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Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites
Today's web sites have moved far beyond "brochureware." They are larger and more complex, have great strategic value to their sponsors, and their users are busier and less forgiving. Designers, information architects, and web site managers are required to juggle vast amounts of information, frequent changes, new technologies, and sometimes even multiple objectives, making some web sites look like a fast-growing but poorly planned city-roads everywhere, but impossible to navigate. Well-planned informationarchitecture has never been as essential as it is now. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web , 2nd Edition, shows you how to blend aesthetics and mechanics for distinctive, cohesive web sites that work. Most books on web development concentrate on either the graphics or the technical issues of a site. This book focuses on the framework that holds the two together.This edition contains more than 75% new material. You'll find updated chapters on organization, labeling, navigation, and searching; and a new chapter on thesauri, controlled vocabularies and metadata will help you understand the interconnectedness of these systems. The authors have expanded the methodology chapters to include a more interdisciplinary collection of tools and techniques. They've also complemented the top-down strategies of the first edition with bottom-up approaches that enable distributed, emergent solutions.A whole new section addresses the opportunities and challenges of practicing information architecture, while another section discusses how that work impacts and is influenced by the broader organizational context. New case studies provide models for creating enterprise intranet portals and online communities. Finally, you'll find pointers to a wealth of essential information architecture resources, many of which did not exist a few years ago.By applying the principles outlined in this completely updated classic, you'll build web sites and intranets that are easier to navigate and appealing to your users, as well as scalable and simple to maintain. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web , 2nd Edition is a treasure trove of ideas and practical advice for anyone involved in building or maintaining a large, complex web site or intranet.
350 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
July 2, 2014
Over the course of my seven year career as a full stack developer, I've had this book on my bookshelf. I'd tried to get through it a few times and each attempt stuttered out after a few chapters. This in and of itself should stand as evidence of something, at least to me and those who know me, but moving on...
I can't recall why I bought it - or requested it as a gift - but I finally got around to reading it recently. I always had the nagging feeling that there *must* be meat in here, somewhere. There was, a bit, but it was all spoiled.
Let's begin the review with a summation of what I took away regarding what an Information Architect even is: they are a person who is not an engineer, nor a usability expert, but to whom ought to be delegated managerial oversight and the responsibility of 'vision' for a website. Managers who have no hard responsibilities - that is, responsibilities that require a technical expertise to accomplish - are not only epiphytes, they are redundant. Their jobs require nothing more than an average intellect and ability, and they seek to aggrandize themselves with titles and certifications that don't mean anything because they can't actually do anything.
This book seeks to aggrandize and justify the information architect in the same tradition as every overrated managerial text in history has sought to do for its own constituency. A hard sales pitch shouldn't take up the first third of the 'biblical' text for a field. The utility of your profession should be demonstrated by its own accomplishments. But IA has no accomplishments to speak of. The internet, it turns out, is not a vast library. The internet is a schema of both information and action, and IA is very bad at understanding the latter.
The book is useful as a historical text, a demonstration of how quotidian talent seeks to justify its own existence. That is its only merit.
I can't recall why I bought it - or requested it as a gift - but I finally got around to reading it recently. I always had the nagging feeling that there *must* be meat in here, somewhere. There was, a bit, but it was all spoiled.
Let's begin the review with a summation of what I took away regarding what an Information Architect even is: they are a person who is not an engineer, nor a usability expert, but to whom ought to be delegated managerial oversight and the responsibility of 'vision' for a website. Managers who have no hard responsibilities - that is, responsibilities that require a technical expertise to accomplish - are not only epiphytes, they are redundant. Their jobs require nothing more than an average intellect and ability, and they seek to aggrandize themselves with titles and certifications that don't mean anything because they can't actually do anything.
This book seeks to aggrandize and justify the information architect in the same tradition as every overrated managerial text in history has sought to do for its own constituency. A hard sales pitch shouldn't take up the first third of the 'biblical' text for a field. The utility of your profession should be demonstrated by its own accomplishments. But IA has no accomplishments to speak of. The internet, it turns out, is not a vast library. The internet is a schema of both information and action, and IA is very bad at understanding the latter.
