Abstract
At the most basic level a taxonomy is an ordered list of terms together with their definitions or other determinant characteristics. Taxonomy is a way of defining the component entities in a domain. Some taxonomies are very well known to the general public—such as the periodic table used in Chemistry, the names of animal or plant species, the names of heavenly bodies, etc.—while others are used only in highly specialized domains. Few taxonomies are permanent, although many are very long-lasting, but even more are used only briefly to help categorize research results. Beghtol (2003) has referred to these latter taxonomies as “naïve classifications;” Hjørland (1997, 47) called them “ad hoc” classifications.
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Smiraglia, R.P. (2014). Taxonomy. In: The Elements of Knowledge Organization. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09357-4_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09357-4_6
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