Content inventory

Before creating a digital publication, one should carefully consider the information that already exists -- in some form or another -- and determine whether it is indeed sufficiently valuable for inclusion. Forming an understanding of the current content assets is called a 'content inventory'. Usually, it's a highly structured spreadsheet, where for each piece of content (one line) are listed:

• a unique identifier (e.g. ID and name)
• the location of the content
• metadata such as name, author, date of last update, media type
• other qualifications such as cycle time, inherent value or transformations required
• any useful remarks

Creating a content inventory is a meticulous job that requires one to systematically dig or hunt for content, including content that is not obvious to those that have been managing it for a long time. The process of creating a content inventory gives the information architect a deep understanding of the available data, and this is useful for almost any step in the design process.