Section A.1. Communities

A.1. Communities

Typically, people are the best source of information, especially on a fairly new topic. And the best places to find people who know about a topic are the communities that are organized around that topic.

Since this book was last published, new opportunities have been created for IAs to meet and discuss information architecture as a community. The first organization dedicated solely to information architecturethe Information Architecture Institute (http://iainstitute.org, originally the Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture)was started and now has more than 1,000 members. In a few short years, this organization has gathered members from over sixty countries. Additionally, grassroots efforts such as local information architecture "cocktail hours" have been a popular way of meeting fellow information architects. Meetings typically involve a guest speaker or discussion facilitator and a cocktail or two. Track local meetings from the IAwiki (http://www.iawiki.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?search=CategoryEvent), or consider starting a local group yourself.

Speaking of volunteerism and community building, it's important to note that no field can transform itself into a community without the "sweat equity" of its practitioners. Information architecture is still a young field. While more resources exist now, there is still much room for growth. In other words, if you feel that the information architecture community should provide its members with morewhether that means conferences, a job board, a library, or more local eventsthen you should make it happen. Happily, the Information Architecture Institute may be able to provide much of the resources and infrastructure you'll need to make it happen.

A.1.1. Discussion Lists

The information architecture community meets most frequently on discussion lists, specifically the IAI members list and SIGIAL. These two lists are probably the most important resources for information architects. They will help you learn who your peers are, what they're working on, and what challenges they face. In this section we also list information on some highly relevant professional associations and SIGs that you might consider joining.

A.1.1.1. IA Institute Members

http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/iai-members-iainstitute.org/

The IAI sponsors a moderated members-only discussion list. Considering its signalnoise ratio and civil tone, it alone makes it worthwhile to join the Institute. This list has anywhere from 100 to 300-plus postings per month.

A.1.1.2. SIGIAL

http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/

Sponsored by ASIS&T, SIGIAL attracts roughly 2,000 subscribers with a large international contingent, and gets approximately 1020 messages per day. List postings are not moderated, so the level of civility tends to swing back and forth substantially.

A.1.1.3. AIGAExperience Design

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AIGAExperienceDesign/

The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the professional association for design, includes an Experience Design community that sponsors this lively mailing list of approximately 1,900 members. Traffic varies widely; a month with 141 postings has been followed by a month with 1 posting. Established in 1998, the AIGAED list is a great place to learn from and mix it up with a highly interdisciplinary crowd interested in the broad area of experience design.

A.1.1.4. CHIWEB

http://www.sigchi.org/web/

If you want to take the pulse of the usability engineering community, sign up for CHIWEB. Sponsored by the ACM SIG on ComputerHuman Interaction, CHIWEB is a highly moderated (and therefore high-quality) list with about 100200 postings per month.

A.1.1.5. IxDA

http://www.ixda.org/en/join_us/ixd_discussion_list/index.shtml

IxDA, the Interaction Design Association, is a nonprofit organization started in 2003. It sponsors an active discussion list, with about 15 posts a day.

A.1.2. Professional Associations

While we don't suggest you go out and join each of these associations, they're all certainly worth knowing about. Most produce high-quality conferences, journals, and other valuable resources. And although these particular associations are not the only ones relevant to the field, each has expressed a desire or taken active steps to provide information architects and other experience designers better and more coordinated professional support.

A.1.2.1. ACM SIGCHI

http://www.acm.org/sigchi/

One of the Association for Computing Machinery's 35 SIGs, the Special Interest Group on ComputerHuman Interaction sponsors the CHIWEB discussion list, the bimonthly Interactions and SIGCHI Bulletin magazines, and the SIGCHI annual conferences each spring, and it is the force behind many other useful HCI resources and events. SIGCHI has about 5,000 members.

A.1.2.2. ASIS&T

http://www.asis.org

The American Society for Information Science and Technology, ASIS&T, sponsors SIGIA (Special Interest Group for Information Architects), as well as its corresponding SIGIAL discussion list and the annual Information Architecture Summits. ASIS&T has approximately 3,000 members, many of them information scientists from academia and business.

A.1.2.3. CM Pros

http://www.cmprofessionals.org

The Content Management Professionals Association (CM Pros) was started in 2004 to allow content management professionals to share content management information, practices, and strategies.

A.1.2.4. IA Institute

http://iainstitute.org

The Information Architecture Institute (formerly the Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture, "AIfIA") was founded in 2002. To date, the Institute has over 1,000 members in more than 60 countries. The Information Architecture Institute has already made excellent progress on developing an Information Architecture Library, a job board, a calendar of events, a mentoring program, and more.

A.1.2.5. IxDA

http://www.ixda.org

The Interaction Design Association (IxDA) is a nonprofit organization started in 2003. It is committed to serving the needs of the international interaction design community.

A.1.2.6. STC

http://www.stc.org

The Society for Technical Communication has about 25,000 members worldwide. Two of its most popular SIGsInformation Design with 3,200 members, and Usability with 2,500 membersare most relevant to information architects. STC publishes Intercom 10 times annually. The spring annual event draws a large audience, and STC's 150 local chapters are also quite active.

A.1.2.7. UPA

http://www.upassoc.org

Established in 1991, the Usability Professionals' Association focuses on the needs of usability practitioners; UPA now has approximately 2,500 members. Its annual conference takes place in the summer. UPA publishes User Experience magazine three to four times a year.

A.1.2.8. UXnet

http://uxnet.org

The User Experience Network (UXnet) was started in 2002 to help further the field of user experience by facilitating collaboration and cooperation among relevant organizations and individuals. Although it's not a membership-based organization, UXnet now includes 95 local ambassadors in 29 countries.