AIfIA launches Mentoring Programme for Information Architecture

Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture (AIfIA) members now have the chance to share experiences with leaders in the field through the institute's new mentoring programme.

The IA mentoring programme aims to improve the skills of current and future information architects by providing them with the opportunity to be mentored by an experienced IA. Mentees must be AIfIA members, but mentors do not.

'Let's face it: information architecture is a new field, and there are few opportunities to learn about it,' said Louis Rosenfeld, AIfIA's treasurer. 'Our collective experiences haven't yet been captured as a body of literature, there are few academic IA programmes where one can gain formal education, and there is only one industry-wide conference per year. That's why we need to connect people who have experience with people who don't, and that's the goal of AIfIA's Mentoring Initiative.'

As part of the new program AIfIA volunteers will:

* match mentors and mentees based on their experiences and needs
* provide mentors and mentees with information outlining a range of 'structures' of mentoring, but allowing each team to determine how they will structure the arrangement
* provide assistance and feedback to mentors and mentees
* monitor the progress of mentors and mentees to determine whether the programme is providing what they need

Anyone interested either as a mentor or a mentee needs first to fill out a survey. More information on the programme is available at the website below.

AIfIA has also just released its 2003-4 annual report, for its second year of existence. Membership has grown 37% in the past year, to more than 560 people from over 40 countries.

Associated Link: More details

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