The term ‘information architecture’ was first suggested in 1975 (Baker 2005).  It was a definition created by an architect interested in how ‘information is gathered, organised and presented to convey meaning’ (Baker 2005).  It was not until the late 1990’s that library scientists (Rosenfeld & Morville 1996) applied the term to the work involved in the creation and structure of large-scale websites and intranets.

In layman’s terms the phrase ‘information architecture’ describes how a system (usually a website or intranet) is structured.  To construct a user-friendly and effective system (a system which purposefully delivers the information the user is seeking) it must be carefully planned.  The system should feature clear language (terminology) and easy to use navigation methods to move around the system.  This enables the user to move through the system in a methodical and rational way, encouraging the user the information they seek will be found.  The test of well constructed information architecture is often the user being able to locate their desired information, without a problem.  The user may even be totally unaware they have navigated through a complex system to do so.

Information Architecture makes use of a number of IA tools, such as Search Engines (Google, AltaVista, Yahoo), Portals (often a secure site within a site, various banks for example; security denoted by https: the 's' standing for hyper text transfer protocol secure) and Diagramming Software (Powerpoint).