SIGIA-L Mail Archives: SIGIA-L: controlled vocabulary for infor
SIGIA-L: controlled vocabulary for information archicture and web developm ent?
From: Ferguson, Natalie (nbd2_at_cdc.gov)
Date: Fri Mar 22 2002 - 10:37:51 EST
Dear folks,
Does anyone know of a vocabulary for information architecture and design-
and testing-intensive aspects of Web site development, such as layout, user
research, and usability testing? (Most topics except technical issues such
as coding/programming and databases.)
I maintain an informally vetted resource library of several hundred academic
and popular online articles on these subjects for health communicators at
our agency. 2-3 years ago, assigning articles to topics seemed
straightforward. I'd assign an academic paper about breadth vs. depth to
"Architecture" and perhaps crosslist it under "Navigation" if the article
also discussed visual scanning of lists/menus. I'd post links to it on two
painfully long HTML pages on an intranet site, sorted by primary topic and
author. Paper copies I'd label with the primary topic and plonk into
topically organized folders.
It's no longer so easy. A colleague says I've resorted to the "heap"
methodology of information organization and I can no longer pull out
articles with aplomb when asked. For someone who's supposed to be able to
organize information, this is sad.
I am revising the Intranet pages so that the resources are searchable by
keyword, but also displayed in scannable lists sorted by criteria such as
primary topic, title, author, and individual keyword. To help, am
transferring the lot to a commercial citation program (Reference Manager),
and am using their automated keyword tool to help locate keywords. As for
the paper copies, the best solution seems to be straight ID number, keyed to
the online system.
A better vocabulary would help. Have considered also using the terms from
Kat Hagedorn's "The Information Architecture Glossary" as well as those from
Ben Shneiderman's index in his book "Designing the User Interface". Yet that
sill leaves topic gaps. Surely there's a known vocabulary out there
(ACM/STC/ASIS must have such, for example). Help?
I'll collect replies and post a summary to the list. Many thanks!
Natalie Ferguson, MA, MPH
Health Communications Specialist
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Infectious Diseases
Office of Health Communication
nbd2_at_cdc.gov <mailto:nbd2_at_cdc.gov>
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