<!--StartFragment-->
 
It seems like one of the biggest challenge in designing a database is wrestling with how to handle the narrowness of metadata: in databases, everything must be categorized to a certain extent: what about the items that are not easily assigned? Does it short-change them to categorize them as one thing or another for the sake of consistency within the system? Is it a disservice to both the document and the user to choose clarity over any intriguingly ambiguous qualities that the document might possess? Is it a failure of the database when the material resists its categorization strategy, or can we look at it differently?
<!--EndFragment-->