An information resource is information organized for some purpose. It can take the form of anything from a memorized telephone number to the Library of Congress or the entire internet. The following table lists various types of information resources, how they are organized, and what they are useful for:
| Information resource: | Organized by: | Useful for: |
| File cabinet | Drawers with alpha or numeric sorting | Manual document retrieval |
| Novel | Sentences, paragraphs, chapters | Entertainment, relaxation |
| Library | Subject, author | Finding publications |
| Relational database | Tables, columns, rules, relationships | Flexible storage, retrieval and analysis |
| XML file | Tags, nested hierarchies | Transporting and sharing data |
| Big data | Key-value pairs | High-volume capture and processing |
| Semantic ontology | Triples (subject, predicate, object) | Making information discoverable |
The way information is organized determines how it can be used, so decisions about the organization of information should be carefully considered by the owner and managers of the resource. Unfortunately, owners and managers usually only provide high-level guidance, and the actual decisions about the way information gets organized are instead delegated to an architect or technical specialist. This is a costly mistake with long-term consequences. The outcome is almost always an information resource that cannot be used the way its owners intend without being modified for every newly desired use.