Oliver Newth

MOC Best Practices

Guidelines for creating effective Maps of Content

· 2 min read · budding

Best practices for creating and maintaining effective Maps of Content (MOCs) to optimize your knowledge management system.

Core Principles

  • Maintain clear, focused scope for each MOC
  • Use descriptive titles and concise summaries
  • Create logical groupings and hierarchies
  • Keep navigation intuitive and consistent

Structure Guidelines

  • Start with key topic areas like Health and Learning
  • Group related content thematically
  • Use clear headings and subheadings
  • Include relevant metadata (tags, icons, descriptions)
An illustrative Learning MOC states a focus question, groups links under starting and improving headings, explains what each link helps with and includes a review cue. Side annotations identify scope, grouping, link purpose and maintenance.
A useful MOC explains its scope and the purpose of its links. This illustrative specimen applies MOCs as evolving navigation and concept maps as responses to a focus question. Original diagram based on Nick Milo, Linking Your Thinking, MOCs Overview; Novak and Cañas, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them.
  • Write descriptive link text that provides context
  • Regularly verify and update links
  • Remove or replace broken/outdated links
  • Cross-reference related content appropriately

Maintenance Tips

  • Review and update MOCs regularly
  • Archive outdated content
  • Expand coverage as knowledge base grows
  • Maintain consistent formatting

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