Happiness is taxonomy: four structures for Snoopy

Information Outlook, March, 2003 by Katherine Bertolucci

Semantics and ontology come into play here also. Word selection and structural relationships affect the value of taxonomy. Even such standard devices as alphabetical order can be used in this regard. For example, there is great concern about the use of beagles in laboratory experiments. This issue is included as "Beagles 4 Status 4 Laboratory Beagles." However, there are also categories dealing with the treatment of animals in general. If my client is an activist organization, I might place the provocative phrase, "Animal Rights" at the front of the structure. However, if my client is uncomfortable with such politically charged terminology, "Ethics" could be used, with additional structural advantage. The two major categories of "Beagles" and "Dogs" are now together at the beginning of the taxonomy, and the two peripheral categories of "Ethics" and "Hunting" are also together but farther along in the structure.

This method of custom designing taxonomies specifically for clients, using their terminology and their preferences, creates systems that invite use by offering an efficient and enjoyable information-gathering experience.

Determined Productions Taxonomy

When I worked for Determined Productions in San Francisco, I developed this type of taxonomy for Snoopy. Determined had the major licensing agreement with Charles Schulz to produce Peanuts and Snoopy items. They also served as intermediary between the Schulz enterprise and other licensees. For example, a T-shirt company, such as J.G. Hook, might work with Determined to develop prototypes and then would submit samples for approval. These samples, along with many other collected items, were often used to generate new ideas for other products.

In addition, Determined ran a small mail-order business for its manufactured products. The taxonomy served two purposes: the first was to store and retrieve a wide variety of products that might be required for the development of new ideas; the second was to warehouse mail-order stock.

Determined is a family company, and it changed its focus after I worked there in the 1980s. It now represents licensing companies and manufactures corporate premiums. So the original Snoopy taxonomy suffered the fate of many electronic resources by evaporating into the virtual ether. It was built on a superceded platform with a superceded database and is a classic victim of the lack of digital preservation. * Therefore, in figure 4, I have recreated the taxonomy, using my memory as jogged by two guides to Peanuts collectibles: Peanuts, The Home Collection: A Collector's Guide to Identification and Value by Freddi Karin Margolin (Antique Trader Books, Iola, Wisconsin, 1999) and Peanuts Collectibles: Identification and Value Guide by Andrea Podley and Derrick Bang (Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky, 2000).

The art of taxonomy is in discovering the client's individual methods of interacting with information and combining this with the material's unique characteristics. Almost every line in the Determined taxonomy represents a decision based on the needs of the client and the requirements of the information. In this case, the primary users were Connie Boucher and Jim Young, the founders of Determined Productions. They first published the classic Charles Schulz book Happiness Is a Warm Puppy in 1962. My task was to organize their collection of Peanuts and Snoopy products so that a given item could be delivered instantly for art meetings in progress. A secondary organizational issue was the mail-order business. This stock took up more space but was not necessarily more important and could also be called upon for art meetings.