Many people are confused by the terms taxonomy and terminology. Are they the same thing? Are they different? Do I care about one more than the other? If so, which?
Defining Taxonomy and Terminology
A taxonomy is a way to classify words into hierarchical groups. Taxonomies are most often associated with search.
Terminology is a system of words that belong to something in common. Terminology allows content to be:
- Consistent
- Standard
- Readable
- In-brand
Taxonomy and terminology overlap in something called controlled language. Controlled language defines which words to use, where to use them, and when to use them. Both taxonomy and terminology belong to the category of controlled language. Controlled language has an organization structure that needs to be governed.
What is Taxonomy?
A taxonomy defines groups of words. It can be multilayered or flat.
The following example shows a taxonomy for food. At the top level, we have two groups: type and cooking method. Under each, we have sub-categories of groups.
In this taxonomy, we can further categorize the type of food as follows:
The taxonomy can become even more granular. Let’s take Food -> Type -> Vegetables -> Leafy:
Using this taxonomy, romaine lettuce is categorized as follows:
Food -> Type -> Vegetables -> Leafy -> Lettuce -> Romaine
READ MORE: Do you know the difference between taxonomy and terminology?
What is Terminology?
Terminology is a system or collection of words that belong to something in common. The system is managed to make content more consistent and standardized. Terminology helps improve readability, translation, and brand perception.
Terminology is not necessarily hierarchical. Instead, it is a grouping. Using our same example:
In this example, food, type, and method are groupings of words. Here is an example of what each might contain:
It is possible to have nested groups within terminology, such as:
Which Terms Need to be Managed?
Not all words need to be managed using terminology. However, there are certain categories that you should pay attention to. For example:
Synonyms:
- Food
- Grub
- Chow
- Cuisine
- Sustenance
Trademarks, service marks, brand names, and product names, such as:
- Coca-Cola ®
- CocaCola
- Coca Cola
- Coke-Cola
You want to make sure that everyone uses the same, approved version of a trademarked term.
Variants of the same term, such as:
- Porterhouse
- Porter house
- Porter-house
Words that you or someone else made up:
- eBook
- daughterboard
- gamification
Words that have switched parts of speech:
- Fedex
- Xerox
What Aspects of a Term Should Be Included?
There are a number of things that you can include, along with the word itself, when you manage a term. Here are some suggestions:
Of course, not everyone needs to include each of these categories. The ones you select to include will be determined by the use case of why you are managing terms, and what aspects of the term you care about.
READ MORE: Successful content always has this one important feature
Taxonomy and Terminology Best Practices
There are a few best practices when it comes to managing taxonomy and terminology.
Cross-pollinate
All of the words in your taxonomy should also be managed in your terminology. Here is what it looks like if we put terms from our taxonomy example into terminology.
In the taxonomy, these words formed a hierarchy. In terminology, they all belong to a group.
Changing or Removing Words
There may be times when you decide that you no longer want to use a particular word in your taxonomy and terminology. If this is the case, you should follow these steps:
- Disallow the word in both the taxonomy and the terminology.
- Replace the disallowed word with the new preferred word.
- Eventually, remove the disallowed word from the taxonomy so that people can no longer use it in search.
- Leave the disallowed word in the terminology forever, so that no one ever uses it.
Governance
Governance is a critical component of managing both your taxonomy and terminology. You need to decide many things, preferably in advance of creating the taxonomy and terminology. For example:
- Criteria for adding words
- Criteria for removing words
- Frequency of changes
- Decision tree
- Who is alerted when changes are made
And so on.
It is a good idea to have people from the taxonomy team on the terminology team, and vice versa. Clear and frequent communication is an important part of maintaining both your taxonomy and your terminology.
Helpful Summary
- Taxonomy and terminology are both examples of controlled language. Both taxonomy and terminology determine which words to use, where to use them, and when to use them.
- Taxonomy is a hierarchical method of classifying words. It is used mainly for search.
- Terminology is a system of words that belong to something in common.
- Implementing a taxonomy will help your users find content. Implementing terminology will help them to read it and understand it.
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Val is on the Advisory Board for the Technical Communications Program at the University of North Texas. When not working with customers or students, Val can be found sitting behind her sewing machine working on her latest quilt. She also makes a mean hummus.
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