ux field - What's the definition of Information Architecture?

According to Morville, Peter & Rosenfeld, Louis in their book Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (2006) 3rd edition, its this:

• The structural design of shared information environments.


• The combination of organization, labeling, search and navigation systems within web sites and intranets.


• The art and science of shaping information products and experience to support usability and findability.


• An emerging discipline and community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

These are four suggestions from the book, but is there a better one out there?

Answer

I believe that the Information Architecture Institute uses those same definitions for IA, and they are probably the most widely accepted. It's difficult to create a universal definition for IA because the need to organize information is cross-domain, and the methodology will vary between each domain. For example, you wouldn't organize a website the same way you would organize a library.

For the web, I like to think of information architecture as being very analogous to the architecture of physical structures. Both types of design seek to create a functional space, placing importance on the arrangement of doors and pathways that allow one to move through the space in a natural manner.