[Sigia-l] Findability

[John Fullerton]

> It remains our duty as Information Architects
> to proceed with association of what actually
> exists as being *general* (no categories!)
> instead of attempting to *make it* what is sought

Categories
   (email) Documents in my email reader
   (SIGIA) Documents in email from SIGIA
   (findability) SIGIA email about findability

(questions) What's wrong with categories? (claims) We use them all the
time. (enthymemes) There's no way to avoid categories. (alternatives)
What could we use instead--the list of everything, literally everything?
(more categories) What are we talking about, the category of items
viewable in Internet browsers, the category of items in languages that
the reader can read, the category of items related to the reader's
fields of study?

(acknowledgements) It may be true that the kinds of categories that one
sometime finds may not support the reader finding what they
seek--(examples) say when just a few categories have to be selected to
create a limited number of menu items and the wording is general.

(questions) How could we go through life without the benefit of
categories or properly constructed lists? (examples)

Trees, Windows, Colors, Sounds,
Birds, Roads, Houses, Towns,
Cars, Workplaces, Restaurants, Bounds,
Books, People, Smiles, Frowns :)
Rhymes, Climes, Times, Dimes

Have a nice day
John Paul Fullerton
j-fullerton at tamu.edu