Ontology Beats

Arts

Arts had a busy few months. Comics, Digital, and the Music/Computers categories were all reorganized. The Society/People/Celebrities and Celebrities categories were merged, and the Periods and Movements category was created for sites and umbrella categories that deal with different elements of Movements such as Surrealism and Impressionism.

Other categories were reorganized and subcategories expanded as Arts becomes increasingly sophisticated. Editors are constantly communicating with each other about creating standard subcategories, tightening up category charters, and creating submission guidelines for each category. The X-Files, J.K. Rowling, and Television/Programs categories have been the focus of some attention.

The next few months should continue to be busy for Arts editors, as new editors begin to rise in the ranks and bring new and fresh ideas to Arts. Reorganizations in Literature and Online Writing, Magazines and E-zines and Movies/Series are currently being discussed. Join the Arts team and edit the category for your favorite band, author, or TV program. - Jschwart

Business

There are several important discussions going on in Business at the moment concerning business categories in other topical branches moving to Business. The discussion about the Science - Business overlap is moving slowly but surely forward. Editors are taking a measured approach in discussing the moves. There are a number of business categories in Recreation and editors have been discussing moving them to Business, or reorganizing them to better fit the Recreation ontology.

The Human Resources category is undergoing a minor revision to make it easier for the user to navigate. One of the main points of the discussion was on how to deal with the numerous sites at the top level. Editors are currently sorting these sites.

The MLM category has a long and storied history in the ODP. Editors are discussing options for this category, including whether it should stay, and if it stays, what format the category should take.

If you enjoy working in a team environment, Team Biz is for you! Check out Business Help Wanted for categories in need of help. - Gracel

Computers

Several significant areas of overlap have been discussed over the past few months. Industry-Specific software is slowly moving to the various Industries under Business. Cdenton and hystri were recently involved in an effort to resolve overlap between Arts/Music and various Audio subcategories of Computers. Computers/Multimedia/Music and Audio was created in Computers to provide central access to computer music and audio topics.

Overlaps between website promotion and Internet marketing are currently being discussed in the Computers forum. This has started several related threads discussing overlaps between Internet/Commercial Services and Internet/WWW. Has the time come to merge these categories?

Additional improvements have been made in Accounting Software, Programming Languages and Computer Science/Bibliographies.

A thread for discussing small changes or additions has been started, similar to the "Category Create/Delete Billboard" in the Business forum. The equivalent Computers thread has a slightly different name: "Computers Ontology Notification Thread." Editors are encouraged to check this thread and to post small proposals there. - Shara

Games

Games editors have been busy with small but important maintenance issues. Recently, editors resolved the issue of a Shopping/Games overlap. A number of retailer categories were moved to Shopping/Toys_and_Games. There are several discussions going on in the forum concerning a clean up of the top level. Ideas include creating a resources category and moving some of the top level categories that are below the line to more appropriate locations.

Do you have a favorite board game? Do you like video games? Ever wonder what RPGs are? Then come join us in Games. Pick your favorite category, or check out Help Wanted. - Gracel

Health

There has been a great deal of activity in the Conditions and Diseases category over the past few weeks. It recently passed the 10,000 sites mark and is now the largest subcategory of Health. Since May, the Health category has seen an increase of 10,000 sites! Cancer subcategories were regrouped by affected body part. Endocrine and digestive disorders were also regrouped according to the specific organ affected, e.g. stomach, pancreas, etc.

There has been an effort to disband "General" categories such as Heart Disease/General_Information. These types of categories contain sites that are better placed in existing categories. Gkaz lead a successful effort to move shopping sites and categories out of Health/Alternative and into Shopping/Health_and_Beauty to comply with the Shopping ontology.

Early in October some questions were raised regarding possible overlaps between Sports and Health. A proposal to move some categories of Health/Fitness into Sports was discussed in the Ontology forum and implemented in November. - Shara

Home

Hoping to do our part at injecting some sanity into the holiday shopping season, the Consumer Information taxonomy has been redone. New category descriptions have been added, and a whole new FAQ section has been created to help editors standardize the category's content. Lots of new consumer information sites, including @links between Consumer Information and Shopping, have also been added to help shoppers make the best possible choices.

Thanks to cooperation from the Recreation/Autos editors, the Consumer_Information/Automobiles section was expanded to become the central place for vehicle consumer information, encompassing buyers' guides, advocacy and protection, and recall information.

Editor applications are now being accepted in Home/Consumer Information, so editors with an interest in developing consumer oriented product or service review categories are encouraged to apply.

