Faceted classification

I picked a reference to something called faceted classification from High Context. The back credits on where this comes from are getting a little deep for more (more on that later), so I'll just quote the item:

Faceted Classification.

Ease:

Faceted classification of information and The business requirements for classifying content. Here's more. (via IASlash)

These articles look great at a quick glance. I'll pull out some nuggets later after I've had time to review them more closely.

[High Context]

I've had a look, and I think there's good stuff there. It's a little hard to tell on first glance; things like this can be real mind stretchers. (Or after a while they may turn out like a popsicle that you've held in your hand: just sticky and not very much fun after all.)

The notion of classification fascinates me. Long ago I toyed with the idea of classifying my then growing collection of computer science articles by the the ACM's computing classification scheme. (This must have been after 1982, because they came out with a revision of the original 1964 scheme them, and I'm sure that's what set me off.) In the end, I don't think I did anything with this; when you get right down to it, I'm just not organized and dedicated enough (anal enough?) to be that organized.

But something infected me way back then in this general area; it lead to a whole series of side effects/symptoms which included a long time fascination with PIMs (Personal Information Managers). Remember Lotus Agenda? InfoSelect? Ecco? Don't even get me started ....