Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites

Table of Contents

Preface; What’s New in the Third Edition; Organization of This Book; Audience for This Book; Conventions for This Book; Contacting the Authors; Contacting O’Reilly; Safari® Enabled; Acknowledgments; Part I: Introducing Information Architecture; Chapter 1: Defining Information Architecture; 1.1 A Definition; 1.2 Tablets, Scrolls, Books, and Libraries; 1.3 Explaining IA to Others; 1.4 What Isn’t Information Architecture?; 1.5 Why Information Architecture Matters; 1.6 Bringing Our Work to Life; Chapter 2: Practicing Information Architecture; 2.1 Do We Need Information Architects?; 2.2 Who’s Qualified to Practice Information Architecture?; 2.3 Information Architecture Specialists; 2.4 Practicing Information Architecture in the Real World; 2.5 What Lies Ahead; Chapter 3: User Needs and Behaviors; 3.1 The “Too-Simple” Information Model; 3.2 Information Needs; 3.3 Information-Seeking Behaviors; 3.4 Learning About Information Needs and Information-Seeking Behaviors; Part II: Basic Principles of Information Architecture; Chapter 4: The Anatomy of an Information Architecture; 4.1 Visualizing Information Architecture; 4.2 Information Architecture Components; Chapter 5: Organization Systems; 5.1 Challenges of Organizing Information; 5.2 Organizing Web Sites and Intranets; 5.3 Organization Schemes; 5.4 Organization Structures; 5.5 Social Classification; 5.6 Creating Cohesive Organization Systems; Chapter 6: Labeling Systems; 6.1 Why You Should Care About Labeling; 6.2 Varieties of Labels; 6.3 Designing Labels; Chapter 7: Navigation Systems; 7.1 Types of Navigation Systems; 7.2 Gray Matters; 7.3 Browser Navigation Features; 7.4 Building Context; 7.5 Improving Flexibility; 7.6 Embedded Navigation Systems; 7.7 Supplemental Navigation Systems; 7.8 Advanced Navigation Approaches; Chapter 8: Search Systems; 8.1 Does Your Site Need Search?; 8.2 Search System Anatomy; 8.3 Search Is Not an IT Thing; 8.4 Choosing What to Search; 8.5 Search Algorithms; 8.6 Query Builders; 8.7 Presenting Results; 8.8 Designing the Search Interface; 8.9 Where to Learn More; Chapter 9: Thesauri, Controlled Vocabularies, and Metadata; 9.1 Metadata; 9.2 Controlled Vocabularies; 9.3 Technical Lingo; 9.4 A Thesaurus in Action; 9.5 Types of Thesauri; 9.6 Thesaurus Standards; 9.7 Semantic Relationships; 9.8 Preferred Terms; 9.9 Polyhierarchy; 9.10 Faceted Classification; Part III: Process and Methodology; Chapter 10: Research; 10.1 Process Overview; 10.2 A Research Framework; 10.3 Context; 10.4 Content; 10.5 Users; 10.6 Participant Definition and Recruiting; 10.7 User Research Sessions; 10.8 In Defense of Research; Chapter 11: Strategy; 11.1 What Is an Information Architecture Strategy?; 11.2 Strategies Under Attack; 11.3 From Research to Strategy; 11.4 Developing the Strategy; 11.5 Work Products and Deliverables; 11.6 The Strategy Report; 11.7 The Project Plan; 11.8 Presentations; Chapter 12: Design and Documentation; 12.1 Guidelines for Diagramming an Information Architecture; 12.2 Communicating Visually; 12.3 Blueprints; 12.4 Wireframes; 12.5 Content Mapping and Inventory; 12.6 Content Models; 12.7 Controlled Vocabularies; 12.8 Design Collaboration; 12.9 Putting It All Together: Information Architecture Style Guides; Part IV: Information Architecture in Practice; Chapter 13: Education; 13.1 Transition in Education; 13.2 A World of Choice; 13.3 But Do I Need a Degree?; 13.4 The State of the Field; Chapter 14: Ethics; 14.1 Ethical Considerations; 14.2 Shaping the Future; Chapter 15: Building an Information Architecture Team; 15.1 Destructive Acts of Creation; 15.2 Fast and Slow Layers; 15.3 Project Versus Program; 15.4 Buy or Rent; 15.5 Do We Really Need to Hire Professionals?; 15.6 The Dream Team; Chapter 16: Tools and Software; 16.1 A Time of Change; 16.2 Categories in Chaos; 16.3 Questions to Ask; Part V: Information Architecture in the Organization; Chapter 17: Making the Case for Information Architecture; 17.1 You Must Sell; 17.2 The Two Kinds of People in the World; 17.3 Running the Numbers; 17.4 Talking to the Reactionaries; 17.5 Other Case-Making Techniques; 17.6 The Information Architecture Value Checklist; 17.7 A Final Note; Chapter 18: Business Strategy; 18.1 The Origins of Strategy; 18.2 Defining Business Strategy; 18.3 Strategic Fit; 18.4 Exposing Gaps in Business Strategy; 18.5 One Best Way; 18.6 Many Good Ways; 18.7 Understanding Our Elephant; 18.8 Competitive Advantage; 18.9 The End of the Beginning; Chapter 19: Information Architecture for the Enterprise; 19.1 Information Architecture, Meet the Enterprise; 19.2 What’s the Goal of EIA?; 19.3 Designing an Enterprise Information Architecture; 19.4 EIA Strategy and Operations; 19.5 Doing the Work and Paying the Bills; 19.6 Timing Is Everything: A Phased Rollout; 19.7 A Framework for Moving Forward; Part VI: Case Studies; Chapter 20: MSWeb: An Enterprise Intranet; 20.1 Challenges for the User; 20.2 Challenges for the Information Architect; 20.3 We Like Taxonomies, Whatever They Are; 20.4 Benefits to Users; 20.5 What’s Next; 20.6 MSWeb’s Achievement; Chapter 21: evolt.org: An Online Community; 21.1 evolt.org in a Nutshell; 21.2 Architecting an Online Community; 21.3 The Participation Economy; 21.4 How Information Architecture Fits In; 21.5 The “Un-Information Architecture”; Appendix 1: Essential Resources; Communities; Directories; Books and Journals; Formal Education; Conferences and Events; Examples, Deliverables, and Tools; Colophon;

Peter Morville is president of Semantic Studios, an information architecture, user experience, and findability consultancy. For over a decade, he has advised such clients as AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, Harvard Business School, Internet2, Procter & Gamble, Vanguard, and Yahoo. Peter is best known as a founding father of information architecture, having co-authored the field's best-selling book, "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web". Peter serves on the faculty at the University of Michigan's School of Information and on the advisory board of the Information Architecture Institute. He delivers keynotes and seminars at international events, and his work has been featured in major publications including Business Week, The Economist, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal.

Lou Rosenfeld is an independent information architecture consultant. He has been instrumental in helping establish the field of information architecture, and in articulating the role and value of librarianship within the field. Lou played a leading role in organizing and programming the first three information architecture conferences (both ASIS&T Summits and IA 2000). He also presents and moderates at such venues as CHI, COMDEX, Intranets, and the web design conferences produced by Miller Freeman, C|net and Thunder Lizard. He teaches tutorials as part of the Nielsen Norman Group User Experience Conference.