Big data moment and faceted theory: a structured review

Abstract

Over the last years, information growth has been the source of a large volume and variety of data, therefore new processes to represent, organize, seek and retrieve the information are needed. The background theory that supports the big data settings is diverse, however, one theory has deserved special attention in the literature, not only as a model for structuring data but also for locating information: the faceted theory. In this paper, a brief review of the literature about big data and faceted theory is presented. According to literature, web system architecture based on the faceted analysis appears to be highly common even in the big data settings. Regarding description, navigation, seek and search, and retrieval of the information, the authors write up the faceted theory, methods, and models in a digital environment. Nevertheless, more theoretical and empirical work is necessary to firm up this standpoint.

Keywords: Faceted theory, Big Data, Information seeking, Information retrieval, Web system architecture