SJSU SLIS LIBR287 Updated 01/23/2005

IA Information Architecture
 Syllabus  / Schedule /  1st assignment  /  Study Modules  /  Projects /  Blackboard 

Here you will find:

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts 
for you will never go any higher than you think." 
-- Benjamin Disraeli

An architect is concerned with the overall design, planning, organization, arrangements, and creation of parts to form (in-FORM) a structure. Buildings and landscapes are architected; societies and governments are architected, as are wars, and peace. Training materials, university graduate programs, religions, museum collections, and whole systems of thought are architected, as are relationships and careers.  Someone (and probably multiple someone's) decide how these systems and s/places come together, interact, look, and function; how people will interact within them; and (presumably) what the desired results of those interactions will be.  These people are architects. 

 What makes a good architect? (first three sections only)

archi– or arch–  pref. Chief; highest; most important; 
tekton- builder, craftsman

Its hard to think of information that isn't architected ...

and harder still to think of architecture that isn't information!

Your IA project

This section provides advice and guidance about how to get started on your project.  
Students are expected to think about their project for the first several weeks of class, and begin negotiating a project with the professor in week 3.

The project for this class is a prototype, not a completed or finished project.  Once finished, the prototype you develop in this class can be used to propose and/or launch an actual project. Our prototyping work is supported and guided by the IA Workbook. 

pro·to·type (prō'tə-tīp') pronunciation
n.
1. An original type, form, or instance serving as a basis or standard for later stages.
2. An original, full-scale, and usually working model of a new product or new version of an existing product.
3. An early, typical example  http://www.answers.com 

Simultaneous with your project, you are expected to engage the readings, interact in the various blackboard discussions, and complete the six study modules.  The project, readings, study modules, and discussions are intertwined and "come together" to form the foundation of this course. They are not designed to be completed sequentially, nor linearly, but in relation to each other, at the same time, and as a sustained effort throughout the class.   

/ About Prototyping:

Prototyping" involves creating a (working) demo of a new system. Prototyping is essential for clarifying information requirements. The design of a system (functional specs) must be finalized before the system can be built. While analytically oriented people may have a clear picture of project requirements, others may not. Part of constructing a prototype is developing a series of "project deliverables" ...or documentation...that make project requirements explicit.

For this class, prototyping results in a collection of preliminary project deliverables, or documentation, specifications, and examples (i.e. blueprints) to facilitate pre-construction presentation for approval- or funds-seeking, or to guide the construction of the finished project.

A prototype represents project development work prior to finished construction. A prototype demonstrates an idea, and provides specifications.  It addresses procedural (PD), contextual (CX) and conceptual (CO) levels of the project while addressing user-medium-message relationships and the data-information-knowledge transfer process.

 A prototype is not the finished construction; it is not a finished project.  IAs develop and present a wide variety of project-specific "deliverables" (examples and models) and are not necessarily expected (nor do they actually have to be able) to personally implement all the aspects of a project. They are, however, expected to understand project challenges and limitations. If a project is ever actually implemented, experts in specific areas of construction can be hired.  An IA is expected to be able to work with these experts....to understand their paradigms, vocabularies, and constraints.

..for now, and for the prototype project for this class, we are going to conceive, work up plans, and explain and justify  needs/uses.  The IA is a visionary...so dream!

Before you can get started prototyping and developing your project, you must communicate your project idea in the course Blackboard->Forum->Projects->Brainstorming discussion, and get a preliminary "go ahead" from the professor, after which you will to develop a brief proposal, which you will use to open your project s/place in the blackboard, and formally introduce your project to the class (in the discussion space for your project in the blackboard forums.)  You are welcome to propose a project relevant to your work, or another class, and in fact, multitasked projects are encouraged!   

Projects may be individual or collaborative.
You will be able to set up and manage group areas 
in our Blackboard should you choose to do a collaborative project.

IA project defined

For the purpose of this class, an information architecture project is any "information (or data, or knowledge, or wisdom) oriented" project that will benefit from the systematic application of the methods outlined in the six core study modules of this course:  define, understand, analyze, shape, create, value. 

Information architecture, or IA, is primarily a web development activity, although its principles and approaches easily apply to any project that is focused on effective and efficient delivery of information through the use of artifacts and/or real or virtual spaces/places (s/places). 

