Classifying information

The Content Classification Scheme (CCS) has been developed to improve public access to legal information and is a valuable resource for any organisation that needs to manage rights and legal information.

In response to the way that people look for information, CCS provides ways of storing or displaying information that makes it easier for people to find specific materials. It was commissioned as a user facing scheme and a user perspective is fundamental to the design and development of the scheme.

Read about Classifying information .

Classification is important as it allows the grouping together of things which are alike, according to some common quality or characteristic and from a particular perspective. The CCS provides:

• Standard vocabulary to encourage the consistent use of language across different websites.

• Standard vocabulary reflecting words in common use rather than legal jargon.

• Standard framework for categorising materials.

• Standard categories to help people search for information.

Organisations who have or who are planning to put information about the law and legal rights on to their websites are encouraged to use the scheme. It is used by Community Legal Advice, run by the Legal Services Commission, by ASA's Advicenow website and has been used and adapted by other providers of website information.

Thesaurus

The Content Classification Scheme features a full thesaurus of words which may be used by the public to search for information but which are not the 'preferred terms' used by the CCS headings. So for example, if someone searches for 'sacked' the system will locate information on dismissal and redundancy.

Full details of CCS can be found on the Better Information website under Classifying information .

CCS is free for use by any independent or public sector agency. A guide to its use is on the Better Information website where you can also register for updates .

November 2009