Information Management vs. Information Strategy
Though they sound similar on paper, information management and information strategy are two completely different disciplines and processes. In my opinion, the word “creative” is the main thing separating the two. Information management involves rules, roles and resources, while information strategy is a creative process. In other words, management addresses how we administer and control information, while strategy addresses how we effectively communicate that information.
I deal with content and information on a daily basis in my role as a web writer and editor. I manage content through tools and applications such as a content management system, a web server, the photo directory on the shared office server, and the file system on my laptop—these are my resources. Information management also involves rules that include workflow, guidelines and permissions. For example, I have editors throughout the university whom are responsible for their own content; an admissions representative will update information on an application page, send that over to me within the content management system, I’ll get an email notification alerting me to the update, and I’ll go ahead and publish that page after reviewing its contents. Management is all about the nuts and bolts of the information process.
A sample sitemap of the personal files on my computer.
In my line of work, information strategy is all about storytelling. Strategy involves leveraging content on a webpage so the core audience can easily access that information and eventually achieve what we want them to achieve—apply to the university. This process can include thinking about what types of content we want on a page, whether it’s text, a photo gallery, a video, or a combination of many different content types, all the way to determining the flow of a story within an article. Our textbook does a great job of highlighting the creative aspect of information strategy: “No matter how much qualitative or quantitative research you’ve done, the development of an information architecture strategy is inherently a creative process, with all the associated messiness, frustration, pain, and fun.”
Resources:
Rosenfeld, Louis, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango. Information Architecture For the Web and Beyond. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc., 2015. Print.