[Sigia-l] Open-source IA tool in the making

[Stewart Dean]

>From: Peter Van Dijck <peter at poorbuthappy.com>
>To: Alexander Johannesen <alexander.johannesen at gmail.com>
>CC: sIGIA-L <sigia-l at asis.org>, Donna Maurer <donna at maadmob.net>
>Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Open-source IA tool in the making
>Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:19:37 -0500
>
>
>>Ok, I think that's where were up to, and please, keep it coming. For
>>example, how would people like the interface to be? Application? Web
>>browser based? Do you *want* external people to participate with the
>>tool (so you can hire a greasemonkey to add content, for example)?
>
>Here's a usecase (that actually happened in reality): the IA/consultant 
>makes a skeleton website, with navigation and such, the content producer(s) 
>then populate that with content for a few weeks or so, we present it to the 
>client (also in printed form) and they sign off on both structure and 
>content.
>
>The content is then in a db, related to the IA, and then we start working 
>to actually implement this with design and backend tech (perhaps using some 
>expensive CMS or portal software or whatever) and stuff.
>
>Meanwhile, we add more content with this tool (it's not a cms tool, it's 
>just a way for us to gather stuff in a structured form), have clients sign 
>off on it. Once the actual website tech is done, we pump in the content 
>from our db.
>
>Not sure you'd want to support this usecase, but here it is :)

Sounds like an realistic scenario, one I've come across before in my work. 
What ever app is built (and at the moment we are discussion what should be 
built) my view is it will need to integrate with existing ways of working - 
that includes existing CMS systems, existing diagraming tools and existing 
content repositories.  So whilst I'd love a tool that also is the CMS (for 
flat sites only maybe) there are folks who have paid six figures for a CMS 
system and no one wants trash something that someone descided to pay so much 
for. If anything a good IA tool could make these CMS systems actualy usable 
:)

I'm going to be very busy over the next two weeks working but I hope this 
conversation continues - hopefully at the IA summit as well. Would be good 
to see other use cases.

>Peter, the topicmap abandonista.
>(easytopicmaps.com is now in the hands of someone who will take care of it 
>better than me, by the way.)

That's interesting.

Cheers

Stewart Dean