Information Organization

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Information Organization
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List

• Organize items in a linear collection.
• Lists usually contain items that are similar
  based on a particular category.
• This collection of items can be improved by
  ordering the elements.

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List Example - Class Roster

• Ordered
• April
• Betty
• Bill
• Conner
• Jack
• Martin
• Oliver

• Unordered
• Jack
• Oliver
• Bill
• Betty
• April
• Martin
• Conner

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List Example - Concept/Definition
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Table

• Tables are used to organize large amounts of
  information.
• They are good for comparing and contrasting the
  attributes of two or more concepts.

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Table Example
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Table Example
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Hierarchies

• Information that ranges from general to specific,
  hierarchies are great ways to show relationships
  among ideas.
• The organizer may be oriented vertically, which
  is the traditional format (like a family tree),
  or horizontally, with the most general
  information to the left side.
• Color coding different "branches" of the
  hierarchy aids in distinguishing related
  information.

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Hierarchy Example
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Classification as Hierarchy

• A hierarchy is a classification of the
  information. The author defines the categories
  and provides descriptive terms allowing any item
  to be placed in a particular category.

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Properties of Hierarchies

• The descriptive terms must cover all the items in
  a category.
• Subcategories can vary between superordinates.
• The information items provide the clues as to how
  to classify them.
• Usually there is no single best classification.
  Different schemes serve different purposes. The
  purpose may provide the key to the scheme.

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Hierarchy Example

• Comcast News

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Flow Charts

• A flowchart (also spelled flow-chart and flow
  chart) is a schematic representation of an
  algorithm or a process.
• commonly used in business/economic presentations
  to help the audience visualize the content
  better, or to find flaws in the process.

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_chart
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Flowchart Example
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ANSI Symbols
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Time Lines

• Time lines are used to summarize information
  about the temporal order of events.
• Events can be ordered in a relative or an
  absolute chronological scheme. Time lines can be
  oriented horizontally or vertically

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Time Line - Example
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Herringbone Map

• Describe events in terms of six questions who,
  did what, when, where, how, and why.

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Herringbone Map - Template
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Herringbone Map - Example
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Ishikawa Diagram

• Also called Cause-and-Effect Diagram, Fishbone
  Diagram
• A graphic tool used to explore and display
  opinion about sources of variation in a process.

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• Causes in a typical diagram are normally arranged
  into categories, the main ones of which are
• The 6 M'sMachine, Method, Materials, Measurement,
  Man and Mother Nature (Environment)
  (manufacturing industry).
• Note a more modern selection of categories used
  in manufacturing are Equipment, Process, People,
  Materials, Environment, and Management
• The 8 P'sPrice, Promotion, People, Processes,
  Place / Plant, Policies, Procedures Product (or
  Service) (administration and service industry).
• The 4 S'sSurroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills
  (service industry).

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Ishikawa Diagram - Template
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Ishikawa Diagram - Template
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Ishikawa Diagram - Example
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Ishikawa Diagram - Example
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Concept Map

• A concept map consists of nodes or cells that
  contain a concept, item or question and links.
  The links are labeled and denote direction with
  an arrow symbol. The labeled links explain the
  relationship between the nodes. The arrow
  describes the direction of the relationship and
  reads like a sentence.

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Concept Map - Example
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Concept Map - Example
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Information

• Temporal
• Quantitative
• Relational
• Linguistic

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Summary

• Choice of representation/organization
• Nature of audience/user
• Nature of use
• Nature of the information
• Context of use