Information Overload

JUDITH B. STROTHER, PhD, is Chair of the Graduate Program in Global Strategic Communication and Professor of Communication at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. She has written three books and several book chapters, in addition to journal articles and conference proceedings. JAN M. ULIJN, PhD, is an early emeritus of the endowed Jean Monnet Chair in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Culture at Eindhoven University of Technology, and currently Professor of the Open University School of Management in the Netherlands. He has written numerous journal articles and book chapters and has authored or edited several books. ZOHRA FAZAL is Instructor of Humanities and Communication and a founding member of the Center for Communication Excellence at Florida Institute of Technology. She is currently pursuing her PhD in science education.

List of Practical Insights from Corporations xv List of Figures xvii List of Tables xix Foreword xxi Preface xxvii Acknowledgments xxix A Note from the Series Editor xxxi Contributors xxxiii About the Editors xxxvii 1 INFORMATION OVERLOAD: AN INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE TO PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS 1 Judith B. Strother, Jan M. Ulijn, and Zohra Fazal 1.1 Definitions, Causes, and Consequences of Information Overload 1 1.1.1 Definitions of Information Overload 1 1.1.2 Causes of Information Overload 2 1.1.3 Consequences of Information Overload 3 1.2 Perspectives on the Concept of Information Overload 4 1.2.1 An Information and Time-Management Perspective 5 1.2.2 A Supplier/Producer/Writer and Client/User/Reader Perspective 5 1.2.3 An International/Intercultural Perspective 7 1.2.4 An Innovation Perspective 7 1.3 Readers of this Book 7 1.4 Structure of this Book 8 1.4.1 Section I: Causes and Costs of Information Overload 8 1.4.2 Section II: Control and Reduction of Information Overload 10 References 11 SECTION I. CAUSES AND COSTS OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD 2 OF TIME MAGAZINE, 24/7 MEDIA, AND DATA DELUGE: THE EVOLUTION OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD THEORIES AND CONCEPTS 15 Debashis "Deb" Aikat and David Remund 2.1 Introduction 16 2.2 Theory and Concept of Information Overload 16 2.3 Information Overload as a Twentieth Century Phenomenon 17 2.4 Evolution of Information and Its Proliferation in Society 21 2.4.1 The Early Quest for Information and Knowledge (320 BCE-Thirteenth Century) 21 2.4.2 The Age of Renaissance (Fourteenth-Seventeenth Century) and the Printing Press 22 2.4.3 The Industrial Revolution (Eighteenth-Nineteenth Century) and Its Information Innovations 23 2.4.4 The Era of the Mind and the Machine (Twentieth Century) 24 2.4.5 Internet Boom and Information Explosion of the 1990s 27 2.4.6 Data Deluge and Information Overload in the Twenty-First Century Digital Age 28 2.5 Information Overload Concepts 29 2.5.1 Definitions of Information Overload and Related Concepts 29 2.5.2 The Context of Information Overload 30 2.5.3 Causes and Consequences of Information Overload 31 2.6 Conclusion and Four Lessons Learned 32 Acknowledgment 33 References 33 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM IBM 39 3 THE CHALLENGE OF INFORMATION BALANCE IN THE AGE OF AFFLUENT COMMUNICATION 41 Paulus Hubert Vossen 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Quantitative Aspects of Information Overload 43 3.3 Qualitative Aspects of Information Overload 45 3.3.1 Philosophical Perspective: Information in Science and Technology 45 3.3.2 Political Perspective: Information in Modern Society and a Global World 46 3.3.3 Economic Perspective: Information as a Commodity on the Market 47 3.3.4 Societal Perspective: Information as the Glue Between Communities 48 3.3.5 Psychological Perspective: Information as a Basis for Knowing and Acting 49 3.3.6 Ecological Perspective: Information as a Prerequisite for Living Creatures 50 3.4 Conclusion 51 3.5 A Call for Fundamental Research 52 References 53 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM XEROX 55 Xerox Takes on Information Overload 55 Identifying the Problem 55 Sharing Information 56 Sorting Information 57 Cutting Through the Clutter 57 Life-Saving Software 58 Urban Central Nervous System 58 4 FROM CAVE WALL TO TWITTER: ENGINEERS AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS AS INFORMATION SHAMAN FOR DIGITAL TRIBES 61 Anne Caborn and Cary L. Cooper 4.1 Introduction: The Dawn of the Information Shaman 62 4.2 The Magic of Metaphor 64 4.3 The Audience: The Emergence of Digital Tribes 65 4.4 Quill to Keyboard: The Writer and New Media 66 4.5 Helping the Reader: Techniques for the Information Shaman 68 4.6 The Magic of Hypertext Techniques: Journeys at the Speed of Thought 70 4.7 Conclusion: The Responsibilities of the Information Shaman 72 References 73 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE LIMBURG MEDIA GROUP 75 Newspaper P