Volume 1

Issue 2

June 2004

Editorial Pamela Kostur, Editor - The Rockley Report, The Rockley Group This issue of The Rockley Report focuses on a topic "near and dear"to our hearts at The Rockley Group. In this issue, we explore Information Architecture, including discussions on optimum reuse, granularity, and implementing models to support granularity. We also discuss some of the issues related to information architecture, and how they might affect your authoring team. Why is information architecture so important to us? Information architecture defines your content management strategy; it outlines how your content will be structured, where and how it will be reused, how granular it will be, what metadata will apply to it, how it will be stored, and how it will be retrieved. Information architecture is the backbone to any content management implementation, regardless of its scope. After all, you wouldn't start building a house, even a small one, without first deciding how the house will be structured. Likewise, you need to define your information architecture before implementing a content management system, even if it's just within your department. No issue on information architecture would be complete without hearing from Lou Rosenfeld, who helped create the profession of information architecture, co-authored its leading text, and was president of its best-known consulting firm for seven years. The name Lou Rosenfeld is synonymous with Information Architecture and we're pleased to feature "the Rosenfeld interview" in which he shares-among other things-his views on the "fun" involved in information architecture. We then go on to explore strategies for optimum reuse (just how granular should your content be?), the pros and cons of semantic vs. generic elements, and how to implement the granularity reflected in the information architecture. We also feature an article on the ongoing debate between buying vs. building a DTD and in our People, Processes, and Change section, we discuss some of the issues you may face in introducing the concepts of information architecture to your team, and suggest strategies for overcoming them. Our case study rounds out the discussion of information architecture; Pat Waychoff, a single sourcing visionary and strategist for HP Network Storage Solutions, describes how a content management implementation is not really about the technology-it's about the methodology. We hope you enjoy this issue of The Rockley Report and welcome your feedback. Please send comments, as well as suggestions for stories in future issues to kostur@rockley.com. Our Call for Submissions describes the kind of stories we're looking for and how you can submit articles for publication in future issues.