A multi-faceted view: Use of facet analysis in the practice of website organization and access

In 2001, information architects and knowledge management specialists charged with designing websites and access to corporate knowledge bases seemingly re-discovered a legacy form of information organization and access: faceted analytico-synthetic theory (FAST). Instrumental in creating new and different ways for people to engage with the digital content of the Web, the members of this group have clearly recognized that faceted approaches have the potential to improve access to information on the web. Some of these practitioners explicitly use the forms and language of FAST, while others seem to mimic the forms implicitly (Adkisson, 2003). The focus of this ongoing research study is two-fold. First, access and organizational structures in a stratified random sample of 200 DMOZ websites were examined for evidence of the use of FAST. Second, in the context of unstructured interviews, the understanding and use of FAST among a group of eighteen practitioners is uncovered. This is a preliminary report of the website component capture and interview phases of this research study. Future work will involve formalizing a set of feature guidelines drawn from the initial phases of this research study. Preliminary observations will be drawn from the first phase of this study.