One of the issues IAIA will be looking into is the accreditation/qualification of IAs in Australia.

At present, most of us “claim” our IA status.  We’ve been working in industry in this role for a number of years, and thus we call ourselves that.  There are others in industry who do this job, but don’t call themselves IAs - rather, business systems consultants, user design analysts, designers or whatever.

But what of people who want to learn the trade, and become an IA.  Where do they go?  They can go to some adhoc courses provided by committed IAs, seek out some online information or DIY study.

In the latest Screen and Media Training Package (this is for vocational education and training), there is a specific unit of “competency” Design Information Architecture.  From a cursory search, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that this is currently being taught in the TAFE colleges, although TAFE Tasmania looks like going down the track.  Charles Sturt University is the only university that runs some post-grad courses in IA.

It’s really not good enough.  Imagine building architects calling themselves just that, and then practising their craft!  There’d be some very shonky buildings, and industry would go spare.  So, why not apply the same standards in IA?