[Sigia-l] IA Orgs (was: The Menace)

[Challis Hodge]

Dan Saffer wrote:
> I have to admit, I can't see any strong reason for AIfIA to exist and
> was surprised to find (another) group speaking for my interests.
> "Spreading the word of IA" is a nice, if vague, goal. I've always been
> of the belief that the best way to evangelize what we do is by doing it,
> and by doing it well. The tools to help us do our jobs well are already
> out there and ongoing (this list, the IAwiki, IA-, the new books, the
> conferences, ASIS&T, AIGA, UCD list, SIG-CHI, graduate schools, etc,
> etc.). Finding the jobs is another (trickier) matter and one it would be
> difficult for any organization (short of an employment agency or
> recruiter) to assist in.

There are a huge number of folks out there calling themselves IAs or working
in a similar space. As a UX generalist I've watched this over the last
several years at first in denial and more recently in amazement. IA is not
just a handful of designers and librarians that got their peanut butter and
chocoalate mixed together. It's a serious and real profession! Currently
there are lots of contributions being made to the collective body of IA
knowledge and discourse--books, case studies, SIGs, wickis, etc. What hasn't
emerged yet is a highly visible, focused group decicated solely to the
advancement of this field in relation to business, technology and tangential
fields. If IA is to be heard and respected at the highest levels it must
have a voice. Perhaps AIFIA will be this. Perhaps it won't. But, the
collective voice will not rise up out of the masses of practice, knowledge
and good intentions that exist in the IA community. We have to make it
happen--role up our sleeves and put some hours in.

-challis

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Challis Hodge

challis at challishodge.com
847-830-8638
fax 253-295-4700
www.challishodge.com

customer-centered design, technology & business

>