Rating: 
Summary: Clear, concise, and USEFUL! Deserves 6 stars!
Review: It seems you either love this book or your hate it. I LOVED it! I've heard many of these things before (and I have actually thought of some of them all on my own!) but Reiss lays it all out, step by step (OK, not in five easy steps, but in 19), and I was surprised at the number of practical goodies I could put to immediate use in my work as a web designer.This is one of the few books for web designers written by a communications expert (Reiss started out as a business writer) that effectively explains information architecture as a means to achieve business goals, which so many web people fail to grasp. I thought Chapter 6 and Reiss's discussions of shared references and customer trust were particularly valuable. Some of the reviews I've read think this book is far too simple and doesn't cover anything in depth. Maybe it's because Reiss discusses basic GENERIC issues. For example, his discussion of hyperlinks only runs about 8 pages. But the point is, if you understand the principles layed out in these 8 pages, you'll be able to arrive at good solutions on your own, without having to look them up in a 300-page Nielsen's Guide to the Use of Hyperlinks. (How nice that Reiss assumes that the people who read this book will actually THINK FOR THEMSELVES once in a while!) Is this book for beginners? By all means! It's easy to read and gets right to the point and walks you through the process from A to Z. Is is for the pros? Maybe not everyone, but to dismiss it as "heard it all before" is grossly unfair. (I wonder if some high-priced professionals are scared this guy gave away too many of their little secrets!) Personally I'm not too proud to acknowlege a few holes in my education and am glad when someone helps set me straight. I think this book has real and lasting value and I'd give it 6 stars if I could!
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: It took me about 30 minutes to read through this book and glean whatever original material the author had to offer. The most useful bit of "practical" advice I found was to use post-it notes stuck inside of a manila folder for organizing web page topics. Somehow I expected more from a book with "Information Architecture" in the title. This is a light-weight book, possibly for someone who has had little or no exposure to the web. It is more about corporate project management than website structure. The architecture of the book itself is disorganized and confusing; it rambles for seven chapters on various disparate topics before launching into the purported subject of the book, and even then it amounts pretty much to restating fairly obvious, common-sense techniques.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: It took me about 30 minutes to read through this book and glean whatever original material the author had to offer. The most useful bit of "practical" advice I found was to use post-it notes stuck inside of a manila folder for organizing web page topics. Somehow I expected more from a book with "Information Architecture" in the title. This is a light-weight book, possibly for someone who has had little or no exposure to the web. It is more about corporate project management than website structure. The architecture of the book itself is disorganized and confusing; it rambles for seven chapters on various disparate topics before launching into the purported subject of the book, and even then it amounts pretty much to restating fairly obvious, common-sense techniques.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Enough Detail - Probably Provides A Useful Introduction
Review: Personally I was disappointed with this book. I read alot of online articles and books about web development focusing on interaction issues (ie. usability, design, information architecture) as well as books on programming and project management, so without trying to sound like a "know-it-all" I guess I am fairly knowledgeable about issues in this space. I found that Eric Reiss' book didn't really offer me much in terms of presenting new ideas or new ways of looking at things. I don't feel that I learnt anything more about what information architecture is. While he looks at many sites in his book, he only seems to touch on the information design issues - I would have personally preferred much more detailed and critical analysis. In Reiss' defence he does say that a lot of what he covers is probably common knowledge to those working in the area of web information design. I think this book may be useful for people as a first step and he lists a lot of other books that he recommends readers consult, but if you have a bit more experience and/or have read other books on this or similar subjects I'm not convinced that "Practical Information Architecture" will add greatly to your knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: Was not indepth enough
Review: The Book has many strong points. It's easy to read, he's quick and to the point, it's layed out nicely and logically and you can tell he has background in information architecture as well as more technical areas in computer design (although he doesn't show them in the book). This is the first book that I've read on Information Architecture but it didn't seemed to be very indepth but was rather more dumbed down and collected a bunch of obvious facts and put them in one book. Much of the information I already knew and I'm a systems and multimedia developer for positive-edge.com, a web consultant and design company. I was hoping for a more throughal study in information architecture but rather I got the basic grounds as it relates to a project life cycle. It was a good book to get started and I suppose I'd recommend it to someone who's new to structuring web sites with a group of individuals.
Rating:
Summary: Too basic
Review: This book is just for graphic designers with no prior knowledge about the subject or someone who wants an introduction to IA. The "practical" side of the book is just some basic diagrams o how to's (example: you can use post it pads to build site maps!).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource!
Review: Very straightforward non-technical introduction to an important subject. I found both the process and methodology Reiss advocates extremely useful; it is indeed a practical book. He is enthusiastic about his subject but never fanatical. Highly recommended.
| 
