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Title:
Information Architecture: Designing Information Environments for Purpose
Review:
This book boasts an impressive list of editors and contributors with
the likes of Peter Morville, who was possibly one of the earliest
advocates of the concept of "information architecture", Alan
Gilchrist and Barry Mahon, both associate consultants with TFPL Ltd.
It also includes contributions from individuals working in government
departments and leading commercial organisations. The contributors
bring a wealth of real-life experience to he book and both successes
and failures of projects are described.
The book begins with an introduction and also a helpful reading guide.
The guide suggests that you can dip into the appropriate section
without having to read the book from start to finish and I can testify
(having tried it) that this is certainly the case -- though I did first
read the introduction and the majority of part 1 before venturing
further.
The book is divided into four sections: the design environment;
software environments; managing metadata; and the user interface. Each
part is preceded by a preface, which introduces the theme and main
concepts of the following chapters. Quite a few chapters provide
references and there is a fairly comprehensive index allowing you to
quickly hone in on your area of interest. Theory and practice are
covered, from the use of XML and taxonomies through to how you
should/could specify and procure software.
One of the highlights of this book for me was the inclusion of case
studies. These down-to-earth accounts of projects and their objectives
highlight how constraints such as time-scales or budgets can affect
the success or failure of the projects and how they can determine the
need for a practical rather than ideal solution. The book also
includes useful checklists, examples of the steps that need to be
followed, lessons learnt and dos or don'ts.
The text throughout was easy to read and although dense and technical
in places (without the relief of a figure or list) generally written
in a jargon-free language. A couple of small criticisms on a printing
note: for some reason in a number of figures, the number 4 was always
below the line and some screen dumps were rather pale and consequently
more difficult to read.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain a greater
understanding of how to design an information environment so that it
is fit for purpose and I will certainly find it a useful guide for the
various projects in which I can foresee my involvement.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Susan Bradley gained experience in a variety of information/database
related roles with Rapra Technology Ltd before moving to the world of
management consulting with A.T. Kearney, where the world of knowledge
management became the focus of her role. Now Information Officer of
Universities UK (the umbrella group for the executive heads of all the
UK universities), her responsibilities include developing an
Information Centre, developing a records management policy and system,
redeveloping an Intranet and integrating a myriad of information
resources, developing a taxonomy and maintaining specialised in-house
databases such as an expertise database. Susan can be contacted via
the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>.
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