Manage Filters

This function allows you to create, share and maintain customized versions of the Taxonomy by creating a filter that can be used to remove terms you do not wish to include in your Taxonomy subset. It works just like an oil or water filter that removes unwanted impurities. The filter can be applied when you create reports in the Print function, run searches on the website or download your customization in XML format. Some filters are "official" (created by the Taxonomy editor in collaboration with experts in a particular area). Others are created by subscribers and may be shared (community filters) or kept as private. Official and community filters are available to all subscribers. Private filters can only be seen and used by the organizations that developed them.

Manage Filters Screen: To begin, click on “Add a filter” or select a current filter to use as your starting point and click on “clone”. The clone function makes a copy of the file you selected which you can edit. If you want others to be able to see your customization, click on "share" when your filter is completed. You may also edit, share or delete filters from this page, but only those that are your own.

Filter Description: A filter name is required for all filters. Other information includes the contact name and phone number for the individual responsible for the filter and a filter description. All fields are mandatory for official and community filters, but it is advisable to provide contact information and a description for private filters.

Manage Filter: <Filter Name>: From this screen, you can return to the initial screen (“Manage Filters”), include/exclude terms (begin to build your filter or work on one that needs modification), edit your filter name and description, view term counts or generate an outline report in two formats. The latter is very useful as you begin to shape your filtered set. The filter description and a list of excluded terms/sections are also displayed.

Edit Filter Name and Description: When you click on "Edit filter name and description", the system display the current text and allows you to make changes.

View Term Counts: When you click on "View term counts", the system calculates the total number of terms in the filter as well as the number of lowest level terms on each branch that can be used for indexing purposes. These figures should help people evaluate the level of detail in each of the published filters when selecting a starting point for a customization for their own community.

Generate Outline: When you click on "Generate outline report", you can request two types of outlines: the regular outline report and an outline that grays out higher level terms on a branch and shows in bold type the lowest level terms on each branch that can be used for indexing purposes.

Include/Exclude Terms: When you click on “Include/Exclude Terms”, the system displays the level 1 terms in the Taxonomy. You can exclude an entire section by clicking on “exclude term”, or you can display levels 2-6 of each section by clicking on the Level 1 term name. This allows you to exclude some terms within the section but retain others. You must edit (or leave unchanged) all 11 sections to complete your filter.

When you select a level 1 term, the system displays all of the terms within that section. For each term, you have three options:

When you exclude a term’s children, “Include term (and parents)” appears next to their names allowing you to re-include each child term individually. If you decide you only want one or two children in a particular section, for example, you can exclude the children as a group and then reactivate only the ones you want. This takes less time than excluding each of the children you don’t want, one-by-one, particularly if there is a long list. Alternatively, if you want to include most of the children, exclude those you don’t want individually. The terms in bold are included in the Taxonomy; the others are excluded. Excluded terms may be re-included by clicking on "include term". You can switch to “outline view” to see only the terms you have included. Your selections automatically save as you go along. You can return to first level terms at any point. The sections you have edited are referenced with an asterisk.

The filters function is locale sensitive. It is programmed to display different views of the Taxonomy depending on the locale in which you are working (U.S. English, Canadian English or Canadian French). If you are viewing the U.S. English Taxonomy, Canadian only terms are obviously grayed out allowing you to identify and ignore them more easily. If you are viewing the Canadian English Taxonomy, U.S. only terms are grayed out as described above and Canadian term names are displayed rather than their U.S. English counterparts when there is a variance between the locales.

Note that the system is structured to preserve the hierarchical tree, so if you want to stop at level 3 in a particular section, you can exclude level 4, 5 and 6 terms, but cannot remove the level 1 and 2 supporting terms.

When you have completed your filter, return to the Manage Filter page. The terms you have excluded are listed at the bottom of the page. This page serves as a summary for the filter you have created and will be modified as additional changes are made.

To complete the process, click on “Return to Manage Filters”. Your new filter is now listed as a private filter. To make a request to share your new filter, click on “publish”. The name of your filter will be transferred to a list of filters submitted for approval. The filter will be reviewed by the Taxonomy editor and, if approved, transferred to the Community filters section.

Filter Maintenance: When the 211 Taxonomy website is updated, the system will help you maintain your filter by doing the following with new terms:

All terms added provisionally by the Manage Filter function are flagged for your review. Be sure to check your filter after each update to ensure that you review and confirm the decisions made for you by the system. The listing is cumulative so no damage is done if you skip the process for an update or two. You will simply have a longer list to manage. Remember that provisionally added terms are "in" unless you remove them and are visible to others who have access.

Several types of changes that can affect your customization will not appear in the new terms list. These include:

Always review the Recent Changes page to see these changes as well as term name changes and changes affecting see also references and use references. The easiest way to do this is to open the Taxonomy in a second window set to the Search or Recent Changes function. The information may help you make decisions about which terms to retain in your filtered set and which to exclude. You can have multiple copies of the site open at the same time, so you have the option of going back and forth between your filter, the Recent Changes page and the Search function.

If you wish to exclude a term that is on the list, click on "Manage section" next to the term name. The system will take you into the section. Scroll down to each of the terms you don't want and exclude them. The system removes the references to excluded terms from the list. When the only terms remaining on the list are those you wish to retain, click on "clear flags for added terms" to remove the list.

For more information on the filters function, refer to Using Filters to Create and Manage Taxonomy Subsets for a Resource Database: an article by Georgia Sales, 211 LA County and Dick Manikowski, AIRS Journal editor, that describes a feature on the Taxonomy Web site that enables users to create, maintain and share customized versions of the Taxonomy. The article was originally published in Volume 29 of "Information & Referral: The Journal of the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems" (reprinted with permission). It is located in the Library section of the website under the Resources tab.

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