[Sigia-l] Notes from IA/UX discussion on CMS

[Ann Rockley]

At 10:18 AM 1/22/2003 -0500, Surla, Stacy wrote:
>Please excuse the cross-posting.
>
>This is a very interesting summary. I'd like to know about others'
>experiences with being an IA and working with CMS. Has it been good? Are
>there special niches, approaches, or tips you can share?

I am an information architect and I help organizations to implement content 
management systems. I believe very strongly that there is a key role for 
information architects in implementing and managing a CMS. There are a 
number of different areas where IAs can participate particularly if the 
organization has decided to implement a content reuse strategy along with 
their CMS. Some areas include:

- metadata design (metadata for the categorization of information for 
effective retrieval, tracking and reuse of elements of information)
- information modeling to define the structure of documents, the structure 
of reusable elements, and the structure of the outputs for the content (eg 
web, paper, wireless)
- DTD design and creation if you are using XML
- stylesheet design
- forms design to ensure that authors create consistently structured content

We spend a tremendous amount of time helping our clients to model their 
information and design effective metadata strategies.

Don't let yourself get marginalized. A good CMS is only as good as the 
user/author's ability to find and retrieve the information. An information 
architect can play a key role there. I should point out that my clients are 
having a hard time finding good people to help them manage their CMS on a 
permanent basis so there are job opportunities out there.

Good luck.