Response to Information Architecture

Tanner Lauzon
Nov 6 · 3 min read

According to Morville and Rosenfeld, what are the basic schemes one can use to organize information? As you describe each scheme, also describe what kind of information the scheme is best suited to divide information into well-defined and mutually exclusive sections.

Schemes are used throughout everything and there are many different types of schemes. Some types are exact organization, alphabetical, chronological, geographical, ambiguous organization, topical organization, task oriented, audience specific, metaphor driven, and hybrid. An exact organization scheme is one that separates information into specific groups or labeled areas and mutually exclusive sections. For example, countries are usually in alphabetical order. This is hard because the user must know the name of what they are looking for. An alphabetical scheme is not for the alphabet but for things like dictionaries and encyclopedias. This is almost always in a non fiction. It is like the umbrella for other organization schemes. Chronological schemes is a certain order usually dates. This can be shown in history books, diaries, and even television guides. Another basic scheme type is the geographical. The geographical scheme is for places. Things like traveling are involved with this. Ambiguous Organization schemes are less basic and a little difficult. They divide information into certain categories to defy exact definitions. This is your typical library catalog. Topical organization schemes is to organize information by topic or title. Things like newspapers are organized topically. Task-oriented schemes organize content and applications into groups of tasks and functions. These are used in desktop and mobile apps. Another type of scheme is the Audience-specific which is very successful when there are two or more audiences. This works well if there is a value in customizing the content for different audiences. Metaphor-driven schemes are commonly used to help users understand the new by relating it to the familiar. It can make new ideas about a website like the design, organization and function. Finally, hybrid schemes suggest a simple mental model that users can quickly understand. The user can easily recognize an audience-specific or topical organization. This hybrid scheme includes elements of audience-specific, topical, metaphor-based, task-oriented, and alphabetical organization schemes. This is like a mixed up library. The differences in schemes are very important and help organize information more efficiently and affectively.

In addition, I’d like you to do some searching. Using whatever search tools or techniques you like, find answers to these questions (and briefly describe what you searched):

  • What’s the tallest statue in the world?

Statue of Unity is the tallest statue in the world at 597 feet tall. This statue is in India. I searched on google “What is the world’s tallest statue” and compared a few sights to see if they said the same thing and they did.

  • Who named the Oscar statuette? I want the most definitive answer you can find.

Initially named “the Academy Award of Merit,” it’s still a bit of a mystery where “Oscar” came from. One prevailing rumor holds that academy librarian, and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick joked about the back of the statuette looking a bit like her Uncle Oscar.

The Academy didn’t adapt the name until 1939, but it was widely popular as early as 1934 when a reporter referred to Katharine Hepburn’s first (of 4) best actress wins as an “Oscar”

And for a bonus 1 point,

  • Can you find at least one technical report about concerns regarding the levees in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina? (Provide a link, and give the search technique you used to find it)

I looked up technical report about concerns regarding the levees in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina and this document came up.

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