I was reading a nice blog entry on CMS Watch by Theresa Regli titled The Death of Taxonomies Revisited. http://www.cmswatch.com/Trends/1737-Death-of-Taxonomies-Revisited    There are some very good insights in the article and I highly suggest reading it.  Among the insights is that the title "taxonomist" should be heaped onto the junk pile.  I agree, and prefer the term Information Architect instead, and for a number of reasons.  Standalone content management systems are giving way to true information management solutions that incorporate both structured and unstructured content.  More and more, unstructured content is being integrated with its structured sibling.  ECM systems are being aligned with Business Intelligence (BI) initiatives.  Master Data Management (MDM) is helping to drive information architecture development.  In Theresa's own words, "taxonomists need to adapt and work with technology to improve the results of what they can achieve for enterprises." 

So, does that mean that taxonomies are dead?  Of course not.  It simply means that we need to think more broadly about how people will use information, both structured and unstructured and the relationships that exist between the two.  As for the traditional taxonomy, I don't think those are done any more than I think folksonomies will take over the world.  Are there areas where folksonomies make sense?  Sure.  Are there areas where multi-faceted taxonomies make sense?  Absolutely.  What is right for one company or situation may not work for the next.  Information Architects need to keep an open mind and look at all sources of information available to them. 

The question for me is when the traditional ECM vendors will adapt. With traditional ECM solutions, the question has been whether or not to use folders.  For some users, that's fine, but not for all.  One issue that all taxonomists need to be aware of is how the taxonomies will be implemented within the target content management system.  Having a fantastic mulit-faceted taxonomy is only of value if the content can be easily tagged and presented to the user in a useful, intuitive way.

I'll be at the Taxonomy Boot Camp this week in San Jose, California.  I hope to see you there!