Knowledge organisation for a new millennium: principles and processes

All Web sites can be viewed as portals through which users have access to other parts of the Internet, but those Web sites whose primary objective is to guide users through the Internet, such as those of the search engines, shopping bots and other bots, and subject gateways, have a particular responsibility for facilitating the communication process. Those who take responsibility for supporting access to information in electronic environments must support all three stages in the organisation of knowledge, including selection, organisation, and the often neglected de‐selection. To be successful and to encourage users to identify with specific portals, and exhibit some loyalty as a member of the portal’s community, portals need to formulate a clear mission, and define some of the parameters of the community they are in the process of creating. Any processes or tools associated with the organisation of knowledge need to be appropriate to the needs of this community.