Re: RE: the relationship between CM and IA

At 02:43 PM 12/31/2003 +1100, Bruce Melendy wrote:
>my problem with this definition is more or less the
>same problem i have with the way content management is typically defined -
>that is, very web-centrically, very presentation-oriented. this definition
>of IA - again, the standard, commonly used one - also includes a lot of what
>i would argue is not about _content_ and therefore not really about
>_information_ - usability, software/network/enterprise architecture, etc.

I think Bruce is absolutely right here. In the last 5 years or so 
Information Architecture has become synonymous with Web IA and Content 
Management has become synonymous with Web Content Management (WCM). 
Unfortunately organizations need to manage much more than just web content 
and they need to architect much more than web content. Web content is 
extremely important, but is not all the content an organization needs to 
create, manage, or deliver.

As Bruce has suggested, if we move away from the media (e.g., web) and just 
look at the content then content architecture my comments and additions to 
his list would include:

>- content models (relationships between atomic chunks of content as
>expressed in schema, DTD, etc; comprises data models)

Agreed.

>- content standards (encodings, languages, embedded xhtml, etc)

I don't know that I would include the content standards as the standards of 
today may not be the standards of tomorrow. Just like we separate out the 
format/media I believe we should talk about content architecture separate 
from the way it may be encoded.

>- metadata, taxonomies, etc

Agreed.

To this list I would add:

- reuse architecture (content reuse map that identifies how reuse 
should/could occur between and within content)
- repository architecture (organization, structure, granularity, 
relationships between content within the CMS)
- reuse management (the rules associated with reuse for a given 
organization such as "what happens when content is derivatively reused 
(reused with change) by one author, then another author goes to the source 
content and derivatively reuses the same content as the previous author, 
then the source content (the content which both authors used as the basis 
of their reuse) changes?"

We could potentially add workflow to content architecture as well since 
business rules are defined to determine how content is versioned, how 
content is controlled, etc. throughout the content life cycle.

Notice that ones that I have added to Bruce's list fall into the realm of 
content management. Therefore to respond back to the original question 
"What is the relationship between IA and CM?":

Information/content architecture defines the structure, organization, 
labeling, relationships, access, and control of content. Content management 
systems use IA/CA to effectively store, track, control, and retrieve content.

Without an effective IA/CA the success of your content management solution 
will be compromised.





>---
>--
>http://cms-list.org/
>please trim your posts.

_____________________________

The Rockley Bulletin addresses issues of importance to those interested in 
content management, content reuse, new tools and technologies, resources, 
strategies, best practices and more. http://www.rockley.com/Bulletin.htm

"Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy" (ISBN 0735713065)
by Ann Rockley with Pamela Kostur and Steve Manning is now available from 
amazon.com or amazon.ca. For more information visit 
www.managingenterprisecontent.com.

www.rockley.com, 905-415-1885


--
http://cms-list.org/
please trim your posts.