This survey was conducted in November and December, 2003. Instructors listed on our list of IA programs were invited to participate. A total of 19 responses were collected.
Highlights
- There is a variety of programs that these courses are being taught under, with the majority in Library and Information Science at 36.8%
- 44% of respondents stated in some fashion that HTML was a prerequisite or is heavily used in the course
- Many instructors - 73.7% - are professionals. 40% of those that are not professionals are teaching in Library and Information Science
- 50% of respondents with PhDs are teaching in LIS
- 90% of respondents said they would like to have a list of core competencies
 | | | 1. In what kind of a program are you teaching your course? |
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | Art |
| | 0% | 0 | | | Computer Science |
|  | 5.3% | 1 | | | Design |
| | 10.5% | 2 | | | Digital Media |
| | 10.5% | 2 | | | Library and/or Information Science |
| | 36.8% | 7 | | | None, it's a stand-alone course |
| | 10.5% | 2 | | | Other (please specify) |
| | 31.6% | 6 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 2. Are there prerequisites for your course? |
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 52.6% | 10 | | | 47.4% | 9 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 3. What is your course's mix of teaching skills and theory? |
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 15.8% | 3 | | | 21.1% | 4 | | | | An equal balance of skills and theory |
| | 63.2% | 12 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 4. Relative to other courses your students attend, what level is your course? |
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 26.3% | 5 | | | 52.6% | 10 | | | 21.1% | 4 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 5. Does your teaching follow any particular theories? e.g. Cooper Goal-Directed Design, Holtzblatt's contextual design process?
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 73.7% | 14 | | | 26.3% | 5 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 6. What textbooks do you require? |
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | Information Architecture: An Emerging 21st Century Profession by Earl Morrogh |
| | 0% | 0 | | | Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web by Christina Wodtke |
| | 18.8% | 3 | | | Information Architecture: Designing Information Environments for Purpose by Alan Gilchrist |
| | 0% | 0 | | | Information Architecture for Designers: Structuring Websites for Business Success by Peter Van Dijck |
| | 0% | 0 | | | Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville |
| | 75% | 12 | | | Practical Information Architecture: A Hands-On Approach to Structuring Successful Websites by Eric L. Reiss |
| | 6.2% | 1 | | | Other (please specify) |
| | 50% | 8 | | Total Respondents | 16 | | (skipped this question) | 3 |
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| | | 7. What readings do you require that are not covered by any textbooks? |
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| Total Respondents |
| 14 | | (skipped this question) | 5 |
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| | | 8. What level of education do you have? |
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 0% | 0 | | | 21.1% | 4 | | | 36.8% | 7 | | | 42.1% | 8 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 9. Do you work professionally doing information architecture work?
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 73.7% | 14 | | | 26.3% | 5 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 10. Would you find it useful to have a recommended set of core competencies that every Information Architect should possess?
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| | Response Percent | Response Total | | | 89.5% | 17 | | | 10.5% | 2 | | Total Respondents | 19 | | (skipped this question) | 0 |
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| | | 11. If you answered yes to the last question, what would you expect to see included in this set of core competencies? |
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| Total Respondents |
| 11 | | (skipped this question) | 8 |
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| | | 12. Please include any other comments for us: |
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| Total Respondents |
| 5 | | (skipped this question) | 14 |
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Open-ended Questions
In what kind of a program are you teaching your course?
- Journalism
- Information Arts & Technologies
- Applied Information Management Masters program
- Business
- English: grad
- Technical Communication
Are there prerequisites for your course?
- A general introduction to analytic journalism which requires the students to be familiar with getting around in web sites downloading and utilizing data in various file formats uploading etc.
- L571: Information Architecture for the Web (an introduction to markup and IA principles)
- Information Retrieval course
- HTML
- Foundations of LIS Intro to Technology Organization of Information Information Sources & Services
- Visual Communications
- Basic course in HTML/CSS/Web authoring or demonstrated proficiency.
- Must have BA
- Course is part of a graduate level sequence. It comes early in the sequence and is taken concurrently with a seminar on rhetorical theory
Does your teaching follow any particular theories? e.g. Cooper Goal-Directed Design, Holtzblatt's contextual design process?
- Rosenfeld and Moorville [sic]
- Problem based learning
- A range of theories re: information behaviour & organization of knowledge
- Core usability principles
- all
- The course draws heavily on hypertext concepts.
What textbooks do you require?
