What is information architecture?
Information architecture is a discipline and practice that focuses on making information usable. Information architects organize information and figure out how to best share it to help others find and use the information they need. Day to day, that means we do things like create wireframes, website navigation, develop metadata and taxonomy, and evaluate user’s needs and their responses to our work.

Let me know if you’ll be in Ann Arbor for World IA Day, as well. If you can’t make it in person to any of the events on Saturday, watch #wiad on Twitter to follow along!

On Thursday, Feb. 16, the Nashville Chapter of the American Marketing Association is hosting NAMA’s eSIG Website Smackdown at eSpaces. Experts in several web-related fields such as website design, user experience and and development — including our own Laura Creekmore — will give no-holds-barred feedback on 10 different websites the night of the main event. Thirty additional websites will receive written feedback from one member of the panel.

You can enter your website for the Smackdown or register through NAMA’s website. The deadline is Friday, February 10, at 5 p.m. for your website to be included.

We spend a lot of time educating ourselves and our clients on the latest tools and techniques that content strategy brings to projects. Because the holistic way of thinking about content strategy is still gaining traction in many quarters, many people we talk to would consider themselves learners instead of experts. And with the holidays around the corner, you might be working on your wish list.

So we’ll share our picks for the best resources on content strategy — both now and in 2012. And we’re going to send a full set of our content strategy library to one reader! Keep reading for the details….

Laura’s Picks:

• Content Strategy for the Web — Buy it now, or pre-order the 2nd edition coming in 2012! This is the book that defined the discipline of content strategy.
• Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works — The seminal classic on writing for the web. If Ginny Redish hasn’t taught you how to write yet, don’t miss the opportunity to learn from a master.
• The Elements of Content Strategy — Erin Kissane wrote this great how-to book earlier this year. Great companion to the Halvorson book.

Summer’s Picks:

• The Content Marketing Institute Blog was one of the first that I ever added to my RSS reader. Posts are written by leaders in the content marketing and strategy world — all people that I trust, many that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person. They stay on top of trends in the industry, offer case studies on best practices and let us all learn lessons from their mistakes, and provide a one-stop shop for resources.
• Content Rules by Anne Handley and C.C. Chapman is about much more than creating quality website content. This little book packs quite a punch and covers content formats such as ebooks, videos, podcasts and webinars. It’s an easy-to-read reference that has a little something for first-time content creators and veterans alike.

To get the library: 
In the comments below, share your favorite content strategy resource or tell us which book above you’re looking most forward to reading. We’ll randomly select one commenter on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, and send you the four books in the library. [Shipping free to any U.S. location; if you're not U.S.-based, we'll talk.]

We wanted to point out two events this week that have us pretty geeked out.

Contents Magazine launches: We are looking forward to this new source of wisdom on content strategy, founded by Erin Kissane, Krista Stevens, Ethan Marcotte and Erik Westra. The site promises to focus on “content strategy, online publishing, and new-school editorial work.” We love it. The first issue is rolling out over the next few weeks, but they’ve already got some goodies posted on what the heck we all do, and what we call it.

Margot Bloomstein’s book hits Amazon: We can be a fairly cynical lot around here, but some of us turn downright fan-girl when we talk about Margot Bloomstein. She’s a smart thinker about content strategy and the theories behind what we do, so we can’t wait to read her content strategy book
coming out next spring.

And P.S., while you’re over at Amazon checking that out, you might as well go ahead and pre-order the second editions of two other great works that inform our field — also coming out in 2012:

• Ann Rockley and Charles Cooper’s Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy
• Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach’s Content Strategy for the Web

We don’t know about you, but we’re already feeling smarter in anticipation.

First, know your goals. I don’t mean the “what’s on your to-do list today” kind of goal. I mean the big, hairy goal. The “increase sales 15% over last year” goal, or “Cut call center volume by 20%” or “Improve customer satisfaction by 30%” kind of goals. Many people get stuck here because the company has a stated goal, and then it has the way it acts day to day. Do everything you can get to clarity on the real goals before you begin.

Know your timeline. Are you embarking on a campaign, or establishing a new method of operations? If you can clearly answer this question, it will help you decide whether you need to hire an agency or a staffer.

Know your core competence. What is your organization? Is your core competence something outside of the marketing and communications arena? For most organizations, the answer is yes. That doesn’t mean you need an agency, but it might make it more likely. Conversely, even communications-heavy organizations hire agencies to bring in fresh ideas or handle extra work.

Define the judgment needed. Anyone who’s going to be the last person to see content before your customers has to have judgment that you trust completely. Someone who’s writing copy and submitting it to you or another trusted staff member needs less authority. Sure, you’d let a 17-year-old run the register at a retail location [and thus represent you directly to customers], but you shouldn’t let a junior-level staffer with little training run your Twitter account without supervision. The potential for damage is significantly higher.

Finally, let’s talk skills. When you’re thinking about making a hire or signing a contract to procure content services, you not only must identify the skills you need today, but you also have to think about what you need tomorrow. If you can’t count on a budget for professional development [and time to support that as well], you are better off contracting with a freelancer or agency that aggressively educates its own staff. The world of digital content is changing minute by minute, and many of the skills we need today won’t be current tomorrow. You want to hire curious people who are always learning. If they’re on your staff, you have to support that. If they’re your vendor, expect to pay more for it.

