# Information architecture books

> A reading list on information architecture, one of a series I put together between 2002 and 2004 when I was starting out in interaction and experience design.

- Page: https://www.elasticspace.com/2002/04/information-architecture/
- Author: Timo Arnall (https://www.elasticspace.com/)
- Section: Notes (https://www.elasticspace.com/notes/)
- Published: 2002-04-30
- Updated: 2026-07-04
- Tags: Books, Information Architecture, Information Design
- Site map for agents: https://www.elasticspace.com/llms.txt

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This is one of a series of reading lists I put together between 2002 and 2004 when I was starting out in interaction and experience design, building out a personal canon from books I was buying, borrowing from libraries, or lending to students. The lists are grouped by topic. This one is on information architecture: structuring and navigating information systems, the taxonomies and classifications behind them, and the wider theories of how information gets organised and shared.

Rosenfeld & Morville’s book is the canonical introduction and still the best place to start. Bowker & Star’s Sorting Things Out is the essential theoretical counterpoint, a sociology of classification that any working IA practitioner should know. Brown & Duguid and Svenonius broaden it further into the social and philosophical foundations of information.

The Amazon links below are what I had at the time, most will be dead now, but the ISBNs will find you a copy.

### Information Architecture for the World Wide Web

Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville. Now in its second edition, undoubtedly the best introduction to IA.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565922824/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565922824/elasticspace-20)

### Information Architects

Richard Saul Wurman.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888001380/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888001380/elasticspace-20)

### Practical Information Architecture

Eric L. Reiss.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201725908/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201725908/elasticspace-20)

### Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web

Christina Wodtke.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712506/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712506/elasticspace-20)

### Mapping Web Sites

Paul Kahn, Krzysztof Lenk. A surprisingly badly designed book, but packed full of very inspirational information architecture examples, from isometric site-maps to flow charts and wireframes.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/2880464641/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/2880464641/elasticspace-20)

### Dynamics in Document Design

Karen A. Schriver.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471306363/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471306363/elasticspace-20)

### Content Critical

Gerry McGovern
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/027365604X/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/027365604X/elasticspace-20)

### The Web Content Style Guide

Gerry McGovern
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0273656058/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0273656058/elasticspace-20)

### Web Navigation

Jennifer Fleming.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565923510/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565923510/elasticspace-20)

### Sorting Things Out

Geoffrey C. Bowker, Susan Leigh Star.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262024616/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262024616/elasticspace-20)

### The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization

Elaine Svenonius
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262194333/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262194333/elasticspace-20)

### Laws of the Web

Bernardo A. Huberman.
[amazon.co.uk](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0262083035/) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0262083035/elasticspace-20)

### Infosense: Turning Information into Knowledge

Keith Devlin.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0716734842/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0716734842/elasticspace-20)

### The Social Life of Information

John Seely Brown, Paul Duguid.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0875847625/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0875847625/elasticspace-20)