This can include the design of digital libraries, business databases, museum archives, or art exhibits.  It can mean the construction of taxonomies, the design of library buildings, or the conceptualization (or reconceptualization) of political structures.  It can mean mapping to facilitate the flows of information through an organization, or the orchestration of environments for interdisciplinary collaboration.  It can mean the production of promotional materials regardless of media.  IA applies even to the general conduct of business and education, because virtually everything includes architected information.  This is because all these systems (in fact, EVERY system) shares at least one thing: they are all energized by information, or the potential for action.

Simultaneous with our study modules and readings, you will work through the model for IA provided in the IA Workbook, and you do the exercises and assignments that relate to your particular IA project.  In other words, you will be using the workbook's model to guide you through the creation of core project-specific documents.  Near the end of the semester, you will bring together or "package" all these previously posted and discussed documents as your  "final project documentation," and will archive/bank that documentation for your future use, and for your portfolio. 

/ using other models

We will be investigating several IA models, procedures, and deliverables.  While studying and experimenting with the basic model in the IA Workbook is required for your learning in this class, you may choose to use another development model for your actual project.  You are expected to stay flexible and to pick and choose models that are RELEVANT for your project, but not to neglect the IA Workbook.  Every IA project is different.  Familiarity with all the tools and methods is necessary.

Some or all of one model, and some or all of another, may apply to your project...this depends on your project.  You are welcome to use any model, any documentation style, any "deliverables" that work for your project...even to come up with your own!  For instance, you may elect to use some or all of the models and document types from the "IA tools comic book" to help guide you through your project creation.  You will be responsible for choosing, creating, and posting the documents relevant to your project and communicating about your project progress to the class, producing appropriate "deliverables" and soliciting feedback and suggestions. Remember, your project is professional "word product" and will not be "graded" but evaluated according to its success in representing your ideas as if you were a working IA. You are also expected to review and comment on the work products and project posts of fellow students.

To help you get started  thinking about deliverables, visit:
How to: deliverables and documentation Articles from Boxes and Arrows
and
How to: Methods and Approaches Articles from Boxes and Arrows

 

So, now, begin thinking of yourself as an archtiect: you will evaluate the s/place, the users, the needs, draft some preliminary plans, present them to your colleagues and seek feedback, then go back to the drawing board until you have a working prototype: perhaps a model, perhaps a blueprint or two, some wire frames, a content map....it depends.  You are expected to develop and bring together all the elements you'll need to propose a project for funding....all the elements you'd need if you were actually going to go before a board of trustees or granting foundation to present your idea. What you will need is, of course, dependent not only on the project, but the people to whom you will be presenting.   So, why not proceed "as if" you were tackling a "real, live" project...and choose to do a project with some future potential? Past students have "sold" their prototype or  implemented the project as consultants; others have used their prototype to launch a new project at their workplace, others have used their project to support requirements of another graduate school class.    

Once we have completed the core parts of our IA prototype projects, we will do study module number six, VALUE, in which we will conduct a "guerilla usability test" of our prototypes, and develop and refine our arguments valuing IA activity to clients, managers and bosses.

Meantime, it is up to you to conceive and propose an "information architecture" project.  You should be prepared to do this near the end of our third week, after you've finished the 1st Assignment and as you begin the study modules.  Your project will provide the procedural (or practical) opportunity for first hand, "real life" experience of the processes of IA while we are simultaneously studying academic aspects of the subject.   You should select a project that will sustain your interest for the entire course. You are welcome to look at student projects from previous semesters, which are available in the blackboard project forum archive.

We will begin the process of arriving at your project by discussing project ideas and logistics
in the Blackboard->Forums->Projects->Brainstorming discussion.

How to approach your IA Project:

"Proto" means coming before, or preceding.  The object is to have a project ready to propose for implementation.  Our primary focus in this class is on creating a foundation for the archiiect by exploring and mastering the environment, the profession, and its concepts, methods, and approaches.  We will work procedurally with the core developmental steps that lead to the production of a prototype that we could present for finished implementation.  What this includes is entirely dependent on the type of project you propose and undertake.   

But, even though we will only be prototyping, we will be creating, posting, and evaluating considerable work product. Each of our projects will be different, and will require a different combination/form of project documentation...although they will all, very roughly, follow the core processes presented in the IA workbook.   You are given considerable creative freedom to choose and develop your documentation as your project requires, and are expected to use the blackboard to negotiate, consult, and keep us apprised of your process and progress.  The professor and your fellow classmates will serve as consultants, as colleagues, to your project.  We are to cultivate a collaborative "peer" relationship, just as practicing IA do.  You are responsible for keeping everyone informed as your prototype takes shape, and to provide ongoing "demonstration" of your work.  

