Information Architecture
Topics include information architecture theory and practice, and education and training for information architects.

For related resources, see Culture and Technology.

The following resources are our top picks in this category.

Argus Center for Information Architecture (ACIA).
The ACIA serves as a focal point for the theory and practice of information architecture, with its web site featuring industry events, book reviews, white papers, and interviews with leaders in the discipline.

Developing SGML DTDs: From Text To Model to Markup. Eve Maler and Jeanne El Andaloussi. (1995)
This step-by-step tutorial contains essential information for everyone who is working with SGML and needs to understand how to develop DTDs. It covers all aspects of DTD development, including planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, documentation and training.

Information Architects. Richard Saul Wurman, editor. (1996)
The author edits this book of contributions by 20 masters in the visual display of information. This book discusses the importance of information design in physical spaces and virtual interfaces.
Note: Currently out of print.

Information Architecture and User Centered Design Reading List. Christina Wodtke.
This document is a listing of books related to the field of information architecture and related fields.

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville. (1998)
The book introduces the user to the emerging field of information architecture. It teaches how to design web sites and intranets that support growth, management and ease of use.

Information Architecture Glossary. Kat Hagedorn. (March 2000)
This ACIA sponsored glossary is intended to foster development of a shared vocabulary within the new and rapidly evolving field of information architecture. It should serve as a valuable reference for anyone involved with or interested in the design of information architectures for web sites, intranets and other information systems.

Special Interest Group Information Architecture (SIGIA) Discussion List.
Sponsored by American Society for Information Science (ASIS), this discussion list grew out of the ASIS Summit 2000 conference, "Defining Information Architecture," held in Boston, April 8–9, 2000. The postings are often thought-provoking and instructive, and include theory, practical applications, job postings and tools and resources.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Scott McCloud. (1993)
This book explains the details of how comics work: how they're composed, read and understood. More than just a book about comics, this gets to the heart of how we deal with visual languages in general.

A Visual Vocabulary for Describing Information Architecture and Interaction Design. Jesse James Garrett. (October 17, 2000)
Diagrams are an essential tool for communicating information architecture and interaction design in web development teams. This document discusses the considerations in development of such diagrams, outlines a basic symbology for diagramming information architecture and interaction design concepts, and provides guidelines for the use of these elements.

The following are also excellent resources.

About Information Architecture. Mark Hurst. (April 3, 2000)
This document explains the difference between information architecture and customer experience.

Architecture for Use: Ethnography and Information Architecture. Marc Rettig. From: Proceedings of the ASIS Summit 2000: Defining Information Architecture. (April 8-9, 2000)
This paper was the result of the presentation the author made at the ASIS Summit 2000 conference. The author discusses the ethnographic methods he's used to drive many different kinds of design work over the last few years.

The Art of Information Architecture. Aaron West.
This article discusses the steps involved in planning and architecting a web site.

ASIS Summit: [Information Architecture]. American Society for Information Science (ASIS). (2000-)
A conference for information professionals, specifically those interested in information architecture. The first one ("Defining Information Architecture" in 2000) was a super-energized meeting, which fostered a discussion of the role of information architecture within the web design community and provided the impetus for SIG-IA.

Becoming an Information Architect: Work As a Web Site Strategist. Sacha Cohen. From: Monster Technology: Tech Articles. (December 19, 1999)
An interview with Mattie Langenberg, principal of the Chicago-based Schema Studios and creative director Michael Brooks about what skills a person needs to become an information architect.

A Closer Look: Critical Reviews of Corporate Websites, WebBusiness. Louis Rosenfeld.
Each month, the author takes on a commercial web site that isn't up to par and gives his suggestions for improvement.

Customer-Effective Web Sites. Jodie Dalgleish. (2000)
This book addresses every component of e-commerce success: content, navigation, applications, information architecture, visual design, technology, and more. It presents 17 rules that every site must follow to attract profitable customers.