The book is useful as a historical text, a demonstration of how quotidian talent seeks to justify its own existence. That is its only merit.
August 8, 2017
More fanatic than technical -- too much "why the world needs information architecture." More focus on prose than technical communication.
May 5, 2010
Often referred to as 'the Polar Bear book' (because of the polar bear on the cover), or the IA bible. I read a library copy of this book in 2006, and then went through my own copy of the 3rd edition again in 2007. It is a very in-depth book into IA and how it applies to the web. There's a lot of material to cover, so it takes a while to read if you want to absorb it all, especially if you never heard of the ideas before. But it's a very useful book, and also serves as a good as a reference while modelling out large sites. Perhaps less useful for fairly small-scale sites, but still appropriate. (If you haven't been exposed to the material before, it also gives you a greater appreciation for library sciences.)
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December 20, 2019A good book to read for any coder. The ratio of time SPETN reading vs. writing is well over 10:1.
April 12, 2012
Probably interesting enough for the new practicioner or the aspiring librarian but I found this to be an exceptionally dry read (even compared to the admittedly very detailed About Face).
I'd recommend skimming content, skipping chapters and focusing most probably on part III (Process and Methodology) of the book.
Still a must probably in this field, so better just get it over with.
January 14, 2009
Read this book for an information design class. It was the first time I'd ever heard of IA and I chose this book on a whim, because it looked interesting. Little did I know how hooked I would get on IA. It's a great resource for anyone wanting to learn about IA or get into a usability field.
February 24, 2022
IA anlamında harika bir giriş sayılabilecek "Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond" her dijital ürün tasarımcısının göz atması gereken kitapların başında geliyor. Tecrübeye göre zaman zaman bilgilerin hafif kalabileceği eseri okurken hem bilgilerinizi tazeliyorsunuz hem de yeni şeyler öğreniyorsunuz. İşlediği konu sebebiyle özellikle son bölümleri detayla anlatamasa da tasarım dünyasıyla ilgileyenlerin kesinlikle yararlanacağı bir eser.
21.02.2022
Londra, Birleşik Krallık
Alp Turgut
21.02.2022
Londra, Birleşik Krallık
Alp Turgut
September 16, 2009
Pretty great book about information architecture. If you build websites and don't know what information architecture is, I'd recommend reading it.
Some of the info is really about what to do if you're an information architect, dealing with company politics, budgets, etc. If you only work on very small projects, or if you're the primary decision maker, you could probably skim all of that stuff. Most of the meat of this book is early on.
The only reason I'm not gonna give this book 5 stars is because is not as brief as it could be, but i guess thats not really what its for. While nearly anyone who does websites should be able to pick up this book and take a lot away from it, it's targeted to a much smaller audience - budding information architects.
Some of the info is really about what to do if you're an information architect, dealing with company politics, budgets, etc. If you only work on very small projects, or if you're the primary decision maker, you could probably skim all of that stuff. Most of the meat of this book is early on.
The only reason I'm not gonna give this book 5 stars is because is not as brief as it could be, but i guess thats not really what its for. While nearly anyone who does websites should be able to pick up this book and take a lot away from it, it's targeted to a much smaller audience - budding information architects.
November 23, 2021
Sometimes the obvious isn’t obvious. The “Polar Bear” book is a classic work for Information Architecture. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld was written in 2006 but is often cited at the book to read for Information Architecture. Be sure it’s a good book and — to counter an argument raised for another review I did – it’s still mostly relevant today. Sure some sections are long in the tooth in terms of the examples used or the perspective on search, however, you have to look at the book for what is does cover well – which is quite a bit.
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Click here to read the full review
November 22, 2010
I'm on the team responsible for a major website redesign at our library, and my particular area of responsibility is the content and organization of the site. In preparation for this massive undertaking, I picked up this book as I was told it's one of THE canonical texts in the area of information architecture. I read the first edition, so some of the specific recommendations were dated, but the general concepts are still very applicable. I'm looking forward to picking up the 2006 edition and seeing how the authors adapt their principles to new user-driven technologies.
