Strategic Information Arrangement Returns to Simmons in May

Temple of Joy

Online CE Course at Simmons College in May, 2011
Instructor:  Katherine Bertolucci
Fee:  $250 (Simmons GSLIS Alumni price $200) for the four week online course.
Registration:  http://alanis.simmons.edu/ceweb/workshop.php?id=15

According to futurist Ray Kurzweil, “the measure of order is the measure of how well the information fits the purpose.”  Strategic Information Arrangement shows you how to fit purpose to your order with an entertaining look at basic information structures and their value as persuasive tools.

Communication persuades.  Arranged information, as communication, provides a persuasive opportunity.  When you understand this, you can use it to your advantage for building taxonomies, classifications, and structured lists.  Lack of understanding may cause accidental persuasion in unintended directions.

We examine 17 list structures and 6 forms of hierarchy, defining how each fits a purpose.  Then we apply the seven persuasive technology strategies (plus 1) identified by Stanford’s B. J. Fogg in his book, Persuasive Technology:  Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do.  For example, the chronology of names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial builds community with six of Fogg’s seven strategies.  Perhaps this explains why it is our most powerful memorial.

Architect Maya Lin was influenced by the WWI Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, in France.  Yet, because of the differences in the two wars, that memorial uses another arrangement to achieve the same goal of building community.  In a different context, the Memorial Temples at Nevada’s Burning Man art festivals (pictured) build community with a random arrangement.  Each of these three memorials fits its purpose by understanding the community it honors.

Katherine’s client Snoopy is on hand during the course to explain some of the concepts.  The Rolling Stones and Joe Walsh from the Eagles also make appearances.  You can explore memorials in your local area for possible inclusion in a Memorial or Veterans Day blog post.  The course includes an optional exercise in building hierarchical structures, to be critiqued by Katherine, the only information strategist focused on persuasive arrangement.

Instructor: Katherine Bertolucci is an information management consultant and owner of Isis Information Services in Phoenix, AZ. She specializes in the development and arrangement of subject-based classifications, taxonomies, and other formats for persuasive information presentation. A pioneer in non-traditional classification, Katherine built her first taxonomy in 1978. Clients include poets and transnational corporations such as Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, Procter & Gamble, and Thomson Financial. Known for her work with Snoopy, Katherine’s programs are entertaining and informative. She is former Chair of SLA’s Library Management Division and Information Futurists Caucus. Katherine’s essays on information arrangement appear in IsisInBlog. Print publications include “The Future Still Awaits Us: Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity on Wall Street” (Searcher, July-August, 2009),”Beyond Findability: Organizing Information in the Age of the Miscellaneous” (Searcher, February, 2009), and “Happiness is Taxonomy: Four Structures for Snoopy” (Information Outlook, March, 2004). Contact her at katherine@isisinform.com

Photo Credit: The Temple of Joy at Night, © Jim Hammer and Burning Man. More photos by Jim Hammer at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrscience


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15
Mar 2011
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Strategic Information Arrangement at Simmons in November

 

Burning Man Memorial Temple

The Temple of Joy at Night by Jim Hammer and Burning Man. More photos by Jim Hammer.


Strategic Information Arrangement: Theory and Techniques

Online CE Course at Simmons College in November, 2010

Instructor:  Katherine Bertolucci

Fee:  $250 (Simmons GSLIS Alumni price $200) for the four week online course.

Registration:  http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/careers/continuing-education/workshops/online.php#strategic
(Click “Register,” top of the page on the left)

“Strategic Information Arrangement” takes an entertaining look at the building blocks of order, especially arrangement styles for organized information.  These are the skills you need to display information, whether in taxonomy, classification, or structured lists. Understanding these strategies helps you build ordered arrangements that persuade users. Lack of understanding can inadvertently send users in the opposite direction. Since all information has order, even if only random, each arrangement structure you build is an opportunity to persuade or to accidentally dissuade.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil believes “order is more profound than information” because it “fits a purpose.” This course helps you develop profound order with fifteen list structures, six hierarchic methods, and five persuasive strategies. Katherine’s client Snoopy is on hand to explain some of the concepts. Nevada’s Burning Man art festival and the Rolling Stones also make an appearance. You learn how each technique fits a unique purpose and how to persuasively exploit these techniques.

We also review the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme from World War I, each with similar information and goals, yet requiring different name arrangement strategies.  Memorials reviewed by members of the May class are featured in Katherine’s blog post, “Names on a Memorial:  Into the Earth (Memorials Discovered by the Strategic Arrangement Class).”

In the optional assignment, you design a hierarchic structure with provided material.  Assignments are critiqued by Katherine, the only organizationalexpert focusing on persuasive arrangement.  See her Arranging to Persuade series on persuasive technology tools in this blog and at Discover the Region.

