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Showing posts from May, 2007

Gerry McGovern comments on Google and IM

His article title is Google changes information management and discusses, with his usual directness and humour, how Google has changed the face of information management (IM) - key quote for me (and probably all the organisations I have ever worked for): In many situations it is easier to find something on a website by using the public Google search engine than by using the website’s own search engine. This is an incredible situation. Think about it. Google, which indexes 12 billion pages, is doing a better job than, for example, a search engine that indexes 12,000. And his reasoning as to the why is totally on the head: A great many organizations simply don’t professionally manage their information. They simply store it. I would, however, add that Google isn't just changing IM, they are taking it out of the hands of the highly paid, jargon using and loosely-coupled-to-reality IM practitioners. They are also forcing it away from IT departments and back into the hands of those that

Information Architecture ... no, no, wake up, it's cool

Ok, it's not cool as in iPhon e cool, or Wellingtonista cool ( subscribe ) or even stunning Wellington day cool. But it is bloody useful and it spins my wheels. And I've just* discovered Louis Resenfield's site/blog which makes my life a gazzillion times easier when I do my job. Louis Rosenfield wrote the IA bible, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web . If you're into helping people make information available, findable and usable then you must buy a copy. What else did I find: Information architects on communicating to IT managers Putting the "I" back in IT [ Web slide show ] The No-Knead Approach to Information Architecture Intro | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Probably loads more will come your way now that I have subscribed * I have no idea why it's taken me so long ... not thinking really.

Telling lies at work

Nice posting from the Jim Donovan (CEO of Fronde) regarding openness and honesty : If you don’t deep-down do ‘openness’ and ‘honesty’, you’d be better off not claiming otherwise - you’ll be reviled the minute you show your true colours. Openness and honesty have to come from deep-seated personal values that are lived and demonstrated. I agree. Sitting around in nice warm (!) offices pontificating with your work peers about how the organisation values are so cool and will lead to greater profit with chirpier minions staff will not achieve much (possibly a loss of respect from those that get to hear what you're doing). Do it. Be it. Model it for others. People need to see a behaviour that directly reflects the values (whatever they might be) that the organisation claims to be. In the example at my work we have values of 'trust' and 'openness'. One of the ways that I am keen to have those values enacted is to remove the convoluted publishing process we have for the in