What are We Thinking?: Using Faceted Classification and Tagging to Enhance Subject Access to the Public Mind
Elise DunhamThe Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
University of Connecticut
SAA MDOR MeetingAugust 13, 2014
@elisedunham #saa14 #mdor14
Roper Center Services
Datasets
Question Text, Response Categories, & Marginals
The Power of iPOLL
This day in history… Current events
Clinton’s visit to UConn=Women in Politics
MH17=Air Safety in Wake of Disaster
Nixon resignation, August 8, 1974
Civil Rights Act of 1964, July 2, 1964
The Power of iPOLL
Topics: FAMILY EQUALITY SEX GROUPS
Goals
Develop system for concept-based classification of manageable content
Implement workflows for identifying conceptual links between content at point of
acquisition/creation
Benefits of Faceted Classification & Tagging
• Flexible & agile• Indexer friendly• End user friendly• “Quick” startup
Iterative Project Steps
• Read & learn– The Accidental Taxonomist, Heather Hedden– Simmons GSLIS Taxonomy & Controlled
Vocabulary course, Heather Hedden– ICPSR & NYT vocabularies– Concepts: FRSAR, LC FAST, Syntactic Indexing
• Develop aboutness model to identify facets
Iterative Project Steps cont’d
• Develop controlled set of tags after analyzing: – Current iPOLL Topics– Topics at a Glance– User searches
• Develop backward- and forward- compatible infrastructure
• Assign tags to content
Study
Survey Samples
Variables
Power of iPOLL briefs
Primary source
Survey questions Topics
Sample Description
Methodology
Types
Secondary source
Press releases
Challenges
• Public opinion=inherently controversial• Tensions between theoretical purity &
implementation• Survey questions are sometimes shorter than
a tweet
Ideas Moving Forward
• Tag-a-thon• Outside review• Formal user testing/analysis• Linked data: be ready
Thank you!
Elise [email protected]
@elisedunham
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Researchwww.ropercenter.uconn.edu
@ropercenter
ResourcesGESIS, “Improving precision and recall in study retrieval: a concept for thesaurus-based syntactic indexing,” IASSIST Conference, 2014, http://www.library.yorku.ca/binaries/iassist2014/2F/-2014_2F_Siegers.pptx
Heather Hedden, The Accidental Taxonomist, 2010.
Alexis C. Madrigal, “How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood,” 2014-01-02, http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/how-netflix-reverse-engineered-hollywood/282679/
OCLC Research, FAST, http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/fast.html?urlm=159754
Maja Zumer, Athena Salaba, and Marcia Lei Zeng, “Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Records (FRSAR): A Conceptual Model of Aboutness,” from Asian Digital Libraries: Looking Back 10 Years and Forging New Frontiers, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 4822, 2007, pp 487-492, http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-540-77094-7_62#page-1
