Judi Vernau
(Director)



judi@metataxis.com
Judi's CV

Judi has been working in information management for over thirty years. After training and working as a librarian, Judi moved into publishing at K.G. Saur to manage the compilation of a new edition of the British Library Catalogue of Printed Books.

She became Managing Editor of several large-scale bibliographic and biographical projects, including production of some of the earliest reference CD-ROMs. In 1994 Judi joined Macmillan Publishers, where she designed data structures and editorial systems to support reference products, in particular the prestigious Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, while also running the Content Management Competency Centre for the parent company Holtzbrinck.

In 1997 Judi moved to AND Classification Data to work on vocabularies and taxonomies to support search and retrieval systems (patent awarded 2002). In 2000 she became Information Architect for the automotive division of EMAP plc, after which she joined TSO Ltd as Chief Taxonomist. In the two years at TSO, Judi specialised in consultancy on information analysis and design, metadata and taxonomy development. 

At Metataxis she heads up the IA stream and  has worked for clients across government, education and commercial sectors. In 2011 she was elected vice-chair of ISKO UK.

Marc Stephenson
(Director)



marc@metataxis.com
Marc's CV

Marc has an honours degree in Computer Science and master’s degree in Cognitive Science. He has spent twenty years in a number of technical and information management based roles, encompassing post-graduate research and development, software engineering, programme management, business analysis and information architecture. He has extensive technical experience in many platforms including detailed knowledge of SharePoint information architectures and configuration.

Marc has worked in both public and private sectors. His earlier career included working for a number of publishing and online media companies such as Proquest, Macmillan Publishers, multimap.com and The Stationery Office. At Metataxis, recent clients include the Department of Energy and Climate Change, BG Group and several banks.

Carol Scott
(Director)



carol@metataxis.com
Carol's CV

Carol Scott has over twenty years experience in public sector strategy, policy, operations and change management. She has significant senior management experience, including periods acting at general manager level.

Since 1996 she has worked in the area of electronic management of citizen’s personal identity information including projects to improve workflow, security and customer service delivery.

She researched and wrote information governance and policies for a London Local Authority, including completing a legislative reviews and producing a gap analysis for senior management. This lead to a decision to implement a strategic, long term information management programme in the organisation.

Carol was subsequently part of the team implementing an organisation-wide electronic document and records management system, undertaking business analysis. This included information architecture development, such as file plan, metadata and document types. She also led the process development for back scanning and offsite storage of non-current records, co-ordinating the suppliers of scanning and EDRMS services and liaising with the Council’s Information Manager to establish standards.

She has since undertaken several major projects reviewing and developing information governance frameworks and information management policies for a variety of clients including a utility company, public agencies and a county council.

Carol was born and educated in New Zealand and has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma in Social Work.

Cerys Hearsey
(Consultant)



cerys@metataxis.com
Cerys' CV

Cerys’ working experiences to date have included a wide range of information-centric projects including taxonomy redesign, metadata management, training, EDRM implementation, online help authoring and has more recently led into business process improvement and benefits realisation.

In addition to experience in the public sector, Cerys also has a background in librarianship specialising in enquiries management, end user training (especially in search strategies), eLibrary and website design, cataloguing and indexing.

Areas of particular interest are organisation, classification and retrieval of information across disparate corporate information systems with little or no provision for corporate information management strategies.

Nigel Baxter
(Manager)



nigel@metataxis.com
Nigel's CV

Nigel Baxter holds an MSc in Library and Information Studies and has 20 years experience in the publishing and information world in a variety of technical, editorial and management roles.

After work as a library assistant he moved to a prominent reference publisher where he undertook a wide variety of editorial work. A growing interest in IT led him to become involved in electronic product development, support and documentation on some of the early reference CD-ROMs and commercial websites. After a spell as a contractor working on Y2K compliance projects and contributing to a dictionary of IT terms, he spent six years working for another major publisher in IT support and management.

Nigel joined Metataxis in 2005 and in addition to providing administrative and support functions has worked on a number of projects for them, combining his broad experience with a meticulous and conscientious approach. He has experience of information and systems audits, data analysis, fileplan design, indexing, cataloguing and metadata creation, work on thesauri and controlled vocabularies, documentation, content migration, and intranet acceptance testing and content upload. He has several years experience of Microsoft SharePoint administration.

Alan Gilchrist
(Senior Associate)

Alan Gilchrist has operated his own consultancy firm, the Cura Consortium, since 1977.

