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Re: Calling all "Lead Writer" or "Information Architects" -- what do you do?
Subject:Re: Calling all "Lead Writer" or "Information Architects" -- what do you do? From:jsokohl -at- mac -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 24 May 2004 08:58:54 -0600
> kmorgan -at- opsware -dot- com wrote:
> As an aside, let me stress that there are no "Information Architects" on
> this list - not really. You're only an information architect if you
> design databases and the like. If you structure technical documentation,
> you're a writer or possibly an editor.
>
Errr...respectfully, no. As I mentioned in my last post, IA is about
structuring information so that it can be found and used--and though
databases might be affected by an IA's work, IA is not data warehousing or
data mining or database architecting.
IA is about metadata definition, creation, and application AS USED BY
PEOPLE, not necessarily systems. IA is about labeling (something that tech
writers can be good at), about taxonomy, about controlled vocabularies
(not the same as controlled languages, by the way), about thesauri, and
about faceted classification. Think wine.com or epicurious.com for
examples of good IAs.
Oh...and I do IA work as well as tech writing work. I'd recommend folks
look at www.boxesandarrows.com and www.aifia.org for other references &
articles.
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