|
Ambient Findability
How do you find your way in an age of information overload?
How can you filter streams of complex information to pull
out only what you want? Why does it matter how information
is structured when Google seems to magically bring up the
right answer to your questions? What does it mean to be
"findable" in this day and
age? This eye-opening new book
examines the convergence of information and connectivity.
Written by Peter Morville, author of the groundbreaking
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, the book
defines our current age as a state of unlimited findability.
In other words, anyone can find anything at any time.
Complete navigability.
Morville discusses the Internet, GIS, and other network
technologies that are coming together to make unlimited
findability possible. He explores how the melding of these
innovations impacts society, since Web access is now a
standard requirement for successful people and businesses.
But before he does that, Morville looks back at the history
of wayfinding and human evolution, suggesting that our fear
of being lost has driven us to create maps, charts, and now,
the mobile Internet.
The book's central thesis is that information literacy,
information architecture, and usability are all critical
components of this new world order. Hand in hand with that
is the contention that only by planning and designing the
best possible software, devices, and Internet, will we be
able to maintain this connectivity in the future. Morville's
book is highlighted with full color illustrations and rich
examples that bring his prose to life.
Ambient Findability doesn't preach or pretend to know all
the answers. Instead, it presents research, stories, and
examples in support of its novel ideas. Are we truly at a
critical point in our evolution where the quality of our
digital networks will dictate how we behave as a species? Is
findability indeed the primary key to a successful global
marketplace in the 21st century and beyond. Peter Morville
takes you on a thought-provoking tour of these memes and
more -- ideas that will not only fascinate but will stir
your creativity in practical ways that you can apply to your
work immediately.
"A lively, enjoyable and informative tour of a topic that's
only going to become more important."
--David Weinberger, Author, Small Pieces Loosely Joined and
The Cluetrain Manifesto
"I envy the young scholar who finds this inventive book, by
whatever strange means are necessary. The future isn't just
unwritten--it's unsearched."
--Bruce Sterling, Writer, Futurist, and Co-Founder, The
Electronic Frontier Foundation
"Search engine marketing is the hottest thing in Internet
business, and deservedly so. Ambient Findability puts SEM
into a broader context and provides deeper insights into
human behavior. This book will help you grow your online
business in a world where being found is not at all
certain."
--Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., Author, Designing Web Usability: The
Practice of Simplicity
"Information that's hard to find will remain information
that's hardly found--from one of the fathers of the
discipline of information architecture, and one of its most
experienced practitioners, come penetrating observations on
why findability is elusive and how the act of seeking
changes us."
--Steve Papa, Founder and Chairman, Endeca
"Whether it's a fact or a figure, a person or a place, Peter
Morville knows how to make it findable. Morville explores
the possibilities of a world where everything can always be
found--and the challenges in getting there--in this
wide-ranging, thought-provoking book."
--Jesse James Garrett, Author, The Elements of User
Experience
"It is easy to assume that current searching of the World
Wide Web is the last word in finding and using information.
Peter Morville shows us that search engines are just the
beginning. Skillfully weaving together information science
research with his own extensive experience, he develops for
the reader a feeling for the near future when information is
truly findable all around us. There are immense
implications, and Morville's lively and humorous writing
brings them home."
--Marcia J. Bates, Ph.D., University of California Los
Angeles
"I've always known that Peter Morville was smart. After
reading Ambient Findability, I now know he's (as we say in
Boston) wicked smart. This is a timely book that will have
lasting effects on how we create our future.
--Jared Spool, Founding Principal, User Interface
Engineering
"In Ambient Findability, Peter Morville has put his mind and
keyboard on the pulse of the electronic noosphere. With
tangible examples and lively writing, he lays out the
challenges and wonders of finding our way in cyberspace, and
explains the mutually dependent evolution of our changing
world and selves. This is a must read for everyone and a
practical guide for designers."
--Gary Marchionini, Ph.D., University of North Carolina
"Find this book! Anyone interested in making information
easier to find, or understanding how finding and being found
is changing, will find this thoroughly researched,
engagingly written, literate, insightful and very, very cool
book well worth their time. Myriad examples from rich and
varied domains and a valuable idea on nearly every page. Fun
to read, too!
--Joseph Janes, Ph.D., Founder, Internet Public Library
|
