This document discusses the challenges of information overload in the modern workplace. It notes that while new technologies have always increased information flows, today's ease of publishing and constant connectivity can interrupt work and impede performance. Both individuals and organizations are negatively impacted, with issues like low productivity and decreased effectiveness. However, the document also argues that effectively managing information through skills like prioritizing sources, anticipating needs, and applying information for decision-making can help mitigate these challenges and make workers and their organizations more valuable.

1. +
LIBR 230 Week 1
Death by Information Overload
& The Twitching Organization

2. +
Work, Information & Interruption
 The problem: Work in the knowledge economy has
become more complex and dynamic. Information is
constantly required to improve, refine and maximize
performance. At the same time, information, in its volume
and depth, can represent enormous capacity to interrupt
and impede performance.
 What is the solution?

3. +
Is this a new problem?
 Yes and no…
 New technologies have always increased the flow of
information…from the printing press to the internet
 What is different about today?
 Is the problem related to the ease of publishing or the
actual amount of published material?
 What does this mean to information overload and
strategies for mitigating it?

4. +
Individual or Organizational
Problem?
Individual Organizational
•Poor •Low
Performance Productivity
•Loss of •Decreased
Employment Effectiveness

5. +
Information and Organizations
 Ringing phones and e-mail alerts lower IQs by 10 points
 Knowledge workers average 20 hours a week managing e-mail
 Information overload costs the U.S. economy $900 billion a year
 60% of computer users check e-mail in the bathroom
 A typical knowledge worker turns to e-mail 50 to 100 times a day
 85% of computer users say they would take a laptop on vacation
 Employees consider 1 in 3 e-mails unnecessary

6. +
Information and Organizations
 Employees visit an average of 40 websites a day
 Of 6 e-mails that are ignored for a day, 5 are then ignored for good
 Knowledge workers switch tasks every 3 minutes
 11% of people check e-mail on the sly
 85% of work e-mails are opened within two minutes
 Interruptions eat up 28% of the workday
 Digital information will grow to 2.8 trillion gigabytes by 2011
 It takes 24 minutes to get back on task after opening an e-mail
 Employees spend 2 hours of the workday on e-mail

7. +
Is the solution as simple as
Manage Information…
 So it doesn’t manage you?
 Easier said than done!
 What are the steps, keys to managing information in a
professional context?

8. +
Information and Individuals who
Manage Information Effectively
 Some people are energized by the constant flow of
information
 Time spent engaging with, synthesizing and applying
information is a good investment when it comes to
developing sound decision-making and metacognition
 People who engage information are smarter and more
valuable to their organizations
 Those who know are ideal but those who know where to
look in order to know are arguably just as useful!

9. +
Information Literacy in Professional
Environments
 Not all information is created equal
 Some is more authoritative, reliable, credible and useful
than others
 Knowing which sources of information are most valuable
can eliminate some of the overload
 Being able to predict information needs can eliminate
overload
 Having the skills that allow you to analyze, synthesize and
apply different kinds of information in order to make
decisions is crucial to success in the knowledge economy