September 23, 2019
This book are BORING. I struggle to read chapter by chapter. Both of the author are too much reminding us about “why we need IA” and their old school intranet project. The problem of the intranet project are, We as a non employee of that intranet can't look how good the IA in the intranet.
If you want to learn about IA, its better to learn online or watch youtube. It's more time effective.
If you want to learn about IA, its better to learn online or watch youtube. It's more time effective.
November 5, 2018
I read this book for a class. I wish I could say it was a great experience, but this book is about a hundred pages too long. Get. To. The. Point.
May 18, 2023
kinda long and very theory driven
August 9, 2018
This book was interesting, but so dense. Couldn't read through it, so skimmed a few times over the years and then put it down. Lots of great advice.
January 12, 2011
Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld
This book is an introductory text on information architecture for the internet. The information in this book clarified and defined many ideas from this emerging profession. It is quite relevant to librarians. According to this book 40% of information architects come from a library science background.
Many of the concepts that were being described came right out of library school. I remember reading about search engines, indexes, and classification in my cataloging class. This book takes it one step further and describes how information on the web is turned into metadata, controlled vocabularies, and labeling systems. It also describes how indexes and search engines are designed.
It is more than just information systems, it is also the language of the nonvisible parts of websites. It describes things which a chief information officer or a senior developer might talk about; web blueprints, taxonomy, wireframes, and content maps. This is the planned architecture of enterprise websites.
The reader also learns the vocabulary and professional interests in education, strategy, and selling the profession. Reading this was eye opening. It gave me a description of how enterprise websites are created like evolt.org or the MSWeb intranet.
After reading this, I am beginning to get a context of how complex websites are put together. There is the content strategist who puts in all the different kinds of content in the site, and the information architect who creates the framework on which an enterprise website is built..
This was an incredibly useful book. It helped me understand the internet in ways which I had not done before. I would highly recommend this to people who are interested in technology.
This book is an introductory text on information architecture for the internet. The information in this book clarified and defined many ideas from this emerging profession. It is quite relevant to librarians. According to this book 40% of information architects come from a library science background.
Many of the concepts that were being described came right out of library school. I remember reading about search engines, indexes, and classification in my cataloging class. This book takes it one step further and describes how information on the web is turned into metadata, controlled vocabularies, and labeling systems. It also describes how indexes and search engines are designed.
It is more than just information systems, it is also the language of the nonvisible parts of websites. It describes things which a chief information officer or a senior developer might talk about; web blueprints, taxonomy, wireframes, and content maps. This is the planned architecture of enterprise websites.
The reader also learns the vocabulary and professional interests in education, strategy, and selling the profession. Reading this was eye opening. It gave me a description of how enterprise websites are created like evolt.org or the MSWeb intranet.
After reading this, I am beginning to get a context of how complex websites are put together. There is the content strategist who puts in all the different kinds of content in the site, and the information architect who creates the framework on which an enterprise website is built..
This was an incredibly useful book. It helped me understand the internet in ways which I had not done before. I would highly recommend this to people who are interested in technology.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2015
Great resource (lengthy, yes!) and there are some excellent resources provided to compliment the topic. I was surprised to learn that I had already been dabbling in IA in my work as a UX designer and business analyst without even realizing it. The sections on Search, Thesauri, and Part III (research, strategy, and design) of the book are quite informative, regardless of your role at your organization. The case studies presented are timeless, particularly surrounding pitfalls in the design stages, and how IA can help guide your business strategy. Must read - yes, but the material may be a bit overwhelming if read cover-to-cover.
January 10, 2021
This is one of those books where every page is perfectly reasonable and there's nothing you can criticize about it. But then you realize you've spent half a day reading a story of someone's last project at work, in it's unfiltered, unprocessed state that won't do you any good - mostly because by 10 pages in, you've already forgotten what they were saying.
Some basic useful concepts that are nearly indistinguishable from common sense. Perhaps an introduction to IT for someone. Not for professionals. Not a 'bible' by any means. Had I actually bought this, I would've been livid for wasting money.
Some basic useful concepts that are nearly indistinguishable from common sense. Perhaps an introduction to IT for someone. Not for professionals. Not a 'bible' by any means. Had I actually bought this, I would've been livid for wasting money.
