INLS 180 Day 19 Notes

March 22, 2004

 

  1. One minute papers

Main Points

IA emerging field concerned with organization, interface, user experience, an art as much as science

Pioneer careers vs predictable careers

Limited number of data structures and ordering schemes

Design is part/a kind of communication

 

Questions

Day in the life of an IA?

Tools for IA designers?

Pros and cons of insider design vs outsider?

Training paths for IAs?  [best fields vs best people]

Intuition role in IA?

Long term viability of IA?

Content vs form/design balance?

 

2. Intermediation

More Intermediation or Disintermediation?  [service vs self-serve]

Information Overload and the need for intermediaries

See http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info/index.html

            The amount of print information is now trivial in volume (93% digital each year) [next wave of sensor data not even started yet]

            Quality versus quantity? 

 

            Disintermediation

Many services changing models/roles (gas attendants, travel agents, bank tellers, cashiers, sales clerks)

Phone menu systems, WWW services

Physical services adding value (e.g., Bookstores add creature comforts, newspapers & TV add WWW interactivity)

What about publishers? (author publishing on WWW?, roles of non-commercial presses?)

What about libraries?  Online reference?  What about corporations?

            What added value services can we invent?  EBAY intermediaries?

                        Managing change and living with the churn

Reference services: importance of reference interview

Online reference services?

 

3. One-minute paper

What was the big point you learned in class today?

What is the main, unanswered question you leave class with today?