Just like the Sixties, the Nineties are over. From free love to free information, it was all quite a ride. But that was then, this is now. The Web is growing up. It's time for definition, time for metrics, time for standard processes.

Much of what was believed to be "new" about the New Economy has not lasted the distance. Information wants to be free, anyone? An Internet month is like a normal year? The Long Boom?

The Web was made out to be very complicated. It's not. It's about publishing. It's about communication. The Web is made up of content. Information architecture is the discipline of organizing content.

Consultants try to make content and information architecture complicated. That helps them feel special and charge more. I hear talk that because information architecture is so difficult, it's almost an art form. There is a view that no two information architects can have the same opinion on any given problem.

Some believe that information architecture cannot--and should not--be defined. Excuse me? An information architect who refuses to define is like a dentist who refuses to pull teeth.

Information architecture is all about the definition and organization of content. The fact that there isn't a commonly agreed definition is because the discipline is immature. If information architecture is to solve problems cost-effectively, it will have to become rigorously defined. Just like most other professionals, information architects will require accreditation.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Gerry McGovern
Gerry McGovern (gerry@gerrymcgovern.com) is a content management consultant and author. His latest book is The Stranger's Long Neck: How to Deliver What Your Customers Really Want Online, which teaches unique techniques for identifying and measuring the performance of customers' top tasks.