According to Clay Shirky, the ways we apply categorization to the electronic world are based on bad habits. In his opinion tagging (free-form labelling, without regard to categorical constraints) is a better fit for large amounts of information.
Categorization can work for a limited information space that is based on formal and stable entities organized by small number of expert cataloguers. But it doesn't work for a large amount of information that has no formal categories and a non-expert user base.
Links:
- The article Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags
Henrik Olsen
- May 22, 2005 - via InfoDesign
See also: Information architecture (15) Navigation (63)
