Information Design Trends Unit 4 : Sources and Standards Lecture 1: Content Management Part 1

Defining Content Content is a compromise between the usefulness of data and the richness of information. Content is information that you tag with data so that a computer can organize and systematize its collection, management, and publishing.

Metadata Metadata is the description that is attached to a digital asset that tells exactly what it is, who created it, and the rules that govern how it can be used. Metadata is a simplified version of the context and meaning of the information. Metadata strikes the balance between keeping information whole and enabling data techniques to effectively manage it.

Managing Format Make format consistent across content categories, as well as across all content, in a single publication. Separate format from content so that you can reuse the content in a variety of outputs. Categorizing Formatting: Formatting for effect Formatting by type of effect Formatting by scope

Categorizing Formatting Formatting for effect: According to the desired impact on the audience Formatting by type of effect: Cataloged by the visual (or other) effect employed in the design Formatting by scope: Organized by the scope and range of its application

Managing Structure Structure is the set of named relationships within, between, and beyond individual pieces of content. A well-structured content base has the following features: Its content divides into a set of well-defined categories Within each category, the content segments into component instances Each chunk divides further into elements Each component instance, relates to other chunks, by way of outlines, indexes, cross-references, and sequences

Categorizing Structure Metastructures (Structure of Structure). Structure by purpose Structure by type Structure by scope Structure below the radar Inner structure Outer structure Organizations go to war over competing structures.

Functionality As Content Functionality is the capability to interact with a computer to perform a particular task: Created with computer code Presented in a user interface Usually created as lightweight objects and code blocks that can be shared and reused in a variety of contexts

Content and Context Content and context must be separated in order to automatically mix and match them later. Rules must be defined to govern the specific and limited relationships among: A relatively small set of context elements A small set of content elements A small set of audience types Programming context rules is easy. Understanding context is hard.

Content Is Named Information Names provide a simple, memorable, useful container in which to collect and unify disparate pieces of information. Names reduce the complexities of context, interpretation, and meaning to the kind of data that a computer can handle. Names “datatize” information.