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| Home: Books: Ambient Findability |
Ambient Findability- O'Reilly Media |
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." "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." "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." "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." "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." "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." "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. "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." "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!  Customer Reviews:
This is one of the best books on information architecture I have read in the last year. Although the book is short (about 190 pages) it is PACKED with information and excellent references. Peter Morville is not only a very knowledgeable expert on the topic, but also an excellent writer and researcher. I find this combination of properties very refreshing! First of all, don't be put off by the title. When I first saw the book, I thought the title little odd and only dealt with search issues. In fact this covers a LOT more topics then just how to find things. It also discusses many of the concepts in library science and the emergent areas of social software used to create on-demand tagging system. This is really a book that looks at how emerging technologies are having an impact on how we find things. Not just with Google but how site like flickr that are using folksonomies to allow users to quickly tag photos to aid search tools. Unlike many other information architects, Peter seems to be one of the few people that really undersands the impact of many Web 2.0 concepts built around "Architectures of Participation". The book also discusses many advanced topics such as semantics, taxonomies and ontologies in well-written, concise easy-to-read text. I am a metadata architect and my background is computer-to-computer communications. I am frequently put in a position to explain to my customers why I use structures like taxonomies to structure metadata registries. I found this book to be an excellent overview of of the options an organization can use to structure data and the impact these structures have on the way organizations communicate. Many of the topics address the way that we create standards for the meaning of data on-the-wire. I also found it interesting that this is one of the few O'Reilly books that is printed using color. About 1/3 of the pages use color. --2006-11-06 Ambient Findability by Peter Morville took me back to my days of college (deep thought and application). I initially purchased this book due to it's high reference from other respected designers and developers. My first inclination was that the book would be about SEO or something along those lines. Though the book was small, it packed a big punch of information! I was pleasantly surprised at what this book had to offer. This book went much deeper than I expected. As a disclaimer, I had many of my co-workers laugh when I told them the title of the book I was reading. However, I had a quick response as to what the book contained as the author quickly defines both ambient and findability. The author starts by giving background to how we come to find things. Not just as humans, he takes it to an even smaller scale discussing how ants find their way during their long journeys. Though this may seem odd, it helps to really put things into perspective. How DO we find things? Do we all find things the same way? In relation to the web - what words or phrases do we use to find things? Do we use broad terms or more specific (long tail) terms? This book is very tough to review, as I felt it was packed with so much information. The only way for me to really elaborate would be to put it into context, and by that time you could have read the book. The information packed in this book has really opened me up to an array of new questions related to searching. Outside of the context of the web, how do people find things? Inside of the web, how do people find things? I constantly monitor our analytics at Barbour Publishing, Inc and watch how people find us, and where they go from there. Did they get the answer they were seeking? Was their search relevant? What terms did they use? What order were the terms? What punctuation is used? What did some of the other similar searches look like? What did their other searches look like? What did the spellings look like? So many aspects to look into - and then refine to make sure people can find the information they are seeking. Sometimes simple `like' queries aren't enough. Sometimes the index needs to be refined to incorporate stopwords, mis-spellings, aliases, and other pertinent information. Understanding the core principles, findings, and research will help you build a strong foundation and core. I have found this to be extremely valuable and applicable to web development and answering the deeper questions. As stated earlier, this book is rather small in size but packs a big punch content wise. The author avoids `fluff' or trying to tell stories, and simply dives into the core (which is sometimes even scary) - which is often times backed by a significant amount of research and supplemental resources. Though this book is not directly related to web development - the lessons learned here can be applied to that medium. If you are a web developer, SEO expert, or simply want to know how people find things (and their decision process) - then this a book for you. The book is very well written, very easy to read, and follows a logical progression. --2006-11-01 I agree with the other reviews that say this book is rambling and padded. It is really just a collection of the author's thoughts on the computer industry, user interface, and information. The first part of the book seemed fine, kind of like the fluffy introduction to any other book. But then it never got down into specifics. I kept expecting it to "get good now," but after page 70 I skimmed more and more. I just put the book down after reading yet again about taxonomies vs. folksonomies and realizing that the author still doesn't have anything to add. I don't think I'll read the rest. I think this book had great promise. I was really interested in the topic, but the author doesn't seem to have a lot to add. The topic of findability seemed kind of seemed glommed on afterward as a way to try to unify a lot of random technology quotes and tidbits. I also agree with some of the other negative commenters that it is also too trendy. There are a lot of references and sections about 2005's trendy technologies and companies, many of which will not be around or popular in 2 years. Overall, a pretty disappointing book from O'Reilly, which usually has such high-quality publications. --2006-10-23 Despite some unfortunate copyediting issues, this slim book has enough meat and asks enough important questions to make it worth reading. I like the way Morville meanders, and the book is valuable for the chapter on the socio-economic web alone. Just the same, somebody else might get as much out of a different chapter. Will keep this on my shelf and revisit in a couple years to see how things have turned out. --2006-08-16 Having seen the adulatory reviews of this book, I was looking forward to reading it. I have to say that I was pretty disappointed. "Rambling", "already dated" and "pseudo-intellectual" are three adjectives that come to mind. As with many management / business books, the core concepts could be presented succinctly in just a few pages; as it is, there is noticeable repetition from one chapter to the next. I found myself thinking "Get on with it" all too often. I had already come across almost all the ideas in the book; while it was mildly interesting to be reminded of them, and to see them linked in particular ways, at no time did I have any sort of "eureka" moment. I was irritated by the poor grammar (e.g. "Evolution moves slow" [sic]), the sloppy explanation of some concepts (actually, biological evolution can be extremely rapid), and the inclusion of images that really are fairly superfluous. I also thought some of the examples were already dated. I actually got more ideas and inspiration about the topic of "findability" from reading Vernor Vinge's novel "Rainbows End" [sic] - which disappointed from a narrative point of view, but posits some interesting consequences of current technology trends. --2006-08-11 Read for more: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=0...
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