Instructor: Katherine Bertolucci is an information management consultant and owner of Isis Information Services in Phoenix, AZ. She specializes in the development andarrangement of subject-based classifications, taxonomies, and other formats for persuasive information presentation. A pioneer in non-traditional classification, Katherine built her first taxonomy in 1978. Clients include poets and transnational corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Thomson Financial. Known for her work with Snoopy, Katherine’s programs are entertaining and informative. She is former Chair of SLA’s Library Management Division and Information Futurists Caucus. Katherine’s essays on information arrangement appear on IsisInBlog. Print publications include “The Future Still Awaits Us: Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity on Wall Street” (Searcher, July-August, 2009),”BeyondFindability: Organizing Information in the Age of the Miscellaneous” (Searcher, February, 2009), and “Happiness is Taxonomy: Four Structures for Snoopy” (Information Outlook, March, 2004). Contact her at katherine@isisinform.com

Photo Credit: “The Temple of Joy at Night,” © Jim Hammer and Burning Man. More photos by Jim Hammer at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrscience


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14
Sep 2010
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Strategic Information Arrangement Returns to Simmons College in May

Temple of Joy

Strategic Information Arrangement: Theory and Techniques

Online CE Course at Simmons College in May, 2010

Instructor:  Katherine Bertolucci

Fee:  $250 (Simmons GSLIS Alumni price $200) for thefour week online course.

Registration:  http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/careers/continuing-education/workshops/online.php#strategic (Click “Register,” top of the page on the left)

“Strategic Information Arrangement” takes an entertaining look at the building blocks of order, especially arrangement styles for organized information.  These are the skills you need to display information, whether in taxonomy, classification, or structured lists. Understanding these strategies helps you build ordered arrangements that persuade users. Lack of understanding can inadvertently send users in the opposite direction. Since all information has order, even if only random, each arrangement structure you build is an opportunity to persuade or to accidentally dissuade.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil believes “order is more profound than information” because it “fits a purpose.” This course helps you develop profound order with fifteen list structures, six hierarchic methods, and five persuasive strategies. Katherine’s client Snoopy is on hand to explain some of the concepts. Nevada’s Burning Man art festival and the Rolling Stones also make an appearance. You learn how each technique fits a unique purpose and how to persuasively exploit these techniques.

For Memorial Day, we review the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme from World War I, each with similar information and goals, yet requiring different name arrangement strategies.  In the optional assignment, you design a hierarchic structure with provided material.  Assignments are critiqued by Katherine, the only organizational expert focusing on persuasive arrangement.

Instructor: Katherine Bertolucci is an information management consultant and owner of Isis Information Services in Phoenix, AZ. She specializes in the development and arrangement of subject-based classifications, taxonomies, and other formats for persuasive information presentation. A pioneer in non-traditional classification, Katherine built her first taxonomy in 1978. Clients include poets and transnational corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Thomson Financial. Known for her work with Snoopy, Katherine’s programs are entertaining and informative. She is former Chair of SLA’s Library Management Division and Information Futurists Caucus. Katherine’s essays on information arrangement appear on IsisInBlog.  Print publications include “The Future Still Awaits Us: Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity on Wall Street” (Searcher, July-August, 2009),”Beyond Findability: Organizing Information in the Age of the Miscellaneous” (Searcher, February, 2009), and “Happiness is Taxonomy: Four Structures for Snoopy” (Information Outlook, March, 2004). Contact her at katherine@isisinform.com

Photo Credit: “The Temple of Joy at Night,” © Jim Hammer and Burning Man.  More photos by Jim Hammer at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrscience


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14
Feb 2010
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Strategic Information Arrangement: Theory and Techniques

CE Course at Simmons College in October, 2009.

Instructor:  Katherine Bertolucci

More Information and Registration:  http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/careers/continuing-education/workshops/online.php#strategic

 

Edward Lutyens’ Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in Thiepval, France honors 72,000 British Commonwealth soldiers missing from the Battle of the Somme in WWI.  This memorial influenced Maya Lin’s design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Both have the goal of keeping comrades together.  Because the two wars were so different, they each use unique arrangements to achieve the same goal.  (Photo:  Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This four week course looks at arrangement methods and persuasive strategies that help you organize information to promote your goals.  Included is a unit on the arrangement of names at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme from WWI.  The course also features Snoopy, the Rolling Stones, and the Burning Man festival in Nevada to show you how to successfully and persuasively arrange information.   

Audience:  Librarians and anyone else who organizes information.  Many supervisors believe all librarians know exactly how to organize everything.  They are often chosen for an arrangement project even if their specialty is search rather than classification.  This course will help you meet that expectation.     

Purpose: Students learn the basic methods of organizing information.  They also learn persuasive strategies that complement an organizational structure.    

Format:  The online fourweek course uses weekly PowerPoint slides with textual notes, and optional readings.  There is an optional online discussion each week and an optional final project of organizing a list of titles in an entertaining topic.   

Hours to complete: That depends on the student.  The PowerPoint slide shows are relatively short, with notes written in an entertaining style.  Students can read as many or as few of the resources as they want.  Most of the additional readings are essays about information organization from Katherine’s blog, IsisInBlog.  Optional online discussions are one hour each week.  Timing for the optional final project again depends on the student, mostlikely a few hours.    

The instructor will provide feedback on the readings during the weekly online discussions.  Final projects also receive extensive feedback.
 

More Information and Registration:  http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/careers/continuing-education/workshops/online.php#strategic


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31
Aug 2009
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