Evaluating Information Architecture: A Practical Guide to Assessing Web Site Organization. Steve Toub. (November 2000)
This ACIA white paper explores the why's, what's, and how's of evaluating a web site's information architecture. It aims to raise consciousness about the evaluation of information architecture and to provide web site owners and other decision-makers with an understanding of evaluation issues; and information architects with a synthesis of evaluation techniques.

Information Architecture.
This resource provides an overview of information architecture from Uncle Netword, a site devoted to the understanding and development of web authoring. It is a beginner's text that is part of the "Writing Webtext" section of the site.

Information Architecture. Argus Center for Information Architecture (ACIA). (2000-)
This is an annual conference for information architects by information architects, sponsored by the Argus Center for Information Architecture (ACIA).

Information Architecture: An Electronic Web Guide. Maureen Clements.
This guide covers societies and associations, books, journals, how-to sites, government and education sites, consulting firms, and other resources related to information architecture.

Information Architecture and Personalization. Keith Instone. (December 2000)
This ACIA white paper demonstrates the use of information architecture components as a foundation for thinking about personalization. It describes a model that combines information architecture components into a complete personalization system, a model that could be used to guide a personalization system development methodology, evaluate a set of personalization systems, or merely provide the terminology to help communicate about personalization.

Information Architecture of the Shopping Cart. Sarah Bidigare. (May 2000).
This ACIA white paper explores the principles of design for process-oriented information architectures by illustrating the best practices in the design of e-commerce ordering systems commonly referred to as "shopping carts."

Information Architecture Resources.
This guide by Info.Design includes books, articles and other resources on a range of topics including information architecture, knowledge management, accessability, e-commerce, navigation, usability and visual design.

Information Architecture Resources. Jesse James Garrett.
A collection of information architecture, interaction design and navigation design resources.

Information Architecture: Tools for Cutting-Edge Web Developers. Rob Withers and et al. From: College and Research Libraries News. (October 2000)
This guide includes resources for information architecture and a variety of other topics.

Information Architecture Tutorial. John Shiple. (2000)
This tutorial includes five lessons on how to do information architecture. It includes defining goals, determining the audience, content, site structure and the visual design.

Information Architecture Workbook.
The course workbook for a 2-day class on information architecture taught by Info.Design called "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web."

Information Design and Technology (IDT) at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The Master of Science in Information Design and Technology (IDT) at the Georgia Institute of Technology offers humanities-based advanced study in digital media design and critique. This program takes a different approach to information architecture than a traditional library science program.

Marc Rettig's Writings. Marc Rettig.
A collection of the author's published essays and conference presentations, on the topics of information architecture, usability and ethnography.

Peterme.com. Peter Merholz.
This site began as a series of self-published essays: "Stating The Obvious." This evolved (or devolved) towards link lists and shorter thoughtpieces. Topics for discussion range from information architecture and web design to current events.

Practical Information Architecture: A Hands-on Approach to Structuring Successful Websites. Eric L. Reiss. (2000)
A concise, step-by-step guide through the information architecture process, from defining goals to fine-tuning the site.

Profile of an InfoDesigner/InfoArchitect.
This page lists the skill set of information designers and information architects -- those who are responsible for planning the structure of a product at the macro and micro level.

The Revenge of the Library Scientist. Bob Ainsbury and Michelle Futornick. From: Online. 24:6 (November 2000)
This article discusses how the skills of library scientists make them perfectly suited to the online world.

Strange Connections. Peter Morville.
The author's bi-weekly column on the evolving definition of information architecture.

Ten Questions About Information Architecture. Shel Kimen. From: CNET Builder.Com. (June 22, 1999)
This document answers 10 questions about information architecture and information architects, including who they are, how they got there, what they do, and why in the web world.

Web Design: An Empiricist's Guide. Mary Evans. (Spring 1998)
This report reviews empirical research results in an attempt to find research-based answers to key questions of web site design.

Webmonkey.
A resource for web developers since 1996. It includes tutorials, articles, commentary, reviews and more.