Context
Created
January 2024
Assignment
Classification System - Create
Roles
- Created a faceted classification system to organize a collection of resources: my family's collection of skateboards
- Grouped items into mutually exclusive categories, including at least 4 facets and at least 12 isolates.
Sample
Original Submission
Peer Review Feedback
Wonderful submission. Great work organizing and styling your faceted classification system. I like how you hierarchically organize your facets as well(ex; lowest inch number-highest). The resources you have listed don’t fall into the 22 inch or the penny isolate. So maybe the length could be moved to a lesser importance. Maybe the style could also not feature the penny since it doesn't apply to any of your resources.I do think this system works very well if you were to add in another resource though, such as a 22inch or “penny” board. I also don’t see any overlap between isolates which is a good sign!A facet I would maybe add in is wheel type? Do skateboards utilize different wheels, if they do, then this could be another way to categorize them. Another facet to add could possibly be durability between boards or “material.”Your facets all describe very specific and differing components of boards, good job with that. Lastly all of your isolates are mutually exclusive and fit really well within their facets, I don’t see any errors in this regard.---This seems to be a system aimed at helping someone to choose the skateboard that's best for them. I can't speak too much for its usefulness in that area, seeing as I know nothing about skateboarding. The 'stability' and 'difficulty' categories seem helpful for beginners, as long as they can be determined without too much subjectivity. I'm confused by the meaning of 'average length'. Can one skateboard vary in length? As I tried to look up terminology, I discovered that the width of a skateboard is also considered very important, so I think you should classify skateboards by width as well.---First of all, sick skateboard collection. While I dont know much about skateboards, I still wonder if the Style facet has mutual exclusivity issues, namely with the longboard and cruiser isolates. There may be a point in the future when you acquire a cruising longboard. In thinking about future additions, the average length might be an issue if a new board is 24" long, unless that doesnt exist in skateboards. Otherwise, I think the breadth and depth are appropriate as well as the fundamental categories. This makes me wish my longboard wasnt stolen.
Revision, Incorporating Peer Review Feedback
Skateboards by Joseph Watson-MacKay
Learning Significance
What does the activity mean to you?
I got a lot of joy in creating, colour-coding and applying the initially confusing concepts of facets, isolates and mutual exclusivity to my family's skateboard collection. As the first assignment of the term in LIBR 509, I was struggling in the beginning to internalize these concepts. I later felt great relief as I started figuring out what skateboard properties were meaningful to include and describe, leaving me feeling more optimistic about learning about classification structures, organizing terms and practices.
What other activities it is connected to?
Due to the sequencing of this assignment before the next, where I created a thesaurus, I appreciated the generative head-start and chance to continue with the same topic - skateboarding - from week to week. By modifying the layout of this assignment to use for the next, I built on that existing momentum to identify more narrow, broad and related terms to do with skateboarding.
How did you adjust or adapt to using a different strategy or approach?
After reading comments from the 3 folks that wrote my peer reviews, taking in their observations, and considering their suggestions, I was excited to go back and revise my system accordingly. The revised image above includes some (not all) of the changes they kindly recommended, such as adding in wheel size and board width facets, since these elements have a significant impact on the ride experience.
I noted a few entry-point references to come back to to build out those changes, which I'm looking forward to doing before I share the system with other skateboarders in my life and communities.