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Noreen Y. Whysel, Information Architect/IA Historian/MSLIS

ASIS&T Information Architecture Summit 2015

Information Architecture in Wikipedia

An Introduction

Information Architecture is our livelihood. While we have been “defining the damned thing” within our own, relatively closed community, Wikipedia editors have been labeling our artifacts "stub" to "start" quality and of "low" to "mid-importance."

Years-old, unaddressed criticism of the Wikipedia article on Information Architecture includes the admonishments that we have no academic conferences or publications, that we use "peacock" terms and unverified claims, and that our thought leaders and pioneers are not notable enough for Wikipedia.

We need findable, up-to-date information on IA topics, that highlights academic research and proceedings, and cross-references IA practitioners and thought leadership, so that these criticisms can be put to rest.

A Call to for Participation

Andrew Hinton’s 25 Theses state that access to findable, usable information is a necessity. WikiProject: Information Architecture is a call to arms to improve the quality and discoverability of IA on Wikipedia. Will you join us?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals/Information_Architecture

A Manifesto of 25 Theses

“For me the most important thing is that the institute means IA is something real, not just a ghostly buzzword hovering between HCI and LIS.… my thoughts are somewhat cryptically expressed in the 25 Theses I wrote for the organization, with a lot of inspiration from other members and various sources.” --Andrew Hinton, memekitchen, November 3, 2002

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.

Source: Hinton, A. (December 5, 2002). 25 Theses. Web. https://web.archive.org/web/20021205120152/http://www.aifia.org/pg/25_theses.php

An Abridged Bibliography of IA

A wealth of Information Architecture information and research is available. Working together, how much can we add to Wikipedia?

[Attach bibliography here]

Companies and Academic InstitutionsSchools teaching IA, leading producers of practices and IA methodologies

Books and ArticlesResources, references, reading lists

PeopleInformation architects, teachers, influencers, thought leaders

IA ToolsIA processes and methodologies

IA in Wikipedia

273 Wikipedia articles mention Information Architecture45 files (mostly diagrams) This isn’t a lot.

Information Architecture page:

Templates included:•Information Science template•Semantic Web template

Categories included:• Information architects• Information technology management• Data management• Technical communication• Information science• Information technology• Enterprise architecture

WikiProjects:•Human Computer Interaction•Information Architecture (NEW!)

Quality:•Start-Class

Importance:•Mid-Importance

How can we improve Quality and Importance?

WikiProject Information Architecture

List of important pages and categories for this proposed group• Information Architecture• Findability • Usability • User Experience Information Architecture Institute• Category:Information architects (number of pages in the category: 19 )• Category:Information technology management (number of pages in the

category: 293 )• Category:Technical communication (number of pages in the category: 201 )• Category:Data management (number of pages in the category: 298)• Category:Information science (number of pages in the category: 203)• Category:Information technology (number of pages in the category: 102)• Category:Enterprise architecture (number of pages in the category: 74)• Category:Information architects (number of pages in the category: 19 )

List of WikiProjects currently on the talk pages of those articles:• Wikipedia:WikiProject Human Computer Interaction• Wikipedia:WikiProject Usability • Wikipedia:WikiProject Technology • Wikipedia:WikiProject Open Access • Wikipedia:WikiProject Open • Wikipedia:WikiProject Computing

Project Participants:

1. Nwhysel Yes!2. Resmini Yes!3. PatienceFortitude4. Natedavisiii 5. Samradd Yes!6. msweeny Yes!7. Abby The IA8. Danklyn Yes!9. Lwcavallucci Yes!

To join, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals/Information_Architecture

10. Anarchyshake Yes!11. Lishubert Yes!12. Jarango Yes!13. Mintz Yes!14. Bruce Esrig Will contribute

supporting edits.15. Ms eleeb Yes!16. CookieMonster755 Can't wait

to join! Yes!17. Tipoqueno Yes!