IAI Newsletter #3.5 May 2008

April 29, 2008 11:34 PM

The Information Architecture Institute (IAI) Newsletter features news about IAI and our partner sites: Boxes and arrows and IAwiki. We have also added a list of conferences, workshops, F2Fs, and job postings at the end, so scroll down!

In this issue:

* IAI News
* What's New with Our Partners?
* Upcoming Conferences and Workshops
* Job Postings

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IAI NEWS - http://www.iainstitute.org

Greetings Fellow Institutees!

This has been a busy month for the IA Institute. We have spent a majority of our time and attention getting ready for and attending the Information Architecture Summit in Miami. It was a lot of fun! If you were not able to attend, check out the web site to find slides posted.
http://www.iasummit.org/2008/conference.html

Boxes and Arrows has many session podcasts available for free download. Go to http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/ia-summit-2008-day-1 to check out podcasts as they appear.

The preconference workshop put on by the IA Institute had 30 attendees and was considered a great success. Thanks to Christopher Fahey, Margaret Hanley, Harry Max, Karen McGrane, Josh Rubin, Jorge Arango and all who made the event such a great learning experience.

We also held our annual meeting on Sunday, April 13th. Thanks to all who attended and asked some thought-provoking questions. If you want to know more about the state of the Institute, you can find our annual report here: http://iainstitute.org/en/about/annual-report/annual_report_2006_2007.php

IAI again hosted the Mentoring Booth, which was a great success as well. Thanks to Eric Reiss for constructing the booth and to Chris Baum, Lisa Colvin, and Lisa Mendez who signed up to mentor at the booth, as well as those who just dropped in, both as mentors and mentees. I was able to sit down a few times and answer questions about IA and found it a great way to meet people and share my experience as a consulting IA.

Now that the Summit is over, we are turning our attention to the IA Institute sponsored IDEA conference. IDEA stands for Information: Design, Experience, Access. Coming to Chicago October 6-8, please save the date on your calendar now! For more information, please check out http://ideaconference.org/2008/.

We have also partnered with OptimalSort to offer a special discount with for our members. OptimalSort is a popular new online card sorting tool. All IA Institute members can receive a 25% off any OptimalSort subscription by enter the promotional code when upgrading to a paid account. Learn more at http://www.iainstitute.org/en/members/optimalsort.php.

Of course, there are many, many volunteer projects and members initiatives in the works. Visit the IA Institute website to learn more - http://iainstitute.org/.

Sincerely,

Sarah A. Rice
Director of Marketing Communications
Information Architecture Institute

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WHAT'S NEW WITH OUR PARTNERS
ASIS&T Bulletin, Boxes and Arrows, and Web Indexing SIG

ASIS&T Bulletin - http://www.asis.org/bulletin.html

The April/May issue of the ASIS&T Bulletin features Mark Nolan in the IA Column. His article "Exploring Exploratory Search" examines how expert users experience information through searching. With clear tasks and deliverables, it is a must read for anyone interested in improving site searches or learning more about how you seek information. This is a field where information architects can really make an impact in research, design, and use.

Exploring Exploratory Search -
http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Apr-08/AprMay08_Nolan.html

Features articles "Let Them Write English by Elise Langdon-Neuner" and "Defining an Agenda for Human-Centered Computing" by Andrew Sears, Jonathan Lazar, Ant Ozok and Gabriele Meiselwitz will also pique IA interests.

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Boxes and Arrows - http://www.boxesandarrows.com
The definitive source for the complex task of bringing architecture and design to the digital landscape.

In addition to podcasts from the IA Summit 2008, Boxes and Arrows also features a great article from IAI Director, Jorge Arango:

Meet Your Peers: Video Interviews With Folks From the IA Community
Jorge Arango
The people behind the ideas, design concepts, and practices in publications like Boxes & Arrows are not always visible in ways that does them justice. At the 2007 Summit, B&A Managing Editor Jorge Arango set out to ask some of the attendees three questions. He captured them on video, and we are publishing them.

http://boxesandarrows.com/view/meet-your-peers

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Web Indexing SIG: http://www.web-indexing.org
The Web Indexing SIG (Special Interest Group) promotes the human indexing of Web sites and HTML documents.

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UPCOMING EVENTS - http://iainstitute.org/calendar/

Events on the IAI Calendar website offer discounts to members. We are always looking for new partners and events we can share with our membership and newsletter subscribers. If you would like to promote your event, please contact events AT iainstitute DOT org.

The Calendar is bursting with events, check out the full listings online!
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/

Doctrain West 2008
May 6-9, 2008
Vancouver, BC, Canada

The 2nd Annual Documentation & Training West Conference theme is Web 2.0 and Its Impact on Communication. The event features a keynote presentation from Dr. Robert Glushko, author of "Document Engineering: Anayzing and Designing Documents for Business Informatics and Web Services" (MIT Press). Glushko will outline a new discipline for specifying, designing, and implementing the electronic documents that request or provide interfaces to business processes via web-based services. IAI members eligible for discount. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000696.php

Enterprise Search Summit
May 20-21, 2008
Hilton New York, NYC

The Enterprise Search Summit is a highly intense, in-depth, 2-day conference that covers how to develop, implement and enhance cutting-edge internal search capabilities. If you are an information manager or IT or search professional, ENTERPRISE SEARCH SUMMIT is where you will learn strategies and build the skill sets you need to make your organization's content not only searchable but "findable." IAI members eligible for discount, contact Melissa at membership AT iainstitute DOT org for the discount code. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000710.php

Web Content 2008
June 17-18, 2008
Chicago, USA

Event brings together nationally recognized technology, content, and marketing authorities involved with creating, organizing, maintaining, and delivering web content. Presenters will share best practices, new approaches, lessons learned, and provide real-world examples. This year's theme: Web 2.0 and Its Impact on Web Communication. IAI members eligible for discount. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000701.php

From Business To Buttons 2008
June 12-13, 2008
Malmo, Sweden

"From Business to Buttons" is a conference offering insights and methods of how to bridge the gap between the business goals and the product in use. The conference will feature two days of inspirational sessions and workshops that address the design of interactive systems of all types: applications (web and desktop), mobile, consumer electronics and more. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000717.php

Information Architecture Essentials
June 18, 2008
Rydges Southbank, Brisbane

In this one-day workshop, Patrick Kennedy will present the fundamentals of information architecture (IA), the core methodology for organising and designing websites and intranets. Key skills such as card sorting will be taught, and this workshop is designed to build in-house information architecture skills. A must for all web or intranet teams.
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000706.php

Documentation and Training Life Sciences 2008
June 23-26, 2008
Indianapolis, USA

The theme of the Documentation & Training Life Sciences 2008 Conference is The Right Prescription For Life Sciences Content. The event explores content challenges faced by pharmaceutical companies, medical device and durable medical equipment manufacturers, and health and hospital corporations around the globe. IAI members eligible for discount.
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000697.php

Check out full listings and future events:
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/


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IAI JOB POSTINGS

The IAI Job Board lists job postings related to information architecture, as well as information design, interaction design, user experience, and HCI.

The following are just a sample of recent postings:
Information Architect and Research Tools Developer
Columbia University Ed Lab, NYC, NY USA
http://iainstitute.org/jobboard/jobs/job.php?id=3798

Intranet Program Manager
Harvard Busines School, Boston, MA USA
http://iainstitute.org/jobboard/jobs/job.php?id=3794

Senior Usability Engineer
Peak, Brisbane, Brisbane AUS
http://iainstitute.org/jobboard/jobs/job.php?id=3789

Job board newsletter archives are available at:
http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/iai-jobs-iainstitute.org

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