Principles of Information Architecture
As a rapidly emerging area that combines a number of disciplines, information architecture is easily misunderstood. It's important to visualize information architecture because it can give you a better handle of it's elements.
Information architecture is a systematic method of identifying, organizing, and managing information for a particular need. This online course is particularly interested in information architecture as it relates to website design and development.
By "visualizing information architecture" we mean recognizing the elements that go into an effective information environment and how they all work together to create an engaging website. Rather than just seeing "pages on a screen," an insightful information architect sees the "big picture" of how the information is organized and labeled for easy user access.
This section of the website contains five elements: organization systems, labeling systems, navigation systems, search systems, and metadata systems.
Read the following sections from Web Style Guide: (1) Information Architecture, (2) Organizing Your Information, (3) Information Architecture: Site Structure, (4) Presenting Information Architecture, (5) Site Structure, (6) Site File Structure, (7) Page Structure and Site Design, and (8) Page Templates.
Read Chapter 4: The Anatomy of an Information Architecture in Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 3rd edition by Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld.