An introduction to taxonomy and its role in information organization

Taxonomies are multiple hierarchical catalogues of subjects and topical categories which indicate conceptual relationships. In other words, taxonomies are the science of classification which includes general principles for classifying objects and facts into different larger classes, within each main class divisions are then made into sub-classes. The main objective of taxonomies is to organize a collection of different elements in a hierarchical structure and facilitate relevant information retrieval. In the present paper, concepts, history, process, advantages, principles, theory and methodology of taxonomies are debated. Taxonomies are of different types such as classic taxonomy, numerical taxonomy, taxonomy as ontology in artificial intelligence, taxonomy in object-oriented programming, and taxonomy in information architecture. Some of the advantages of using taxonomies are: access to relevant information in a short time, increasing knowledge share, and reducing the time for decision making.