Information First: Integrating Knowledge and Information Architecture for Business Advantage [Paperback]

Roger Evernden (Author), Elaine Evernden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0750658584 | ISBN-13: 978-0750658584 | Edition: 1

Information is seriously undervalued and underused as a corporate resource. The pressures of global competition and a growing dependence on information technology mean that the effective use of information is more important now than it has ever been. This book is a fundamental guide for unleashing information potential, by combining the discipline of information architecture with the power of knowledge management, to drive organizational changes.

Instead of unlocking the potential of information, people are drowning in detail. Current books only approach this subject from an information technology perspective. This book combines techniques from knowledge management and information architecture to provide a layer above the detail - techniques for seeing the big picture.

* Creates a clear picture of an organization and the way it works, by mapping the information and knowledge resource, showing where change is required and providing a plan to achieve it
* Streamline decision-making and action-taking by eliminating frustration and confusion
* Supports an information-based culture by maintaining the right infrastructures and constantly improving the use of the information resource

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Information First provides easily understandable material, which could be filleted and presented to senior management in order to provoke thinking about the importance and value of information"
Information World Review Jul-Aug 2004

"Information management is a key focus item for most large companies and corporations, and there is surprisingly little published information in the area. Most material seems to focus either on IT or on Knowledge Management. The approach of focusing on 'information' rather than 'IT Architecture' or 'Knowledge Management' is quite original, and provides a very strong viewpoint that is complimentary to much of the already published material in this broad field."

Ian Bowring, IBM Ireland

"Information First shows how improved information architecture allows organisations to take change in stride and serve their stakeholders far more effectively. Its practical focus and self- assessment tools help readers move from theory to action."

Charles Bowen, Technical Architect, Fidelity Information Services, US.

"The mix of case studies and guidelines shows how to architect an information model that harmonises the language used by people working in an organisation. An integrated architecture allows us to align different views of our organisation and to talk in a consistent way about how we want to change and manage our business to meet new challenges. The architecture enables our organisation to understand the implications, impact and cost of changes and to design value adding solutions.

This book is an excellent introduction to the subject of information architecture and will be useful to any large organisation that plans to build towards consistency rather than perpetuating a stovepipe mentality."

Neil Phillips, Head of Process Architecture, Barclays Bank PLC

Book Description

Essential tools and techniques to unleash the power of information within your organization

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1 edition (October 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750658584
• ISBN-13: 978-0750658584
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,806,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing read, July 9, 2009

By 

Yost (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Information First: Integrating Knowledge and Information Architecture for Business Advantage (Paperback)

When I came across this book I was first delighted. I was hoping for a proper book on Information Architecture. After reading the book, I must say that the book both delivers and disappoints.

On the positive side: it is indeed a book on architecting information for the enterprise (as opposed to structuring a web site). And the focus of the author is on defining and modelling information, information flows and information responsibilities, as opposed to focussing on IT architecture. His "essential eight factors" and some of the checklist are very useful, as are his discussions on using information to drive change and the various types of information responsibilities. Also his vision on the various viewpoints on information that are at the same time different and all true is spot on.

Why is the book disappointing? Well, it is a "what" book and not a "how" book. It contains checklists and procedures, but hardly any information on how to execute those procedures, or what the results should look like. The author states several times that an "information value chain" is an important technique for the information architect, but never shows an example! Most examples that *are* in the book, are too simple and too abstract to be of use. "Understanding" is one of the essential eight factors discussed, but the book itself lacks understandability. Most sentences are very abstract. The book definitly lacked a good editor: someone should have told the author that he probably is very good at his work, but not very good at writing and explaining about it. The author never defines "information architecture" and the part about "integrating knowledge" (as stated in the subtitle on the cover) is completely missing from the book.

I think that the "real" contents of this book can be written down in about 50 pages. It is sad that the author needs another 170 pages to actually hide what he has to tell.