[Sigia-l] Dreaming of a career in IA: Any advice welcome!

[Ariel]

Greetings SIGIA-L folks!

My name is Ariel van Spronsen and I'm posting to the list in the hopes of
getting some guidance from people who work in the industry about what steps
I might take toward making my dreams of a career in IA a reality.

A little about those dreams:  I graduated from Vassar College in 1996 with a
BA in Urban Studies, and since then I've been working in various
administrative positions, always with the hope that I'd someday realize what
it is I'm supposed to be doing.  Through trying to understand where my
talents lie (and what makes me tick), conversations with a friend who is
studying HCI, encouragement from another who currently works in Usability
("you'd be great at this!"), and the unfolding of many layers of research
into the field, the light bulb has turned on.  The more I read about
Information Architecture (and I read voraciously... I can't stop!), the more
I know that it's a natural fit for me.  I'm a bit taken aback at how excited
I am about the prospect of a career in IA, but really, it makes perfect
sense against the backdrop of a life spent organizing information and a keen
interest in making it accessible and efficient for others to use.  My dream
is to be the person on a web or publication design team who takes the larger
morass of information someone wants to present, makes sense of it(through
classification and usability science techniques), and determines the
structure in which it will be presented.

I am now considering various educational/experiential roads toward my goal,
and would love advice from any of you on possibilities.  I am strongly
considering doing a Master's in Library and Information Science at the
University of Washington.  As I have (with much frustration) been not much
more than a glorified office manager for the past 7 years, my concern is
that I don't have the the requisite programming or graphic design experience
under my belt:  In looking at various sites dedicated to the field of IA, as
well as searching job descriptions for the skills employers are looing for
in potential IA hires, it looks like most in the profession have significant
experience in acutally designing and developing web pages, and it seems that
significant understanding of the various programming languages is key to
being employable.  Do you think this is truly the case?

I don't have this experience, although I currently work in Dreamweaver to
update websites and am learning basic HTML tags.  I'm very adept with
computers and software, and in all my positions I have been called upon as a
sort of a pinch-hitting tech support, so I'm not worried about my ability to
learn current technologies.  I am however wondering how realistic it is to
think that I could work in the field with just the MLIS and a resume that
has a clear dearth in this department.  The MLIS at UW has just under 45% of
the required credits available for electives, and my thought is that I could
dedicate much of my elective work toward understanding current information
technologies including web development, content management, usability
engineering, etc.  Alternate ideas welcome!

Well, with that long-winded introduction, I look forward very much to
hearing from any of you who might want to share your experience and advice.
The IA community seems to be growing and vibrant, which gives me yet another
reason to want to be a part of it.  I'm impressed with the idea exchange and
camraderie I've seen, and look forward to being able to contribute. :)

Thank you in advance,
Ariel van Spronsen
arielmeow at hotmail.com