diglib: 25 Theses of Information Architecture

["Andrew R. Bonamici" <bonamici@uoregon.edu>]

Dear DIGLIB:

I ran into this thought-provoking list & thought you might find it 
interesting from a number of perspectives. Enjoy!

ARB

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from the Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture (AIfIA)
<http://www.aifia.org/pg/25_theses.php>

25 Theses

1.	People need information.

2.	More importantly, people need the right information at the right time.

3.	Without human intervention, information devolves into entropy and  chaos.

4.	The Internet has changed how we live with information. It has 
made  ubiquitous the once rare entity: the shared information environment.

5.	Shaping information to be relevant and timely requires 
specialized  human work. Doing so for a globally shared environment that is 
itself  made of information is a relatively new kind of specialized human work.

6.	This work is both a science and an art.

7.	This work is an act of architecture: the structuring of raw information 
into shared information environments with useful, navigable form that 
resists  entropy and reduces confusion.

8.	This is a new kind of architecture that designs structures of 
information rather than of bricks, wood, plastic and stone.

9.	People live and work in these structures, just as they live and work 
in  their homes, offices, factories and malls. These places are not 
virtual: they are as real as our own minds.

10.	Many people spend most of their waking hours in these spaces. As  the 
numbers of physical workers decline and knowledge workers  increase, more 
and more people will live, work, share, collaborate, learn  and play in 
these environments for more and more of their lives.

11.	There is already too much information for us to comprehend easily.  And 
each day there will only be more of it, not less. Inexorably, 
information  drowns in its own mass. It needs to breathe, and the air it 
needs is  relevance.

12.	One goal of information architecture is to shape information into 
an  environment that allows users to create, manage and share its very 
substance in a framework that provides semantic relevance.

13.	Another goal of information architecture is to shape the environment 
to  enable users to better communicate, collaborate and experience 
one  another.

14.	The latter goal is more fundamental than the former: 
information  exists only in communities of meaning. Without other people, 
information  no longer has context, and no longer informs. It becomes mere 
data, less  than dust.

15.	Therefore, information architecture is about people first, 
and  technology second.

16.	All people have a right to know where they are and where they are going 
and how to get what they need. People naturally seek places that provide 
these essential needs. Any environment that ignores this natural law will 
attract and retain fewer people.

17.	The interface is a window to information. Even the best interface is 
only as good as the shape of the information behind it. (The converse is 
also true: even the most comprehensively shaped information is only 
as  useful as its interface. For this reason, interface design and 
information architecture are mutually dependent.)

18.	Just as the Copernican revolution changed the paradigm for more than 
astronomy, the Internet has changed our paradigm for more than just 
technology. We now expect all information environments to be as accessible, 
as immediate, and as total.

19.	Just because information architecture happens mostly on the Internet 
today, it doesn't mean that will be the case tomorrow.

20.	Information architecture accomplishes its task with whatever tools 
necessary.

21.	These tools are being fashioned by many people, including information 
scientists, artists, librarians, designers, anthropologists, architects, 
writers, engineers, programmers & philosophers. They all bring different 
perspectives, and they all add flavor to the stew. They are all necessary.

22.	These tools come in many forms and methods, including controlled 
vocabularies, mental modeling, brainstorming, ethnography, thesauri, 
human-computer interaction, and others. Some tools are very old, and  some 
are very new. Most are still waiting to be invented.

23.	Information architecture acknowledges that this practice is bigger than 
any single methodology, tool or perspective.

24.	Information architecture is first an act, then a practice, then a 
discipline.

25.	Sharing the practice grows the discipline, and makes it stronger.

— Andrew Hinton (memekitchen)