Taxonomic Distress: The Challenge of Developing Effective Taxonomies for Web-Facing Businesses
http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000032.php

Becker, Lane
Adaptive Path
2002

Abstract:

A good taxonomy is a win for both a company and its customers. It’s easy to see why taxonomy development is good for your users: The whole reason for creating a taxonomy for your site is to make information retrieval quick and easy by putting the information into a sensible structure that’s consistently applied. Well-designed taxonomies map out the base structure for your content, providing a navigation scheme that makes sense to your users.