Happy 2009! Hope your past two weeks were filled with festivities, feasting, and family fun.
In between the celebrations and sick days (our house was hit by a variety of phlegm-filled plagues), I spent several hours luxuriating in the company of some of the web industry's finest thinkers. That is to say, I read a lot. As I'm on an insane (albeit self-imposed) deadline for my book about content strategy, I needed to get as much research done as possible in a very short amount of time.
Many of these titles have been on my shelf for years and are my go-to reference guides. A few were brand-new undertakings. Many, I love. Some, I do not. (I'll save the reviews and commentary for future blog posts.) Regardless, here's the list.
- Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug
- Letting Go of the Words by Ginny Redish
- Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan Brown
- Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld
- The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett
- The Ten Demandments by Kelly Mooney
- Content Critical by Gerry McGovern
- Web Analytics Demystified by Eric Peterson
- Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works by Kelly Goto and Emily Cotler
- Get Content. Get Customers. by Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett
- The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird
- Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web by Christina Wodtke
- The Web Content Strategist's Bible by Richard Sheffield
If I'm looking for every useful book out there that discusses (even sideways) planning, creating, and managing web content ... what did I miss?
Medbeerevop <a href="http://iewqgug.007webs.com/index.html">redabreetry</a>
Posted by: Grooxiaroopay | April 26, 2009 at 08:39 AM
There's a nice chapter on 'Content Design' in Jakob Nielsen's classic text Designing Web Usability. I reviewed it: http://ianwaugh.tumblr.com/post/82019537/web-bookshelf-1
Posted by: Ian Waugh | April 14, 2009 at 08:13 AM
Wow...where do you find the time? Thanks
Posted by: Joe Pulizzi | January 06, 2009 at 09:04 AM
GUI bloopers - Jeff Johnson is also another good one.
Posted by: Harnish | January 05, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Kristina,
Thanks so much for the shout out. I'm just going to assume our book was one that you liked.
Another great book on content and storytelling that translates to the web is Made to Stick, by Dan and Chip Heath.
Newt
Posted by: Newt Barrett | January 05, 2009 at 01:35 PM
Hi Kristina,
Thanks for listing Communicating Design among such a top shelf book shelf! Good luck on yours! Can't wait to see it when it comes out.
Posted by: Dan B | January 05, 2009 at 01:00 PM
Great list of books/resources. If I want to get back to the copywriting fundamentals, I re-read something by Bob Bly (he has a blog, too). He may not focus totally on Web writing, but his information about persuasive, direct-response copywriting is top-notch.
Posted by: Heather Lloyd-Martin | January 05, 2009 at 09:03 AM
I'm a fan of Dynamics in Document Design by Karen Schriver. I like how it weaves together rhetoric, content, information design, and usability. It is older and focuses more on documents than the web, but much of it translates.
I also like how the book combines research, theory, history, and practical application. Very thorough.
Posted by: Colleen | January 05, 2009 at 07:35 AM
Many of these are on my bookshelf as well. A few to consider adding to your list:
- Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble/Shel Israel
- Killer Web Content by Gerry McGovern
- Hot Text: Web Writing That Works by Jonathan and Lisa Price
A great online resource:
http://www.copyblogger.com
Posted by: Kristina Mausser | January 05, 2009 at 07:01 AM