Subject classification exercise: part 1
This week, we’ve talked about the first steps in creating a subject classification:
- Determine preliminary domain, or subject area.
- Perform a basic domain analysis to identify potential concepts to include in the classification.
- Begin to construct a version of the subject by selecting concepts that align with your audience and purpose, defining the composition and extent of the domain.
Now we’re going to get some practice with #3, by reviewing a set of related concepts and “constructing” a cohesive “subject domain” out of them.
You won’t have “harvested” the concepts yourself, and so you won’t be able to use many of the warrants that we’ve read about as rationale for your decisions, or at least not with a whole lot of confidence. But we will approximate the activity of shaping a concept space nonethless, focusing on the way that a classificationist forges a particular, specific interpretation of a subject domain. Different forms of warrant might contribute to this interpretive activity, but they do not determine it; much of the work of classification design relies on what we might call editorial judgment to form a cohesive “theory” of the subject represented by the classification. In this exercise, we will concentrate on developing that editorial judgment.
Your mission
In a group of about 4 people, review the following concepts related to gardening. (Each group will also have a set of index cards with each concept.) Make sure that everyone in the group has a sense of what the concepts mean. It’s possible that you may not agree on what a concept means. At this point, you should just be aware of such differences; you don’t need to resolve them yet.
After reviewing the entire set of 132 concepts, your group will select 30-40 of the concepts to define a smaller, more precise subject area. Everyone in the group should agree on what the concepts mean, in the context of the subject area that you’re proposing, and everyone should be able to explain how each concept contributes to the overall idea of the subject that you are defining. For example, you might select a set of concepts to represent “sustainable gardening in central Texas” or “garden design for beginners” or “home garden activities” or “gardening for food”—whatever you see emerging from the larger list of gardening concepts. There is no correct answer here; think about this task as making a case, or creating an argument, for a particular subject definition. For example, you might define “lifestyle gardening” as planning and enjoying one’s garden, but not performing actual tasks with plants, which would be delegated to one’s gardener. So you might include concepts for types of gardens (planning what to do) and activities that take place in gardens (barbecues) and skip concepts for dealing with pests, and so on.
If your group determines that your subject idea requires additional concepts that are not represented in the list, feel free to make the necessary additions; I have extra index cards and pens. (This may become more apparent during our next class, when you will structure your concepts into a hierarchy or set of multiple hierarchies.) Please, though, do not write on or otherwise alter the cards that you were given.
At the conclusion of this exercise, you should be able to explain:
· Your group’s definition of the subject area you’ve selected.
· How the concepts you’ve chosen to constitute the subject express that definition.
Each group will have a few minutes minutes to explain their subject area to the rest of the class, and we will use this experience to talk about the project of subject classification design in general, and your assignment in particular.
The next time we meet, we will continue this exercise by structuring the gardening classification that you have begun today, creating hierarchical and associative relationships between the concepts that you selected.
Subject concepts
- annuals
- ants
- aphids
- arbors
- balance
- barbecues
- beneficial insects
- biennials
- borders
- budget
- bulbs
- canning
- clay soil
- color
- community garden
- compost
- container garden
- croquet
- curb appeal
- cuttings
- deer
- dethatching
- drainage
- edging
- English garden
- fence construction
- fences
- fertilizer
- fertilizing
- flowerbed
- flowering plants
- focal points
- fountains
- French garden
- full-shade exposure
- full-sun exposure
- garden decor
- garden design
- garden furniture
- garden maintenance
- garden ornaments
- garden parties
- garden services
- garden shears
- garden tools
- gardeners
- gardening
- gazebos
- grasses
- greenhouse garden
- growing season
- harvesting
- hedges
- heirloom seeds
- herbs
- hoes
- hydroponic garden
- irrigation system
- Japanese garden
- kitchen garden
- landscape architects
- landscaping
- lawnmowers
- lawns
- loam soil
- manure
- mowing
- mulch
- native plants
- nooks
- orchard
- organic gardening
- partial-sun exposure
- patios
- perennials
- pergolas
- pest management
- pesticides
- pests
- plant diseases
- plant hardiness zones
- plant nutrition
- plant placement
- plant selection
- planting
- plants
- ponds
- potting
- preserving
- pruning
- rabbits
- rainwater
- raised beds
- rakes
- rock garden
- rocky soil
- roof garden
- sandy soil
- seasons
- seeds
- shovels
- shrubs
- simplicity
- sodding
- soil
- soil acidity
- soil aeration
- soil amendments
- soil fertility
- soil improvement
- soil texture
- sprinkler systems
- staking
- terrace
- texture
- tilling
- topiary
- trees
- trelllises
- trowels
- tubers
- unity
- vegetable plants
- vines
- water conservation
- watering
- weeding
- weeds
- weevils
- windowsill garden
- worms
- xeriscaping