Information Mapping
Information Mapping® (www.infomap.com) is a proprietary method for the analysis, organisation, and presentation of information. It is based on the needs of the users and their purpose in using the documentation. Many large organisations use Information Mapping.
Information Mapping has three parts: analysis, organisation, presentation.
Analysis. According to Information Mapping, there are six basic types of information. Examples of information types are:
- Procedure. This tells a person how to do a task.
- Process. This explains what occurs in a system.
- Concept. This specifies what something is.
An important principle of Information Mapping is that the different types of information are not mixed. For example, do not include a concept in a procedure. Instead, explain the concept before the reader does the procedure.
Organisation. This deals with how the information is presented. For example:
- Information is grouped into 'manageable' chunks.
- Units of information are organised hierarchically into larger groups. Each group has a clear label.
- Unnecessary information is not included.
- Words are used consistently.
Presentation. This deals with the form in which information is presented. For example:
- Bulleted lists and numbered lists
- Tables
- Graphics.
Information Mapping is a useful method for technical writing, but it is not the only method. Examples of other methods of writing are as follows:
- DocuTools™ is a method of structured authoring from PTA (www.p-t-a.com).
- Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) (www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/faq.php) is an XML-based architecture for creating and delivering information. DITA uses the concepts of 'typed topics', which is similar to 'information types' in Information Mapping.
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