Utilizing Faceted Structures for Information Systems Design

Even for the experienced information professional, designing an efficient multipurpose information access structure can be a very difficult task. This paper argues for the use of a faceted thesaurus as the basis for organizing a small-scale institutional website. We contend that a faceted approach to knowledge organization can make the process of organization less random and more manageable. We begin by reporting on an informal survey of three institutional websites. This study underscores the problems of organization that can impact access to information. We then formalize the terminology of faceted thesauri and demonstrate its application with several examples. ANALYSES OF WEBSITE STRUCTURES Evaluation of the organizational structure of a website must necessarily involve an assessment of its hyperlink structure and of the support the linking structure provides for efficient access to information. Working from the basic assumption that a wellstructured website will improve access, websites of three leading Library and Information Science [LIS] were examined to determine the manner in which the hyperlink structure of each supported or hindered access to information. Because the purpose of this exercise was to determine the potential for a more structured approach to website design, it was decided to conduct an informal analysis of each site rather than to undertake a time-consuming formal study. Review of the site map provided by each website revealed different approaches to overall organizational structure. While one sitemap indicated that pages were grouped according to conceptional content, another seemed to be based on a mixture of conceptual and usage-based organization. The third website indicated that the web pages were only loosely grouped. The organization of each site was informally evaluated by determining the efficiency with which the following questions could be answered: • 1) How is the school ranked in national evaluations? • 2) Are there members of the faculty who are experts in the field of knowledge organization?