[Sigia-l] Little things an IA MUST know/do

[Andrea Tanzi]

I know that EVERYTHING I ask in this list (this has been my case) has
been discuss here at one point or another. Things are very difficult for
me cause:

1. I live in a country were English in NOT the first languange
	- All of the terms you use ARE in English and are very difficult
to translate. Terms are intended to be tools to send a message. I CANNOT
send a message if the Terms I use are not understand. (I know about the
Translation efforts, I'm on that list and willing to collaborate)
	- Imagine trying to learn about metadata and other techie stuff
etc, in other language that you've mastered by watching Friends and Sex
and the City on Cable TV?!?!
2. Because of mainly that language barrier I am THE ONLY ONE in my
country that knows about IA (other than the people I´ve taught)
3. Please put yourselves in my position. YOU are a community, with
workshops, books, next office IA neighbors  = discussions / sharing of
ideas.
4. I have access to books which I order from Amazon (English written ALL
of them). Other than the regular shipping to Florida, I have to pay for
a service that brings it from Florida to a Office Box down here that for
one book delivery charges $10, from there I have to pay taxes for the
book (remember I've already paid for the Florida taxes) And everything
in dollars (an EXCELLENT salary here is about $3000 a month)
5. The most I can charge for an IA job (which are rare cause selling
them is like pinching a glass) is around $4000 (if lucky) for the whole
IA product development process. And I also have to supervise the
designers which down here are great at handling the software but know
almost NOTHING about ID or usability. Here Jakob Nielsen means nothing
to 99.5% of the people I come in contact with. And for those who do mean
something, is because they've heard the name somewhere!!!
5. I also have access to the web, but I bet most of you know your IA
stuff 60% by studying the materials yourself and 40% by interacting with
piers. I have known but this list.
6. So excuse me if my questions are repetitive, obvious or just plain
irrelevant. I just cannot afford to take a $700 flight to assist to one
of your Pub gathering thingys.

I am not complaining (well:) I am the one who 4 years ago thought "IA,
that sounds cool I could do that." And I LOVE IT. Actually it is an
adventure, and perhaps when I am 90 somebody in paradisiacal third world
Costa Rica is going to say, remember that old fart once mention this IA
thing that everybody is concern with today!

Thanks for letting me vent. And thanks for your patience.

AT :)

-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org] On Behalf
Of Jeff Lash
Sent: Jueves, 24 de Abril de 2003 08:30 a.m.
To: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: RE: [Sigia-l] Little things an IA MUST know/do

This was covered about a year ago on this list
--> http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/0202/0578.html

I'm wondering what (if anything) has changed since then.

I'll throw out the usual disclaimer that "required" skills for one 
IA position might include, for example, CSS, Visio, and contextual 
inquiry, while another IA position might require knowledge of taxonomy 
creation, Dublin Core, and XML.

I also know people who do IA (and may or may not be "information 
architects") who don't have experience with any of the above, and 
they still do their jobs well.

So, not to just throw a blanket "it depends" out there, but, it does 
depend on
- the structure of your employer (are you an innie, consultant...)
- what group you work in (inside a corporate library vs. inside a 
web development team...)
- the skills required for your specific position (I had to learn 
SQL at a former employer after layoffs got rid of anyone in my group 
with a programming background)
- the skills of the people you work with (an IA as part of a big 
team vs. a lone IA)

So, you're probably looking for technical skills or hard-and-fast 
requirements, but I don't think those exist, and if we can't even 
agree on the definition of a word on this list, I certainly don't 
think we'll agree on a set of skills of IAs. Thus, I offer this list 
of "things that a Great Information Architect must do/know":

- listen
- communicate effectively, both written and verbally
- learn new skills quickly
- keep up with new trends, technologies, and research
- understand the views and goals of all stakeholders
- have at least a good understanding of the basic technologies and 
business practices of the organization and project
- listen

Jeff






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