That's where the IA Workbook and the Blackboard come in.... 

IA Workbook:

In the IA workbook you will find exercises, assignments, and standardized forms to use as you begin prototyping your project.  Try them all, then pick and choose to fully develop and share those relevant to your project.   Not all the exercises and forms in the workbook  will be relevant for all projects...but most of them will be, and you will find it helpful to use them, or create documents based on them, to demonstrate progress on your project.  Please do not attempt to jump ahead and "do" your project early.  Please do not put off creating and posting your project documentation as the discussion of them is an important aspect of the learning.  The project, workbook, and study modules are intended to "come together" and to facilitate our  communication in the Blackboard.  Remember: process, not product....but product, too!

Think of yourself as working in a professional capacity, with colleagues, rather than under the standard constraints for performance as a student in a traditional classroom.  You do not need to "turn in" the workbook assignments and exercises for grading, but will be expected to make them available in a form and format appropriate for your project, and incrementally, in a Blackboard project space that you architect for your project.  You will be given full professor access to the Blackboard to facilitate your doing this.  Full professor status allows you to create metadata, initiate forums, and view and use advanced blackboard functions.  It is assumed you are proficient in student access to blackboard.  Your professor, and the rest of the class. will serve as "consultants" to your project, and work with you on it, according to your need, while we collaborate as a group on the general concepts. 

Please try to work through the workbook all the way, even portions that do not SEEM to apply to your project, and then "do" all the assignments and exercises relative to your project, and in conjunction with the study modules.  Every project is different, and your next one may benefit from use of an element that does not apply to your current project.

You are free to determine the form and format of your final documentation, but must integrate it into the existing Blackboard structure, and nurture fellow students' attention to it.

Your project space in Blackboard:

Sometime after the 1st Assignment you will get full professor access to the Blackboard.  This will allow you to architect and manage a space for your project: the space where you will post documents, lead discussions, seek input and suggestions, perhaps even conduct usability testing. 

Each student is expected to view and, where appropriate, comment on the project work of fellow students.  This interactivity and feedback is an important component of this class.

You will be able to set up and use forums, create digital drop boxes, launch document spaces, incorporate metadata functions, build in feedback using the testing function, monitor statistics, etc.  You might imagine your blackboard project space as a sort of "online" proposal development space, which, in future, you might set up and use so virtual clients might interact with you.  You may use the blackboard functions freely, and creatively.  We will all be "professors" in the Blackboard...and this means that any one of us can intentionally, or unintentionally delete or otherwise mess with another's documents....so, be careful! (think before you click!)

As soon as you have professor status, you will gain access to advanced blackboard functions through the control panel, where you will also find a professor's manual that explains how the functions work.  We will be architecting our classwide Blackboard collaboratively.   The blackboard will serve as our shared "projects central."  If you prefer to do your project work on an external server, you must provide access to that server and facilitate  feedback through the blackboard. 

Project Deliverables / 

Your final "Project Documentation,"  will be an aggregate the various documentary stages of your prototype, which you will organize (using IA principles).  and deposit into your Blackboard project space.  Your final documentation will represent the elements you will need when (and if) you actually present and propose your project for full development, say for funding request, in a scholarship application, or for client approval....or to present as part of your portfolio as you advance your career.   You will not have to actually propose your final project as part of this class....in this class we will be working alongside each other tol prepare to propose it by working through, or architecting the plans, and developing a prototype. 

Following are the suggested elements you will create and deposit in your Blackboard project space (notice these project elements align with the online study modules):

Proposal
in which, after receiving preliminary approval to proceed during the "brainstorming" thread in the blackboard, and opening your blackboard project space,  you will (briefly) introduce (abstract) your project, including needs statement and a brief review of the literature, if appropriate.  This will be the document we refer to when we want to get a sense of your project before examining the detailed documentation below.  You should refine your proposal as you advance in your project development.

Define 
in which you will define the elements of your project, including all the elements discussed in the first few chapters of the IA Workbook.