- Burdman J. (1999). Collaborative Web Development
- The elements of user experience by garrett
- Jakob Nielsen's "Designing Web Usability"
- Tufte is always recommended and I use the polar bear book to supplement it.
- I don't teach the IA course but rather courses related to it so my book selections won't be relevant here.
- Don't make me think (Steve Krug)
- Web Style Guide, New Media Reader, Designing Web Sites
- Farkas & Farkas: Principles of Web Design
What readings do you require that are not covered by any textbooks?
- Example documents from my past projects.
- Many. see: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/hrosenba/www/L577/syll/outline.html
- The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett, Design of Browsing & Berrypicking Techniques by Marcia Bates, Facets & Controlled Vocabularies by Fast, Leise & Steckel, Strategy and the Internet by Michael Porter, Social Software and the Politics of Groups by Clay Shirky, Social Network Analysis by Peter Morville
- Boxes and arrows selections
- Readings in the field of Library and Information Studies (i.e. journal articles and texts re: IA usability information behaviour research)
- many
- We suggest a reading list of web sites books and journal articles
- Readings chance frequently and are related on the projects that are being tackled.
- Case studies particularly in project development planning and visualization storyboarding.
- many readings from a variety of web sources: boxesandarrows.com, v-2.org, webword.com
- boxesandarrows.com
- My own slides and articles
- Dilger: Anatomy of Ease Tons of other web pages
- Extensive readings--too many to list here. Please see: http://faculty.washington.edu/farkas/TC510/
If you answered yes to 'Would you find it useful to have a recommended set of core competencies that every Information Architect should possess?' what would you expect to see included in this set of core competencies?
- All the Polar Bear material. Essentials of user interface design. Basic programming and systems knowledge.
- Organization and representation of knowledge, Web markup and design Systems anamysis, Human-computer interaction, Project management
- Ability to speak and write in clear authoritative manner about IA and related topics. Ability to create clear attractive wireframes and blueprints (skill = information design). Ability to conduct user research and stakeholder research in ethical, credible, useful manner.
- 5-7 core competencies revolving around audience analysis, website info structure to meeet audience characteristics (e.g. literacy levels), basics of relational/object oriented database, etc.
- schooled in principles/practice of usability (esp. for disabled users) information behaviour research etc.
- Dealing With Metadata - thesauri vocabulary control. Understanding User Research - how working with user can inform the design of information spaces. Designing the Information Architecture and Interfaces To It - architecture, diagrams, wireframes, etc.
- usability and accessibility standards
- A small set of core competencies and a larger set of supplemental competencies. Core competencies should include basic skills from Library Sci, Graphic Design and Usability.
- Knowledge representation/epistemology/taxonomy. Some background in HCI Understanding of usability research methods Ability to develop Web applications/services. Critical/historical knowledge of IA field
- navigation organization content structure
- These are the draft core competencies I am developing for my department's media and applications track in our Ph.D. program: 1. Students will understand and apply the principles of writing visual communication oral presentations information design and interaction design across a broad range of media genres and formats and for a broad range of audiences. They will use these principles to both create successful information products and insightfully discuss design issues. 2. Students will understand the cognitive processes pertaining to the creation and use of information products (e.g. information processing reading schema theory and memory and information-seeking behavior). 3. Students will understand the function and use of a broad range of software applications and hardware devices pertaining to the creation of a broad range of information products. The applications include authoring tools database management systems and environments that support virtual communities and collaboration. Hardware devices include computers digital cameras and systems that enable virtual worlds. 4. Students will understand the procedures and processes through which information products are prepared assessed and disseminated. These include the following: - The individual process of composing and document creation. - Collaboration within workgroups and publications departments (broadly defined). - Social processes within the organization and across organizations (e.g. enterprise-wide collaboration on bulletin boards). - The organization processes and especially constraints such as budgets deadlines and compatibility with existing products and policies and copyright. - Evaluation methods such heuristic evaluation and various forms of usability testing. 5. Students will understand the ethical and societal implications of professional communications in all its forms.
Please include any other comments for us:
- A prioritized list of competencies (skills) and knowledge (topics/understanding) for beginning and advanced information architects (and also maybe for information architecture researchers) would be great!
- I don't know how appropriate my input is... I teach classes through conferences (like Jared Spool's User Interface conference) workshops and in corporate training.
- each student should be introduced to all the core competencies and then be allowed to find the one (or several) they want to master and pursue.
- Thanks for doing this work. It is enormously important to us on the academic side.
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