[Sigia-l] Notes from IA/UX discussion on CMS

[Samantha Bailey]

I think it's really important for us as IAs to understand CMS precisely so
that we can be articulate about what we have to offer and realize that we
don't have to be at all threatened by CMS in terms of our roles. I think we
are only in danger of being marginalized if we stop evangelizing about IA in
that there are still a lot of people who don't understand the value we can
bring to the table.

I'm happy to report that my experiences working as the lead IA for an
organization with a *very* sophisticated CMS (that they invested a lot of $$
in) has been *extremely* positive--I have actually found that the folks who
work with the creation of the CMS understand my role and are more likely to
value my contribution than those who have never been exposed to a CMS. It
may have been that when they first got the CMS they thought it would be a
silver bullet (that was several years before I arrived on the scene and that
was admittedly before they had identified the need for an IA (I am our
first, but our team is growing)), but that hasn't borne out over time.

A CMS is a *tool* and how you can have an information architecture that is
haphazard or one that is carefully developed with or without a CMS. I love
the power that the CMS brings to employing the navigation scheme we've
developed and I really encourage IAs to embrace CMS technology--I think it
will be more likely to make our role more visible over time, not less.
(Sometimes through organizational pain, at first though: with a CMS can come
the ability for distributed publication and an IA can get (much) worse
before the need/value of an IA is recognized.)

Stacy--feel free to email me off list if you'd like to talk through an
specifics--my hope is that this could be a great thing for you & your role
in your company!

Samantha Bailey
samantha at baileysorts.com | http://baileysorts.com



----- Original Message -----
From: "Surla, Stacy" <SSurla at aspensys.com>
To: <sigia-l at asis.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 10:18 AM
Subject: RE: [Sigia-l] Notes from IA/UX discussion on CMS


> Please excuse the cross-posting.
>
> This is a very interesting summary. I'd like to know about others'
> experiences with being an IA and working with CMS. Has it been good? Are
> there special niches, approaches, or tips you can share?
>
> I joined the ia-cms at yahoogroups list because at my job we've long been in
> the throes of deciding "if, which, and who pays" vis CMS. I was a lead in
> the initial working group to study the issue, and experienced first-hand
the
> pain of the project and technical staff as we all grappled with
> comprehending what a CMS is and what life would be like if we implemented
> one. The company is now bearing down on a choice, which is exciting, but
I'm
> somewhat fearful about my future as an IA in a CMS environment. As others
in
> the firm get on board with CMS, I worry that IA will be marginalized.
Maybe
> what I mean is that I worry about my ability to evangelize the role of IA
in
> this new environment. Communicating successfully about IA has been very
> difficult for me all along. And people over here are already feeling dazed
> and battered by trying to understand CMS.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> ~Stacy
>
> Message: 6
> Reply-To: "Samantha Bailey" <samantha at baileysorts.com>
> From: "Samantha Bailey" <a2slb at earthlink.net>
> To: "sigia-l" <sigia-l at mail.asis.org>
> Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 17:00:49 -0500
> Subject: [Sigia-l] Notes from IA/UX discussion on CMS
>
> Hi,
>
> The Charlotte IA/UX group met last week with a guest speaker to discuss
> content management. I found the session very instructive, so I'm sharing
my
> notes below. . .
>
> ------------
> When replying, please *trim your post* as much as possible.
> *Plain text, please; NO Attachments
>
> ASIST IA 03 Summit: Making Connections
> http://www.asist-events.org/IASummit2003/
>
> Searchable list archive:   http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/
> ________________________________________
> Sigia-l mailing list -- post to: Sigia-l at asis.org
> Changes to subscription: http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigia-l