Clear Overview, 31 Oct 2004
Hunter's book contains a clear, plain English overview of the subject of classification. I would recommend it to anyone new to the subject or someone who has tried without success to wade through some of the more comprehensive, but frequently turgid, textbooks on the subject. The second edition has slightly changed, and enhanced the style, the material is updated and there is a new (brief) chapter on classification and the internet. Contains useful references and urls.

Comprehensive, but dull, 12 Oct 2000
Hunter covers all types of classification, uses plenty of examples, but still fails to grab the attention of the reader. The chapters are clearly defined but there is little emphasis on creativity or flexible thinking to develop new or 100% appropriate classification solutions - this book will only tell you what already exists and that you may have to apply several different methods of classifying to make sure you meet all the requirements.

However, it does stress that whatever classification method you choose it should be easy for the person who has to use it.

Clear Overview, 31 Oct 2004
Hunter's book contains a clear, plain English overview of the subject of classification. I would recommend it to anyone new to the subject or someone who has tried without success to wade through some of the more comprehensive, but frequently turgid, textbooks on the subject. The second edition has slightly changed, and enhanced the style, the material is updated and there is a new (brief) chapter on classification and the internet. Contains useful references and urls.

Comprehensive, but dull, 12 Oct 2000
Hunter covers all types of classification, uses plenty of examples, but still fails to grab the attention of the reader. The chapters are clearly defined but there is little emphasis on creativity or flexible thinking to develop new or 100% appropriate classification solutions - this book will only tell you what already exists and that you may have to apply several different methods of classifying to make sure you meet all the requirements.

However, it does stress that whatever classification method you choose it should be easy for the person who has to use it.

Entertaining and enlightening; a good read, 24 Sep 2003
Although people may be put off by the title, I can thoroughly recommend this book. The editor is a distinguished indexer and she is obviously well-versed in the subject. There are many amusing and interesting examples of the variety of indexes to factual books that have been compiled since the first printed one in 1427.

I am sure most indexers will already have a copy; other people who deal with books will find it fascinating; anyone who has ever tried to use an index and given up in despair will appreciate the commentary in this book.

Clear Overview, 31 Oct 2004
Hunter's book contains a clear, plain English overview of the subject of classification. I would recommend it to anyone new to the subject or someone who has tried without success to wade through some of the more comprehensive, but frequently turgid, textbooks on the subject. The second edition has slightly changed, and enhanced the style, the material is updated and there is a new (brief) chapter on classification and the internet. Contains useful references and urls.

Comprehensive, but dull, 12 Oct 2000
Hunter covers all types of classification, uses plenty of examples, but still fails to grab the attention of the reader. The chapters are clearly defined but there is little emphasis on creativity or flexible thinking to develop new or 100% appropriate classification solutions - this book will only tell you what already exists and that you may have to apply several different methods of classifying to make sure you meet all the requirements.

However, it does stress that whatever classification method you choose it should be easy for the person who has to use it.

Entertaining and enlightening; a good read, 24 Sep 2003
Although people may be put off by the title, I can thoroughly recommend this book. The editor is a distinguished indexer and she is obviously well-versed in the subject. There are many amusing and interesting examples of the variety of indexes to factual books that have been compiled since the first printed one in 1427.

I am sure most indexers will already have a copy; other people who deal with books will find it fascinating; anyone who has ever tried to use an index and given up in despair will appreciate the commentary in this book.

Excellent overview of content management, 17 Feb 2005
The best thing about the Content Management Handbook is that it provides something that has been missing for some time: a simple and clear overview of the whole field of content management. While other books have delved in-depth into specific aspects of content management, Martin White's book aims to provide a 10,000 foot view of everything that goes into a successful content management implementation.

Martin is one of the leading vendor-neutral intranet and CMS consultants in the UK, and his experience shines through in this book. This is not just the "sales pitch" for all that CMS could be, but rather a balanced view of what works, what doesn't, and what will require some serious work and thinking.

