What About the Content? Crafting the Content Migration Strategy

In this continuing series about finding pertinent content on our knowledge repositories we must not forget about how we are going to get the content on to the knowledge repository. Having a clear, concise and workable plan for content migration is a critical ingrediant in our ability to later find "knowledge nuggets" that will help us in performing our tasks. The following steps outline best practices that should be considered when developing your content migration strategy:

1. Content Identification – Each business area involved in the content migration to the new/existing knowledge repository must perform a knowledge audit, developing an inventory of what the area has and how it relates to the users. This is the most time consuming task in the effort.

2. Content Analysis – Once existing content has been inventoried the analysis of this content can begin. This analysis will determine what content is to be moved, re-purposed, archived, or deleted. At this stage content can be properly tagged with appropriate terms/keywords. In addition during this step discovery of knowledge gaps will occur and must be documented.

3. Stakeholder/Management Engagement – In managing this effort it is essential that stakeholders understand the effort, it is properly scheduled, staffed and expectations managed.

4. Knowledge Repository Design – Before content migration begins the Knowledge Repository design must be completed with all associated components including look-and-feel and navigation of the environment.

5. Taxonomy, Content Types and Metadata Mapping – Content mapping activities provide the opportunity to understand how content will be placed into the taxonomy of the Knowledge Repository.

6. Training – In order for the appropriate staff to start migrating content on to the Knowledge Repository they must be trained on how the system works and the steps necessary to “on board” content on to the environment.

7. Content Migration – Now it is time to populate the Knowledge Repository with content. In order to successfully perform this task specific steps communicated in training must be executed.

For additional information on crafting your Content Management Strategy check out the resources below and I look forward to comments and discussion!

Tools for Implementing Taxonomy and Search Capabilities

Continuing our conversation about building a better search using taxonomies, ontologies, content types, and metadata; the following represents a few tools to consider if we every hope to not only find information on our knowledge repositories but to provide solutions to our inquiries.

Knowledge Management Suite for SharePoint 2010 from Layre2 is focused on improved content tagging and discovery. Although this product has not been rated with any reviews it promises to deliver many features that a taxonomy structure will be able to take advantage of. These features include:
- Tag Suggester: While tagging an item or document, display a suggestion list based on given Term Store taxonomies, tagging rules, item properties, context and document content.
- Auto Tagger: Tag items and documents in background without any user interaction, based on given Term Store taxonomies, tagging rules, item properties, context and document content. Auto Tagger could be helpful for initial tagging, e.g. after content migration from any system to SharePoint 2010, as well as for daily background operation.
- Taxonomy Manager: Manage the Term Store with additional managed metadata properties (e.g. tagging rules, related tags), export and import, change management, workflows.
- Tag Navigation Web Part: Provides collaborative tagging by using the SharePoint 2010 managed metadata taxonomy tree directly for content discovery and navigation.
- Tag Directory Web Part: Render the SharePoint 2010 managed metadata taxonomy tree as flat A-Z directory category index directly for content discovery and navigation.
- Tag Cloud Web Part: Navigate the content by its importance using a familiar taxonomy-based tag cloud.
- Related Content Web Part: Automatically display related content in a given context using managed metadata.
B y the way Layre2 provides shareware (free) version of there Knowledge Management Suite.

Word Map Taxonomy Management Software
Wordmap's software enables organizations to develop classification schemes or taxonomies, upload and store documents by reference to them, then publish rich information resources for their users to search and navigate. Using taxonomies and classification schemes enables the Taxonomy Management Software to provide structured to content enabling precise and relevant answers to searches quickly. Some World Map Taxonomy Software clients include AstraZeneca and the Harvard Business School. The complete product set can be deployed standalone - or easily integrated to improve the performance and consistency of existing systems. Learn more about the Word Map Search Integration Framework and how it connects enterprise applications such as SharePoint & Endeca to centralized taxonomy management.

Data Harmony: Expert Knowledge Management with Powerful Semantic Tools and Intelligent Design
Data Harmony software indicates that it provides knowledge management solutions to organize your information resources by applying a taxonomy/thesaurus structure. Data Harmony's software tools enable you to construct a logical framework of topics, reflecting the vocabulary of your business or subject area - and then apply these topic terms to your resources precisely and consistently.

Data Harmony tools include:
• Thesaurus Master - Taxonomy and thesaurus construction and management
• M.A.I. (Machine Aided Indexer) - Automatic indexing or editorial aid in indexing
• MAIstro™ - Combine Thesaurus Master and M.A.I. for maximum efficiency in both automatic indexing and taxonomy construction
• Additional Knowledge Management Tools - supplement the abilities of these primary products for even greater power in knowledge management.
• Integrates with numerous content management systems, including Microsoft SharePoint
• Exports taxonomy files in XML, OWL, SKOS, and 11 other formats
• Handles taxonomies in virtually all languages
• Uses concept categorization for precise tagging and smarter search

Smart Logic provides an ontology software tool to build and manage complex ontologies. This software package is their Ontology Manager: The tool is designed for anyone with a basic knowledge of taxonomies and information science to develop 'models'. A business analyst can use the tool to assist in the process of building a model. For Information Scientists and Information Architects, the tool conforms to industry standards and has the flexibility and functionality they need to develop complex models.

Some of the Features Include:
- Creates the model of links and structure between language elements that can drive a new user experience
- Holds any term 'metadata' to drive or enhance connected applications.
- Ontology Manager is designed to allow multiple users to create, enhance and browse several types of semantic model which include Lists, Controlled vocabularies, Taxonomies, Thesauri and Ontologies.

If anyone has experience with any of these or other tools I would like to hear more from you!