His wide range of experience as a consultant in many aspects of information management has focused directly or indirectly on knowledge organisation for information retrieval (classification, thesauri and taxonomies) all in conjunction with appropriate software. This has led him to an understanding of metadata and terminology management within the wider context of Information Architecture, and the increasing need for interoperability between systems.

Alan has published widely and is co-author of the extensively used manual Thesaurus Construction and Use, now in its fourth edition. He has an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters), is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultancy, a Certified Management Consultant, and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals. He is the Founding Editor, and now Editor Emeritus, of the Journal of Information Science. Currently, he is a member of a small Working Group updating the British Standard on Thesaurus construction, under the new title Structured Vocabularies for Information Retrieval.

Richard Collings
(Associate)

Richard Collings is an experienced, multi-skilled IT consultant/project manager/business analyst with broad range of expertise, able to work successfully with senior management, users at all levels, technologists, project managers and third party suppliers. He couples in depth understanding of the key technologies with the ability to identify and define the key business requirements at both strategic and detailed levels.

His particular strength lies in bridging the gap between the management, users and the technologists. He is able to work in ‘difficult’ organisational and commercial situations where conflicting requirements and views are presenting significant challenges to the project.

Marc Fresko
(Associate)

Marc Fresko is Director and founder of Inforesight, an information management consultancy.

He is a highly experienced consultant, having provided consultancy and advice since 1979. Since 1992, he has specialised solely in information management, with particular interests in electronic records management and digital preservation. He is recognised as a thought leader, being the only non-US recipient of an AIIM “Distinguished Service Award” and being identified on three occasions as one of the top influencers in the UK. He was the lead author and project leader of both MoReq and MoReq2 – European standards for electronic records management – and has contributed to other key standards.

Marc holds a degree from Oxford University, is a Certified Management Consultant, and a member of AIIM and of the Records Management Society. His consultancy experience includes thirteen years with Arthur Andersen (now Accenture) and KPMG. He is proud to include many government departments among his clients, as well as other government bodies, local government councils, supra-national bodies, parliaments, financial institutions and other commercial companies. He has an international outlook, being a frequent contributor to conferences and other events internationally, and having assisted clients in over a dozen countries. Marc speaks fluent French.

Frances Huckle
(Associate)

Fran is a highly experienced information and knowledge management consultant and practitioner, with a proven ability in the analysis of corporate and individual information needs and the recommendation of appropriate information strategies.

She is a skilled taxonomist and has also worked in the records management sector. She has developed and managed information and enquiry services in a variety of both private and public sector organisations, covering all aspects of library and information work, including financial and staff management. In addition she has valuable ICT, project management and research skills.

Aref Makooi
(Associate)

Aref has been working as an information professional for nearly 30 years. He has extensive experience in information architecture, developing and maintaining business taxonomies and thesaurus construction. Aref has know-how knowledge of managing library and information units, enquiry handling management, social survey techniques, questionnaire design and analysis, as well as training and managing people.

Kate Simpson
(Associate)

Kate has spent her working life to date trying to make it easier for lawyers and other information or knowledge workers to find the information they need, when they need it.

Following a law degree and postgraduate diploma, Kate started her career at Lawtel, the online publishing company, introducing house style and consistent tagging processes whilst in Editorial, before moving on to redesign the information architectures and navigation systems of the Lawtel websites and the sister group of online legal services headed by "The Lawyer".

After four enjoyable years Kate moved to a leading human rights Barristers' Chambers to develop a current awareness and knowledge management solution for their new intranet/ extranet/website. Based on communities of practice to reflect the areas of expertise practised by the barristers, the system combined web content management with collaboration and networking tools.

Continuing in the legal profession, Kate subsequently moved to one of the top UK law firms, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. As the Information Architect for Knowledge Management, Kate developed legal taxonomies and information structures to make the firm's knowledge and valuable content more intuitive and easier to find.

Early 2007 found Kate making the big leap to freelance information architecture. Wanting to explore content-rich environments in all industries, Kate is now helping organisations improve the findability of their key information assets and improve the usability of their online spaces.

Diana Spence
(Associate)

Di has been working in information management since 2004. She has a BA (Hons) in English and Politics, a PGDip in Information Management and an MSc in Project Management.

She began her career as a librarian in the academic sector before moving into knowledge management in the legal arena, where she attained experience in legal research and enquiry services and in online services user training. She has worked for a variety of public and private sector clients throughout her career, including recent roles in the NHS and Bupa.

Di has experience in a variety of information and knowledge management initiatives including business requirements analysis, information auditing, file plan and taxonomy development, current awareness and knowledgebase solution delivery, and metadata management.