This book is written in a casual, chatty style that makes it light work to browse through the chapters. To clearly set expectations, however: this is not one of those two-inch-thick "definitive tomes" that seem so popular in the IT bookshops nowadays. This is a slim volume that does not attempt to provide every detail required in every section. Instead, it provides key references to further reading in each chapter, pointing the reader to additional sources of in-depth coverage on specific topics.

So, if you are new to content management, read the Content Management Handbook to get an overview of the work that is ahead of you. If you are already knowledgeable in the material covered by a specific chapter then skip over it, and if you need more detail then follow the references to further reading and resources. In either case, by the time you finish this book, you will have a clearer idea of the whole content management landscape.

Clear Overview, 31 Oct 2004
Hunter's book contains a clear, plain English overview of the subject of classification. I would recommend it to anyone new to the subject or someone who has tried without success to wade through some of the more comprehensive, but frequently turgid, textbooks on the subject. The second edition has slightly changed, and enhanced the style, the material is updated and there is a new (brief) chapter on classification and the internet. Contains useful references and urls.

Comprehensive, but dull, 12 Oct 2000
Hunter covers all types of classification, uses plenty of examples, but still fails to grab the attention of the reader. The chapters are clearly defined but there is little emphasis on creativity or flexible thinking to develop new or 100% appropriate classification solutions - this book will only tell you what already exists and that you may have to apply several different methods of classifying to make sure you meet all the requirements.

However, it does stress that whatever classification method you choose it should be easy for the person who has to use it.

Entertaining and enlightening; a good read, 24 Sep 2003
Although people may be put off by the title, I can thoroughly recommend this book. The editor is a distinguished indexer and she is obviously well-versed in the subject. There are many amusing and interesting examples of the variety of indexes to factual books that have been compiled since the first printed one in 1427.

I am sure most indexers will already have a copy; other people who deal with books will find it fascinating; anyone who has ever tried to use an index and given up in despair will appreciate the commentary in this book.

Excellent overview of content management, 17 Feb 2005
The best thing about the Content Management Handbook is that it provides something that has been missing for some time: a simple and clear overview of the whole field of content management. While other books have delved in-depth into specific aspects of content management, Martin White's book aims to provide a 10,000 foot view of everything that goes into a successful content management implementation.

Martin is one of the leading vendor-neutral intranet and CMS consultants in the UK, and his experience shines through in this book. This is not just the "sales pitch" for all that CMS could be, but rather a balanced view of what works, what doesn't, and what will require some serious work and thinking.

This book is written in a casual, chatty style that makes it light work to browse through the chapters. To clearly set expectations, however: this is not one of those two-inch-thick "definitive tomes" that seem so popular in the IT bookshops nowadays. This is a slim volume that does not attempt to provide every detail required in every section. Instead, it provides key references to further reading in each chapter, pointing the reader to additional sources of in-depth coverage on specific topics.

So, if you are new to content management, read the Content Management Handbook to get an overview of the work that is ahead of you. If you are already knowledgeable in the material covered by a specific chapter then skip over it, and if you need more detail then follow the references to further reading and resources. In either case, by the time you finish this book, you will have a clearer idea of the whole content management landscape.

File under dull, turgid, tedious & missed opportunity, 16 Dec 2006
You can't expect every book to make worthy subjects fascinating (e.g. Freakonomics), but this collection of lengthy (so, so lengthy) descriptions of mostly medical classifications is as dull as they come.

Even for academia, the emphasis of description, the paucity of analysis and the complete absence of any practical guidance is disappointing.

OK it was written in 1999, but there is nothing about the emerging challenges of information classification on the Internet at a time when Yahoo! etc. were offering browsable taxonomies of web sites.

A good read for everyone,, 11 Jul 2006
For a classification nerd like me, this is a thoroughly engaging look at how the creation and implementiaton of classification schemes infiltrates and is affected by other social and human factors.

For the lay-reader, Sorting things out is a digestible, although sometimes overly worded introduction to the pernicious nature of categorising and dividing anything and a wake-up call to everyone to give more consideration to the segmentations we create and perpetuate on a daily basis and their wider effects.

Great for IA's - gives a wider view of the importance of labelling and structure and the behaviour of users and agents.

Excellent! Good reference!, 04 Dec 2000
It does provide the information what I need for classification. Excellent book!