Apple and Pears (was Re: [Sigia-l] WOW! how annoying.. where do you find IA ia's

[Matthew Rehkopf]

Christina wrote: "titles don't tell me that much because I
can't assume a set of skills of anyone calling themselves an IA."

I think that the differences in IA skills sets has risen out of *employer
need* over the past few years. Organizations are suddenly realizing that
project managers, designers, and programmers are not best suited to organize
content on a site and determine interaction. Since the only people doing
similar work years ago where traditional taxonomy/classification IAs, those
organizations thought IAs were the answer. So companies started
hiring/creating IAs to mostly do what we you are calling "site
map+interaction" work. 

It appears that the need for "site map+interaction" skills is growing more
today than the need for taxonomy/classification skills. Perhaps, Christina,
that is why they are harder to find, and that is why we are having problems
finding a simple definition. Why can I say this? Look at the increase in job
postings for IAs and the skills they are looking for: site maps, wireframes,
storyboards, requirements documentation, etc. Two years ago,
taxonomy/classification skills were required (if you could even find a job
listing for an IA); today these skills are rarely mentioned. 

Perhaps than it is the employers that have muddied the waters of IAs,
demanding a position they called Information Architect, but which was not
rooted in LIS. We are defined by the market that demands us - perhaps,
another reason why we should be attempting to explain ourselves better to
the business world.

Matt Rehkopf
Information Architect (for now)
Thread, Inc.