Understand 
in which you will fully describe and define your user base, including demographics, with reference to scholarly research or case studies relevant to the needs of your user population, and include relevant elements discussed in the second learning module & IA workbook.

Analyze
in which you will explore multiple options for the architecture of your project, specifically including how you will test your project's usability, and including all the elements discussed in the third learning module and IA workbook.

  Shape 
in which you will fully describe/demonstrate the organizational scheme of your project using the tools and methodologies discussed in the fourth learning module and IA workbook

Create
 in which you will create a working prototype of your project using the tools and methodologies discussed in the fifth learning module and workbook

  Value 
in which you will present your "guerilla usability testing" of your prototype and develop and present appropriate arguments about the value of information architecture.

/ To do a non-web IA project

Students who elect  to do an IA project that is NOT web-based will forgive that so many of the resources for this class are web-specific, and are asked to look beyond that platform for models and approaches that can be applied to their specific architecture-oriented information project.   "IA" is an emergent activity spawned by Internet technologies.  The formal concept of "architecture" as it applies to information is a relatively new phenomenon, although it is easy enough to argue that librarians and information professionals have been "architecting information" all along.  

If you choose to NOT do a web-based IA project, you will, necessarily, have to seek "architecture" resources and research relevant to your project-type, and bring them to the table. You are still required to complete all the workbook exercises and assignments, and create appropriate documentation relative to your project. Whether your project is web-based or not, the general principles of IA apply, and that's what we're interested in.

/ How to get web space on the university server

If you ARE doing a web-based IA project, and want to develop it on an external server (such as your own domain, you work domain, etc.) you are responsible for arranging and managing all the technological aspects, and for providing access to the class:  

Students may independently request server space on the SJSU SLIS server by completing the form found at https://witloof.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/accountrequest.htm. With this option, the school will set up a UNIX account on senna.sjsu.edu, and the account information will be provided to the student by the university.  Please note that students must already know how to use UNIX accounts, how to upload files via FTP, and so on. This is not an introductory web design class, nor a "publishing on the web" class.  While SLIS network support staff will provide students with account and directory information, they will not provide support on how to use the accounts. It is expected that the student already has these skills.

Please note that students are only granted access to server space on senna for the duration of the semester in which they are enrolled in the class. At the end of each semester student accounts and web files will be deleted....so keep a personal backup copy for your portfolio.

Again, please remember this is NOT a procedural class in web publishing (it is not about learning to write hypertext markup language, convert legacy systems for xml delivery,  or about coding for websites).  Please also note that your project must go beyond a simple one-level personal  web page. Web based projects are expected to develop the core architecture for a fully-extensible and scalable web site.  All web-based projects will adhere to xhtml and accessibility standards reflected in the Texts & Readings.

So, here's the big picture:

.... simultaneous with reading and discussing our readings in the blackboard, 
and

working individually through the six online study modules  
and participating in the Blackboard discussions about them;  

 you will begin developing a project prototype,

and

.... do all the exercises and assignments in the IA Workbook
as they relate to your project;

and

help architect our blackboard by posting your project documentation incrementally, as suggested,

and  

 engage in "community creation" by reviewing and comment on other students' work.

between colleagues:

This level of "creative freedom" requires considerable professional judgment on your part....and considerable trust on the professor's.  
Key to your project success is working independently on a project while in collaboration with the class, and facilitating incremental and sustained input from the professor and the class... and it is YOUR responsibility to do this. 

Since this is an upper level Master's degree elective class, you are expected to conduct yourself in this class "as if" you are an IA professional working on your own project, and are in collaboration with other, remotely located IA professionals who are also working on their own projects. This includes staying up with the readings and developments in the profession, and continuing your education through acquisition of tools and techniques. The professor's role in your project is as consultant to you, and to facilitate this collaboration for the class.

This is why there are no "graded" assignments, examinations, or papers required for this class.  
If this level of responsibility and creative freedom are a problem for you, perhaps you should consider withdrawing.

One goal of our study together is to create and sustain a collaborative professional online environment (the blackboard) similar to the environment in which "isolated" IA's traditionally work.  We each serve each other as "learning partners" as we explore information architecture. 

 good luck! ...I'm really looking forward to working with each of you...and let's have fun!

IA Information Architecture
 Syllabus  / Schedule /  1st assignment  /  Study Modules / Projects  / Blackboard

Copyright 2003 intertwining.org All Rights Reserved
Hit Counter