The Information Architecture Institute is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to advancing and promoting information architecture

Information Architecture

Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...

. Founded in 2002 (originally known as The Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture), the Institute has grown to become one of the world's largest professional groups for web specialists, with over 1200 members in 60 countries.

The institute broadly defines "information architecture" as:

• The structural design of shared information environments.
• The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability.
• An emerging community of practice
  Community of practice
  A community of practice is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created...
  
  focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.