MANAGING OVERLAPPING TAXONOMIES

1 . A method comprising:

storing a set of taxonomic grouping rules for organizing members based on stored member data, wherein the taxonomic grouping rules define a hierarchical taxonomic structure with a plurality of atomic taxonomic groups at a first level of the hierarchical taxonomic structure;

receiving a request for grouping information for a particular member, wherein the request identifies a second level in the hierarchical taxonomic structure for which the grouping information is requested;

using stored member data for the particular member, classifying the particular member into an atomic taxonomic group in the plurality of the atomic taxonomic groups;

based on the atomic taxonomic group that the particular member is classified into, automatically determining the requested grouping information; and

transmitting the requested grouping information to a requesting computer system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving custom taxonomic grouping rules comprising a plurality of groups, wherein each group in the custom taxonomic grouping rules is associated with one or more atomic taxonomic groups in the existing taxonomic grouping rules; and

for a particular member, automatically determining grouping information under the custom taxonomic grouping rules based on the atomic taxonomic group into which the particular member is classified.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups do not have any member overlap.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups are the lowest level in the hierarchical taxonomic structure.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups are created by creating a tuple from two member data variables.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request to determine whether a first member group has any member overlaps with a second member group;

creating a list of atomic taxonomic groups associated with the first member group by traversing down the hierarchical taxonomic structure to identify taxonomic groups associated with the first member group;

creating a list of atomic taxonomic groups associated with the second member group by traversing down the hierarchical taxonomic structure to identify taxonomic groups associated with the second member group; and

comparing the list of atomic taxonomic groups associated with the first member group with the list of atomic taxonomic groups associated with the second member group to determine whether there exists an atomic taxonomic group that exists in both lists.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that there exists an atomic taxonomic group that exists in both lists, determining that the first member group has member overlap with the second member group.

8 . The method of claim 1 , in which:

classifying the particular member into an atomic taxonomic group in the plurality of the atomic taxonomic groups includes, for at least one atomic taxonomic group, generating a likelihood that the particular member is included in the at least one taxonomic group based on the stored member data.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising selecting the atomic taxonomic group with the highest likelihood.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising storing the likelihood for the at least one atomic taxonomic group.

11 . A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs stored in the memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

storing a set of taxonomic grouping rules for organizing members based on stored member data, wherein the taxonomic grouping rules define a hierarchical taxonomic structure with a plurality of atomic taxonomic groups at a first level of the hierarchical taxonomic structure;

receiving a request for grouping information for a particular member, wherein the request identifies a second level in the hierarchical taxonomic structure for which the grouping information is requested;

using stored member data for the particular member, classifying the particular member into an atomic taxonomic group in the plurality of the atomic taxonomic groups;

based on the atomic taxonomic group that the particular member is classified into, automatically determining the requested grouping information; and

transmitting the requested grouping information to a requesting computer system.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving custom taxonomic grouping rules comprising a plurality of groups, wherein each group in the custom taxonomic grouping rules is associated with one or more atomic taxonomic groups in the existing taxonomic grouping rules; and

for a particular member, automatically determining grouping information under the custom taxonomic grouping rules based on the atomic taxonomic group into which the particular member is classified.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups do not have any member overlap.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups are the lowest level in the hierarchical taxonomic structure.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups are created by creating a tuple from two member data variables.

16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

storing a set of taxonomic grouping rules for organizing members based on stored member data, wherein the taxonomic grouping rules define a hierarchical taxonomic structure with a plurality of atomic taxonomic groups at a first level of the hierarchical taxonomic structure;

receiving a request for grouping information for a particular member, wherein the request identifies a second level in the hierarchical taxonomic structure for which the grouping information is requested;

using stored member data for the particular member, classifying the particular member into an atomic taxonomic group in the plurality of the atomic taxonomic groups;

based on the atomic taxonomic group that the particular member is classified into, automatically determining the requested grouping information; and

transmitting the requested grouping information to a requesting computer system.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving custom taxonomic grouping rules comprising a plurality of groups, wherein each group in the custom taxonomic grouping rules is associated with one or more atomic taxonomic groups in the existing taxonomic grouping rules; and

for a particular member, automatically determining grouping information under the custom taxonomic grouping rules based on the atomic taxonomic group into which the particular member is classified.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups do not have any member overlap.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups are the lowest level in the hierarchical taxonomic structure.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the atomic taxonomic groups are created by creating a tuple from two member data variables.