to records management? To begin, they are both methods of organizing and classifying records as well as contributors to the metadata of records. They are also both methods of quickly locating and retrieving information, which is important in records management, especially from a legal standpoint (13 TAC 6<\/a> and 13 TAC 7)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, while taxonomy has a predetermined system to classify content, folksonomy uses a more collaborative system to classify information. One could look at this as the content within a records retention schedule is the folksonomy while the completed record itself, with the organization of the information as a whole, would be a taxonomy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When using either of these methods\u2014separately or in collaboration\u2014one must be aware of both the advantages and disadvantages of each one. While taxonomies have the advantage of being organized, hierarchical and connected, they can also be difficult to design, maintain, and to revise. Folksonomies are collaborative, non-hierarchical, and flexible but can also be poorly applied (especially tags), ambiguous, and potentially more subjective than objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When used separately or in collaboration, folksonomy and taxonomy are both necessary to retaining any type of record. Whether it is social media, photographs, books, or even the grocery store, these two classifiers are used every day without most of us even realizing it. Perhaps we all should learn to appreciate their usefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Folksonomy](\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Folkonomy-Image-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat is Taxonomy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Taxonomy](\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/taxomomy-example-9-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nRecords Management<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Antique-Library-Books.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
![\"Like](\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/512x512.png\")
\r\n <\/a>\r\n