[Sigia-l] IA Certification

[Troy Winfrey]

I am currently enrolled at Baltimore, in the program Karl Fast mentions. In
some ways the program is far, far beyond what many employers can comprehend:
I worked in interactive before coming to Baltimore, and I know as much now
after a year of formal study and deliverables practice as the "senior IA"
had at that agency.  Probably more, in fact, because I spend a lot of time
studying search (which is a discipline in itself, IMO, not some afterthought
of IA, primarily because it's not about finding information so much as it is
influencing behavior, viz., making people buy stuff, which is how I intend
to get paid) and business. (Loved the IA/BA thread, by the way. It clarified
a lot of things for me as I move into my second year.)
The really compelling reason for IA certification, I'd argue from my former
life as a humanities academic, is to ensure that IAs make lots of money.
They will do this by establishing and guarding a market. The analogy to
doctors is an apt one. Three hundred years ago, the medical profession was a
reliable refuge for neverwozzers, rogues, and charlatans, since its social
status in Western Europe was abysmal, only a small step up from that of
actors. We are all familiar with the idea that the profession gradually
normatized in order to increase its status and power. However, the comment
about "untrained guy poking around in my colon" is incredibly significant.
As Kuhn might have pointed out, the real effect of the professionalization *is
that we think that way*. There is substantial evidence to indicate that
people did *not* feel that way before doctors were professionalized. Did
people want to be poked? Of course not; but they also placed little if any
stock in the efficacy of directed treatment. In other words, it wasn't
really an option on the table--herbs, prayer, or blind faith in providence
would do just as well. In short, the very idea that medical training has
value is a direct result of the drive to professionalize. This ended by
creating a market, which is a reliable way to ensure that what you do will
be compensated.
If IAs actually believe that what they are doing for information is as
effective and breathtaking and real as what Arup does for architecture--I'll
leave aside the question of whether it actually is, because various
occurrences have led me to wonder at times--then professionalization can
only lead to, well, professionals, who are more and more effective and
discover more and more exciting, beautiful, useful things.

Troy