[Sigia-l] IA and medium

[Ziya Oz]

"George Olsen" wrote:

> Both specialists and generalists are valuable.

Certainly. But the question is are they required?

IA as a profession will likely be squeezed on two sides:

On one, there are project/infrastructure/application/data architects and
business analysts with a keen interest in requirements and the big picture.
On the other, web/GUI/interactive/experience designers with a structural
bent.

Their advantage is that they come from professions and/or salary slots
already well established and accepted by employers. It's easier to justify
their taking on additional interests and responsibilities, both conceptually
and financially.

The trends in technology/tools is such that this will be made possible and,
perhaps, probable by apps that make it easier to extend the boundaries of
one profession into another.

One possibility is for librarians to appropriate the designation 'IA' and
become narrowly-scoped service providers for the two camps. Another is for
IAs with a wider scope to carve out somewhat of a middle ground that injects
structure, purpose, depth and validation into design and interface.

Is it a zero sum situation? I don't know. During the dotcom salad days, one
could argue otherwise. These days, 'justification' for IAs is more
problematic.

Best,

Ziya