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michqaelangelo jenkins wonders <<...INFORMATION MAPPING. Simply put, is it a
CONCEPT (technique) or a TOOL/UTILITY? I've heard both, but never from a
credible source.>>
IM is a religion <g>, a trademark, a major profit center for consultants,
and--if you add in the templates that IM people provide as part of their
courses--then it's also a tool/utility. <g>
Joking aside, IM is an approach to documentation based on some of the
research that Robert Horn did many years ago on the presentation of
information. Using this research, the work of others, a healthy dose of
common sense, and a structured approach, IM teaches you how to produce
efficient, workable documents. There's little or nothing they teach you that
you couldn't learn elsewhere (with a lot of carefully chosen reading or by
paying attention in school), but they do provide it all in a single, tested,
effective package--for a rather high price. My only real reservation about
IM is that (as noted somewhat facetiously at the start of this message) its
more extreme adherents consider it the ideal solution for all situations. No
such solution exists, and though understanding how and when to apply IM can
help you find such a solution, it'll require a bit of thought on your part
rather than blindly applying their method.
If you want more information, look them up on the Web. They should have a
site by now, and I'm sure someone can provide a URL.
"I don't necessarily believe everything I say."--Marshall McLuhan
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