So what’s right — hire a staff or an agency? There’s no right answer, but these questions may help you shape your thinking.

How did you decide whether to outsource or hire? What skills do you value in your content staff?

While it’s obviously important to include pricing details in your contract, you also want to cover the types of services you need. Here are questions to ask yourself before you commit to a vendor contract.

1. What do you want from your vendor? If expedient customer service is important to you, be sure to outline the terms of service in your contract. What level of copyright are you buying — do you want to own the work outright [most expensive option] or just license it for use for a while? If you need to reserve the right to make grammar or style changes to content provided by a vendor, add that to the contract, as well. Determine what you need to complete your work, and make sure the vendor you hire can meet those needs.
2. Who will facilitate the implementation? Do you want your vendor to provide the content and put it in a usable form for your content needs? Perhaps you’re willing to edit and format the content to save some money. Before you pay for a content service, work with your vendor to determine how the product will be implemented. Ideally, your vendor is writing to your defined content strategy, right?
3. What is your liability? Obviously both parties will want to limit their liability in the event of a problem — plagiarism, copyright violation, garden-variety errors. Be sure to add a section about liability to your contract, and negotiate for the terms that will best suit you. Liability issues will include who is responsible for a delay in service, potential damages and attorney’s fees.
4. What are the terms for pricing? While you’ll certainly want to agree on a standard price for your vendor’s services, keep in mind that you might need extra services at some point. Will the vendor charge a fee for extra content? Are the rates locked in for a certain period of time? Your contract should include any potential pricing issues.
5. What are the grounds for termination? Mistakes are one thing — but what about Really Big Mistakes? Before you sign a contract, identify your dealbreakers, and include them in a termination section of your contract.

While you know what your content needs are right now, be sure to include a clause that specifies your vendor’s responsibility for additional programming or other changes that could be necessary to meet your standards. A good contract uses flexible language that will keep it relevant throughout your relationship with your vendor.

Laura answered questions ranging from simply defining the term “social media” to more delicate questions about privacy. For instance, what social media tools should small businesses be using?

“There’s no one right answer to this question. Start by thinking about your customers… Where do they spend their time online? What do they expect to be able to do there?” Laura goes on to explain that Facebook isn’t perfect for every business — neither is LinkedIn or Twitter.

“If you don’t need to use Twitter to reach your customers, it still may be one of your most valuable research and professional-connection tools; it is for my company.”

This Saturday marks the third Blogathon in Austin, which started innocently when organizer Ilene Haddad asked on Twitter if anyone wanted to get together and blog one afternoon. It’s now a day-long event that includes a tech room with experts to help you tweak (or even start) your blog, awesome food donated from great local businesses to keep us fueled for the day, and presenters who will answer blogging and social media questions related to content, finding your voice, engaging your audience and much more. Like me. I’ll be in the hot seat answering questions about personal vs. business blogging.

For instance: If you’re a business owner, should you have a business blog and a personal blog? What about separate social media accounts? Companies have social media policies, should individuals have personal policies?

We’ll be doing lots of things related to blogging — helping each other brainstorm ideas, offering input on design and maybe even starting new blogs with new friends over shared interests. But they’re also be lots of learning and fun. And I think that’s my favorite part.

A global organization with more than 2,000 members worldwide, the IA Institute focuses on education, advocacy, service and social networking to demonstrate the value of information architecture to both individuals and organizations.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected, and I’m excited to get to work,” Creekmore said. “The IA Institute is a great resource for our discipline, and I’m looking forward to working with the rest of the board, staff and members.”

Congratulations, Laura! We wish you the best with your term on the board!

Columnist Regina Brett from The Plain Dealer of Cleveland shared that same tip with participants recently in a Content Marketing World breakout session on emotion and storytelling. Brett encouraged those of us in the room — whether we’re writing for a newspaper, a personal blog or a corporate website — to pick a bull’s eye and go for it. To aim high or not even bother.

While I walked away with a full page of notes from her session and probably 20 tips for telling a great story, 5 from my list are definitely favorites:

1. “Put a face on it.” Say you run a hospital with the highest birth rate in the state. Instead of spouting off numbers and statistics in your writing, talk about specific babies or the doctors and nurses who give them such exceptional care.
2. “Circle the wagons.” If your manufacturing plant runs on the sweat of employees who have been there for 20 or 30 years, instead of writing from the corporate viewpoint, share the point of view of one of those employees. Brett called it “hearing the story through different ears” and seeing it through a different set of eyes.
3. “Show me, don’t tell me.” Do the words alone do your story, blog post or article justice? Would a picture make a positive impact? What about an infographic?
4. “Tell a big story small.” There was a huge music festival in Austin this weekend — Austin City Limits. It brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city and puts millions of dollars into the economy. Our local newspaper ran many stories on the festival, one of which focused on a 9-year-old boy who had been to the festival every year since it started when he was only 10 months old. Telling the story from his viewpoint makes a big story small.
5. “Edit.” It just takes a couple of minutes. Read it out loud. Email it to yourself and read it in a different font. Go eat lunch and come back to read it again. Just make sure you give every piece a good once (or twice) over.