Authority files or thesauri: capturing the lexicon of terms used in an enterprise or business process, identifying which name is the preferred term when a thing is known by several names, determining how terms relate to each other (broader term, narrower term, synonym, near synonym). This is helpful for identifying and naming classes, determining object hierarchiers, determining generalized/specialized user roles, etc.
·         Ontologies: They essentially make it possible to identify a document (or object in our case) using a set of “coordinates”, essentially properties with predefined domain value, or by drilling down on any one of several facets to get to the same place. It is a much more object oriented mindset than most programmers and analysts that come from a database perspective with its hierarchical table relationships have.
·         Freeform Tagging of database records to capture meaningful associations from a user’s perspective. Use this knowledge to add additional facets for better search or navigation.