Recently a content audit proposal crossed my desk. It had been a few months since I had focused solely on an audit and wondered what might have changed in the space since my last rodeo. A quick look around the web assured me that the basics were still the basics, and I was immediately reminded of just how many smart folk there are working in this space. Not only smart, many of these guys are crazy generous as well. After several hours of catching up,  downloading templates and comparing example audits it dawned on me that these resources and by extension their authors deserved sharing. Whether your about to perform you first audit or gearing up for number next, you'll be sure to find some valuable tips from these pros. So without further ado, here's direct access to some content audit awesomeness you and your teams will no doubt benefit from. Enjoy.

• The Content Inventory is Your Friend by Kristina Halvorson remains a great primer.
• Looking for a great book on the subject? Check out this Content Strategy for the Web from Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach. Bonus tip: while you're there download a free chapter of their book.
• Coleen Jones and her team over at Content Science are offering some great workshop for 2015.
• The gang from UX Mastery have a great how-to article on performing a content audit and even offer a sample spreadsheet to give ya a kickstart.
• Ngen Works has allowed access to their UX workflow and process wiki which includes some real nuggets. Check it out, these guys are the real deal.
• Just the facts ma'am. If you're new to this kinda thing and are looking for the basics, Usability.gov has some starter info for ya. Here's another one from them.

Clearly there are loads of good intel out there to help get you started on your next content audit. And while I'm admittedly a big fan of standing on the shoulders of giants (the view is quite nice), I'm also an advocate of rolling up sleeves and sluggin' it out old school. Yep, I'm talking about biting the bullet, opening that XL spreadsheet and jumping in with both feet. Content audits may not be the sexiest deliverable in our UX toolkit, but they're also not rocket science. With a fair dose of patience, a little guidance from those who've gone before and maybe some crunchy new tunes pulsing through your ear buds you're a shoe-in for this kind of thing.

So, go on, get after it. Your customers will be glad you did. And when you've got the audit in the can, drop me a line and let me know what you learned along the way.