2002SpringQ2.Response

2002 Spring Question 2 Response

2. Information Overload A. Definition
 * Access to an abundance of information
 * too much information coming from all directions with no concept of how to discern the good from the bad

B. Consequences of Information Overload
 * Rapid growth of information without attempts to control
 * Users use inefficient methods to search through the information
 * Users do not know how to select the information that is appropiate for answering the research question
 * Users are easily frustrated--give up
 * using sub-par information resources in place of appropriate information resources due to the inability to find the appropriate info
 * increased pressure on the info professional to provide access to all of this information

C. How an Informational Professional can help alleviate the problem
 * Help users to navigate through the information
 * Help users to develop skills to know how to evaluate the information
 * provide information literacy classes/handouts/web tutorials for patrons

D. How information technology can be an effective tool in addressing this problem
 * Improvements to search engines--group results by subjects so users can see a pattern
 * RSS feeds-receive notifications when there are updates to a page
 * point patrons to websites with quality resources (Librarian’s Index to the Internet, etc.)
 * create web tutorials with tips on how to discern good from bad