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Luminary Lectures @ Your Library

Krug and Rosenfeld on loc.gov: An Interactive Evaluation

Steve Krug and Lou Rosenfeld - May 5, 2004

The http://www.loc.gov Web site represents The Library of Congress to the world. But is it doing so effectively? Can users really find the information they need from the site? And can they use that information? And how do we balance users' needs with those of the Library of Congress?

The emerging fields of information architecture and usability can help provide answers to these questions. The Library of Congress is pleased to invite two of the best-regarded speakers from these fields, usability guru Steve Krug and information architecture expert Lou Rosenfeld, to perform a live review of loc.gov. Steve and Lou will suggest practical techniques for the site's evaluation and redesign, lead an interactive discussion on how the usability and information architecture of loc.gov could ultimately be improved, and answer audience questions about these new fields.

Lou and Steve's perspectives are well regarded, and their books--Steve's "Don't Make Me Think!" and Lou's "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web"—are considered Web design classics. Please join us as they turn their attention to loc.gov

About the Speakers

After a decade writing computer manuals, in 1989 Steve Krug moved up the food chain to usability testing and interface design so he could fix the problems instead of explaining them.

Since then, he’s evaluated and improved interfaces for a wide variety of clients, primarily in online services and the Web, including Apple, AOL, Netscape, the late, lamented Excite@Home, BarnesandNoble.com, Lexus.com, and Circle.com (originally Interactive Bureau).

His consulting firm, Advanced Common Sense (“just me and a few well-placed mirrors”) is based in Chestnut Hill, MA.

He currently spends most of his time reviewing existing sites and new designs, conducting usability workshops, and helping clients resolve thorny interface problems.

(Note - biography taken from http://www.sensible.com/about.html External)

Lou Rosenfeld is an independent information architecture consultant. He has been instrumental in helping establish the field of information architecture, and in articulating the role and value of librarianship within the field.

As a graduate student in library and information studies in the late 1980s, Lou became convinced that the skills of librarians were grossly undervalued — in the coming information explosion, who else would supply the skills of organizing, classifying and labeling information?

As the Web sped that explosion along, Lou realized that additional skills and perspectives were required to develop coherent, intuitive structures — information architectures — that made web content accessible to users. At Argus Associates, a consulting company that Lou co-founded in 1991, those additional perspectives — usability engineering, ethnography, technology analysis and others — were successfully folded into the mix, and the company became perhaps the best-known firm in the field of information architecture.

Lou served as Argus' president from 1994-2001. Named a "Technology Pioneer" by Crain's Detroit Business, Lou served as lead information architect on projects for such clients as AT&T, Borders Books & Music, Chrysler Corporation, Dow Chemical, and SIGGRAPH.

With Peter Morville, Lou co-authored the best-selling book, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (O'Reilly, 1998; second edition, 2002), Amazon.com's "Best Internet Book of 1998," which has been acclaimed as a classic and is used as a standard text in many graduate-level classes. Lou has contributed regular columns for CIO, Internet World and Web Review magazines, and has written and edited numerous other books, chapters, and scholarly articles.

Lou has participated heavily in efforts to coalesce the information architecture community. He is a director and co-founder of AIfIA, the Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture, the sole professional organization of information architects. Lou played a leading role in organizing and programming the first three information architecture conferences (the 2000 and 2001 ASIS&T Summits and ACIA 2000). He also presents and moderates at such venues as CHI, COMDEX, Intranets, and the web design conferences produced by Miller Freeman, C|net and Thunder Lizard. He has taught popular tutorials for the Nielsen Norman Group, and is currently on a speaking tour with usability expert Steve Krug.

In 1993, Lou founded a popular Internet research service, the Argus Clearinghouse, a successful demonstration of the application of librarianship to making Web content more accessible. And while at the University of Michigan, Lou designed and co-taught some of the first academic information and library science courses that dealt specifically with the Internet.

Lou holds a Masters in Information and Library Studies and a B.A. in History, both from The University of Michigan. He serves on a variety of corporate and non-profit boards. Lou lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

(Note - biography taken from http://louisrosenfeld.com/biography/ External)