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ACIA Main Page > About the ACIA > Press Releases > Information Architecture Age (November 14, 2000)
Argus Center for Information Architecture
Information Age Gives Way To Information Architecture Age
Ann Arbor, MI (November 14, 2000) — While several large Web consultancies are laying off staff and watching their stocks plummet, as reported by the New York Times in its Sept. 11 article "Consulting Services Hit Hard by Internet Shakeup," the information architecture niche of Internet consulting is expected to grow both in terms of job openings and revenues.
That was the optimistic view presented by Peter Morville, CEO of Argus Associates and director of the Argus Center for Information Architecture, at Information Architecture 2000, a first of its kind industry conference hosted by ACIA. "The future is bright and full of financial promise," he told an audience filled with representatives of companies including Sapient, Scient, Arc e: consultancy, hot studio, iXL, Organic, marchFIRST, Razorfish, and Rare Medium.
More than 225 attendees came from around the world -- including Germany, Australia, Norway and England -- to hear presentations from those at the leading edge of information architecture, a field focused on organizing Web sites and intranets so information is easier to find and maintain. About 50 percent of the attendees were from leading corporations such as Motorola, Nortel, Luminant, Merck-Medco, IBM-Global, Agilent, Qualcomm and others. The other half were from consulting firms, many of them holding "information architect" titles.
In his keynote presentation, Morville asserted we have moved from the "information age" to the "information architecture age," as good organization of content on Web sites and intranets becomes not just helpful but necessary; content is growing at an exponential rate, and without well-conceived information architecture, it will be worthless to users who can't find what they want and need.
Morville said part of the problem with the so-called Internet revolution is that frenzied companies used "Internet time" as the rationale to rush past solid planning and into poorly conceived implementation of sites. Morville quoted Roger McNamee at Integral Capital Partners: "People used ''Internet time' as a justification for lack of discipline. They got looser and looser in their behavior and got more and more rewarded for it. In retrospect, 'Internet time' will prove to have been a hormonal thing."
You can learn more about IA2000 conference by reading Peter Morville's synopsis of the event in his new edition of Strange Connections, a free, biweekly column about information architecture, or by reading IA2000 conference proceedings on the ACIA event site at:
About the Argus Center for Information Architecture
The ACIA serves as a focal point for learning about the theory and practice of information architecture, hosting industry conferences and training seminars, publishing articles and white papers, managing a web site on information architecture topics, and participating in groundbreaking research. The ACIA is sponsored by Argus Associates, Inc.
About Argus Associates
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Argus Associates is a recognized pioneer in the field of information architecture. Argus organizes large Web sites and intranets so users can find what they need quickly and easily and clients can more easily manage their information. Argus principals Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville wrote the definitive book on Web architecture, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, published in 1998 by O'Reilly & Associates. It was named "Best Internet Book of 1998" by Amazon.com.
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newvine@argus-inc.com
The ACIA is Sponsored by Argus Associates, Inc. Copyright 2000 All Rights Reserved