Editors are also tweaking taxonomy and category overlaps in the area of Personal Finance, as distinctions between similar Business, Home/Personal Finance, Home/Consumer Information, and Society/Issues categories are being defined. - Dmozmarch

News

Current conflicts and military newspapers have been the topics of forum discussion recently, with editors discussing ways to highlight and expand these areas. Those choosing to stay out of the forums have been continuing to work on adding sites, clearing unrevieweds, and maintaining the quality of News. In the past month, several editors have also come aboard to edit in Newspapers/Regional/United_States and News/Directories/Headline_Links. Welcome! - Agskeefe

Recreation

Recreation editors continue to display dedication and perserverance in diverse areas, tackling issues revolving around the category's role in relation to Business, Shopping, and Regional, and coming together to tighten up category descriptions.

Ongoing projects such as the application of the regional guidelines to Recreation/Travel continue to progress at a steady pace. Recreation/Autos editors have streamlined the /Enthusiasts category, and those involved in Recreation/Boating have implemented a proposal to move Manufacturers under Business.

Current initiatives include eliminating duplication between Living_History and Shopping; discussing how Antiques and Collectibles could be merged to better compliment the Shopping taxonomy; and reworking Recreation/Scouting in a way that places emphasis on organizations rather than regions. - Agskeefe

Reference

Reference is a diverse category with its mix of standard tools (almanacs and dictionaries), special interest categories (Time, Quotations, Flags ), and educational subjects (university sites, early childhood teaching resources). To keep the diversity and limit "dumping," editors wrote a new category description that emphasizes adding sites devoted to the study and access of information, to teaching information, and to those topics that are informative and comprehensive but are not classified elsewhere in the ODP.

Editors in Reference/Libraries tightened up the distinctions between Special Interest Libraries and Research Libraries, changing Special Interest to Subject Specific and working on overlapping library categories that exist outside Reference/Libraries. - Dmozmarch

Science

Where do environmental consultants and instrumentation manufacturers belong? This very topic is currently being tackled by Science and Business editors. Editors are currently examining Science/Technology categories. Several subcategories focused more on the commercial aspects of scientific research have migrated to appropriate Business categories. There are many more categories to review, discuss, define and move, if needed. Watch for threads in Science, Business and Ontology covering these issues.

Where should scientific sites about plants and animals be listed? Should Science/Biology be arranged according to Linnean taxonomy or should a separate subcategory be created for plants and animals? This discussion is currently underway in the Science forum. The outcome of this discussion may impact other sections such as Recreation/Outdoors/Wildlife. All Science editors should take a moment to review this discussion. - Shara

Shopping

Editors in Shopping have been very busy. The Vehicles editors have several ongoing discussions on how best to organize the category. One of the issues they are are working on is separating Autos/Internet_Sales and Autos/Buyers_Services so that both categories are better defined.

General cleanup in the Crafts category is taking place with a focus on combining knitting and crochet sites. A new category for Yarn Arts is being created as many sites sell materials for both types of crafts. The Crafts editors are also cleaning up some inappropriate regional categories.

Like to shop? Enjoy looking at online stores? Then Shopping is for you! Check out Help Wanted and apply for a category. - Gracel

Society

Pagan editors have resumed an earlier reorganization of their top taxonomy. Some subcategory names have been standardized to reflect usage elsewhere in Religion and Spirituality, and category descriptions have been written to help current and future editors place sites. Speaking of reorg revivals...the discussion regarding the organization of Society/History is active again, with editors putting their subject expertise to work tackling this complex and content-rich category.

Editors in various categories have done a little housekeeping, with shopping sites moved out of some ethnic categories, shopping sites retained in some religious categories, @links put in for polygamy categories, and Christian missions brought into line with the Regional guidelines. The perennial need for including controversial viewpoints was addressed most recently in adding "anti" or "opposing views" subcategories in Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual, and in prep schools. - Dmozmarch

Sports

Sports editors continue to impress us all by finding new and interesting Sports. Categories created in the past few months include Rope Skipping, Coaching, Trail Running, and Sepak Takraw, a game originally from Malaysia which is played like volleyball over a badminton net using any part of your body except your arms.

Reorganizations have also taken place in a large number of categories, including Snowboarding and Skateboarding. A number of Sports moved to more appropriate categories in Recreation and Games to comply with their ontologies. Extreme Sports and Track and Field are getting new descriptions and to help with the categories' focus and development. Consolidation plans are still being discussed for umbrella terms such as Beach Sports, Lawn Sports, and Wargames. - Jschwart