InformationArchitecture seeks to improve Web sites and other hypertexts through better linking, cleaner navigation, and clearer labelling.

InformationArchitecture originally grew out of Library Science, and its founding document is Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565922824/markbernsteinchi). (Review: http://eastgate.com/HypertextNow/archives/Architecture.html . ''other reviews?)

In some ways, the early years of InformationArchitecture recapitulate the early development of HypertextTheory. The initial impulse grew from a perception that many sites were a haphazard, inconsistent mess, a concern echoed in the NavigationProblem. The initial solution in both cases called for systematically following a clear and simple linking practice and emphasized clear, sparse linking. In both cases, the results were clearly an improvement, but many felt them too rigid and limiting, and an economic downturn made some managers question the value of expert consultants in the first place. In mid-2002, InformationArchitecture seems poised for a recovery.

Resources

Louis Rosenfeld's Weblog: http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/
iaslash: news for information architects. http://www.iaslash.org/index.php
IAWiki: http://iawiki.net/IAwiki. See especially "IA of IAWiki", http://iawiki.net/IAwikiIA

PleaseExpandThis list!

But see: HypertextGardens

-- Last edited October 31, 2002

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