May 26, 2011
Книга написана в академическом стиле, т.е. теоретических представлений больше практических обоснований. Есть противоречивые рекомендации... В книге заложено много, но чтобы вытянуть что-то нужно читать от А до Я. Короче книга для обучения, если для практики то только для уже состоявшихся архитекторов. В любом случае в своей нише книга дает исчерпывающие ответы, так что прочтение не пройдет зря.
July 18, 2019
Information is the key that is going to change the fate of the world in the upcoming years. The age of engineering has gone. Now it's the age of content and information. He who has information he is the king of this age.
This is the book that will take you to the frontier of information knowledge.
This is the book that will take you to the frontier of information knowledge.
September 11, 2019
Really technical. I just finished a class on information architecture and this was a required book. The professor didn’t have us read the whole thing but I read it to go over concepts learned in class. If I weren’t familiar IA I think it would be a lot of info to digest. I do find this book very helpful and a great resource so I give it 5 stars!
February 19, 2018
A great book for everyone with an interest in information architecture as it pertains to web design, but also works great as an introduction to a lot to do with information handling an librarianship.
The last part has a lot of practical advice on how to use the knowledge gained in the first parts of the book to actually get to work building the information architecture. I'm not currently about to do that, so I can't vouch for how useful it in reality, but I appreciate them getting into the details of how to get buy-in from colleagues and bosses and how to get feedback from the end users. And it doesn't shy away from saying things like "in our experience, three people working together is much better than a large group of ten, which is only a good size for brainstorming session".
A minor quibble is that there are many screenshots of web-pages with explanations of what they do well or not so good (and thank you for that) but they are so small that many of them are kinda hard to read.
I wonder if this is better if you get an ebook version instead.
The style is relaxed and chatty, occasionally funny, without trying to hard. And there's lots of sources and recommendations for further reading.
The last part has a lot of practical advice on how to use the knowledge gained in the first parts of the book to actually get to work building the information architecture. I'm not currently about to do that, so I can't vouch for how useful it in reality, but I appreciate them getting into the details of how to get buy-in from colleagues and bosses and how to get feedback from the end users. And it doesn't shy away from saying things like "in our experience, three people working together is much better than a large group of ten, which is only a good size for brainstorming session".
A minor quibble is that there are many screenshots of web-pages with explanations of what they do well or not so good (and thank you for that) but they are so small that many of them are kinda hard to read.
I wonder if this is better if you get an ebook version instead.
The style is relaxed and chatty, occasionally funny, without trying to hard. And there's lots of sources and recommendations for further reading.
September 14, 2020
If you're building a large, complex website, then this book is for you. If you're building a web application, as I had assumed the name "and Beyond" implied, then it's not as useful. I had a lot of pushback at work about the need for IA when building a web application, but the book doesn't explicitly state the essentiality of IA for web apps (it does for websites, but not web apps).
Some parts are outdated (e.g. old/oudated tools likes Visio, Balsamiq, Illustrator, or uses the term "Web Master"). It'd be good to have access to a PDF version, because of lot of the images are in B&W, and small, so it's hard to see much. It was a hard book to finish, but I kept at it, just because it seems like an industry staple/bible. Some of the reviews here talk about going on Youtube or reading online articles -- perhaps that would be a better use of time, as it is a hard book to finish.
All that said, there were some really good concepts and it was good to learn about, or have reinforced.
Some parts are outdated (e.g. old/oudated tools likes Visio, Balsamiq, Illustrator, or uses the term "Web Master"). It'd be good to have access to a PDF version, because of lot of the images are in B&W, and small, so it's hard to see much. It was a hard book to finish, but I kept at it, just because it seems like an industry staple/bible. Some of the reviews here talk about going on Youtube or reading online articles -- perhaps that would be a better use of time, as it is a hard book to finish.
All that said, there were some really good concepts and it was good to learn about, or have reinforced.
December 28, 2017
I really appreciated the depth of technical detail in this book. While dense, it's a great resource for an IA or UX practitioner with existing knowledge of the theoretical. The third part especially is incredibly useful, with real life tips and examples for "Getting IA Done," including research, strategy and, my personal favorite, documentation.
