Poster presentation on IA in Wikipedia Poster at the 2015 IA Summit in Minneapolis. Companion to IA Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon. Full bibliography available at: Books: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BbzaObS6gLe1VhUknLqRcU5DgOrBzakmbxOfN-8Yyp0/edit?usp=docslist_api Articles and Proceedings: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YZMpHnH7mWtQ52qnjzBAZ-O7jy9nDRWJGPbNT4S7zCE/edit?usp=docslist_api

1. Suggest IA Content
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 Institutions
Schools teaching IA, leading producers of practices and IA methodologies
Books and Articles
Resources, references, reading lists
People
Information architects, teachers, influencers, thought leaders
IA Tools
IA processes and methodologies
IA in Wikipedia
273 Wikipedia articles mention Information Architecture
45 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. PatienceFortitude
4. Natedavisiii
5. Samradd Yes!
6. msweeny Yes!
7. Abby The IA
8. Danklyn Yes!
9. Lwcavallucci Yes!
To join, visit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals/I
nformation_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!