If I was reading this again, I would start with that last section for immediate impact to my work, and then go back into the more detailed explorations of basic principles (Part 2) as needed/relevant.
Bottom line, I'm putting this book down with excitement to apply some of the specific suggestions to my work, and it will be taking its place on my desk as part of my resource collection.
If I was reading this again, I would start with that last section for immediate impact to my work, and then go back into the more detailed explorations of basic principles (Part 2) as needed/relevant.
Bottom line, I'm putting this book down with excitement to apply some of the specific suggestions to my work, and it will be taking its place on my desk as part of my resource collection.
February 28, 2020
Well deserves its status as a classic in the field. A very good overview to get you started when it comes to building good IA.
The books starts off stronger than it ends, with much of the third section being mere one-off examples of good work, rather than solid descriptions of what's good with multiple examples showing different approaches. Also, I found a fair amount of the information to be intuitive, and have been performing a lot of the actions on my own for quite some time. It was reassuring to know that I've been getting at least some things "right."
I did find it wordy at times, but that is a common fault, in the vast majority of technical books. I wonder whether publishers think they can charge double by making a book 30% longer.
The books starts off stronger than it ends, with much of the third section being mere one-off examples of good work, rather than solid descriptions of what's good with multiple examples showing different approaches. Also, I found a fair amount of the information to be intuitive, and have been performing a lot of the actions on my own for quite some time. It was reassuring to know that I've been getting at least some things "right."
I did find it wordy at times, but that is a common fault, in the vast majority of technical books. I wonder whether publishers think they can charge double by making a book 30% longer.
Read
September 6, 2017As a technical writer, I'm great with details, but terrible with vision and planning. After reading Information Architecture, I feel like I have a better foothold on that side of things. I really appreciate the authors' Research > Strategy > Design model, and plan on putting it into practice. It's no small undertaking, but I think will be well worth the effort.
I read through this book with a discussion group at work. All of us had different applications in mind, but it was helpful to bounce ideas off of each other. While the book mostly discusses web site architecture, I think the same concepts can apply to almost any information delivery system.
I read through this book with a discussion group at work. All of us had different applications in mind, but it was helpful to bounce ideas off of each other. While the book mostly discusses web site architecture, I think the same concepts can apply to almost any information delivery system.
June 27, 2024
How do users find and understand information? How should designers label, organize, and design information?
These are the primary questions this book answers. Some of the information is definitely out of date, but the metaphors helped carry things along. I found much to be helpful and applicable to my current understanding of research, design, and engineering, just from a slightly different point of view.
Quite long. Could’ve been condensed done a bit. There were quite a few times I felt like we were getting stuck in the weeds. Overall decent read and introduction to IA from both the user’s and designer/engineer POV.
These are the primary questions this book answers. Some of the information is definitely out of date, but the metaphors helped carry things along. I found much to be helpful and applicable to my current understanding of research, design, and engineering, just from a slightly different point of view.
Quite long. Could’ve been condensed done a bit. There were quite a few times I felt like we were getting stuck in the weeds. Overall decent read and introduction to IA from both the user’s and designer/engineer POV.
November 14, 2019
I had just finished reading Donna Spencer's introductory book on IA published by UX Mastery, and while it was good, I still left feeling like I didn't quite understand IA like I was supposed to. This book was a godsend. As an introduction to Information Architecture, it was comprehensive, clear, and accessible without overwhelming me. I filled it with notes and highlights and will be referencing it again and again in the coming years, I'm sure.
November 11, 2023
Its an essential reading for people who design tools handling high volume of data, content and user interactions. However not having read this book, I still came across the same content in bits and pieces through research as part of my job over the years though web articles, videos, and even social media posts and infographics. I highly recommend this book.
September 2, 2017
Interesting book. However there is a lot of know stuff if you are a developer, and maybe just a internet citizenship. Don't take me wrong, i like it and there are very good chapters, overall I don't think is a book I would rather buy again.
January 20, 2020
As far as textbooks go this was eminently readable. Easy to skim, but interesting enough to read slowly in places. Makes you think about why things make sense sometimes and don't make sense other times.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews