How much information is too much?

Years ago in my role as an industry analyst conducting research surveys, I would often say that I could never have enough information and that the thought of having too much information was absurd. I would let those supplying my unquenchable thirst for input that I welcomed as much as I could get and would then sort through it all to determine relevance to the project at hand. Of course in those days we did not have the type of access to foundational information like we do today. I did not have the web and internet available to me as a resource. Now I can go to a website and collect information about products, features, services and sales successes without approaching a single individual. It is easy to overload with information today.

 

Here is some food for thought to put this in perspective. Richard Saul Wurman, author of the classic book titled “Information Anxiety”, states that “A weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than the average person was likely to come across in a lifetime in seventeenth-century England.” He further cites, “More new information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000. About 1,000 books are published internationally every day, and the total of all printed knowledge doubles every eight years.” Think about your own organization and even your own day to day activities in relation to how much information is created. So the fact is that information is being created with blinding speed. The question is why is it created and does it all have a purpose?

 

We know that there is a point where you can provide too much information but in my view, there is a point of overload when you can receive too much information. This is where I look to an established ECM environment to help manage, control and provide the information I need when I need it. This is where the potential of text mining can really shine through to filter the unwanted information allowing us to once again say bring it on, but now I will leverage technology to assist in sorting and distilling what Is needed.

 

What say you? How are you managing information overload? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Looking to increase your level of knowledge? Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

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We look forward to seeing you there.

 

Are you going to DocuBusiness ‘09 in Milan Italy? If so, be sure to attend a great session by Doug Miles, Research Director for AIIM.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

 

Comments

[Md Santo]

Information deluge produced as the impact of ICT including the Internet development.How to anticipate the phenomenon is the function of KM. The answer of 'How much informaion is too much' depend on how do we anticipate the situation because the size of 'how much' is relative. But, the essence here is how do we 'consume and compress the information load' to smaller size but with optimal solution output. Principally in 'compressing the information which making us being smarter,' we use (KM) Standards, (KM) Tools and (KM) Process Frameworks components. See the attachments of the Links http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/road-mapping-the-implications and/or http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/human-enlightment-staging

[Mark Ridgwell]

Thanks or the post. Anything that is not relevant to me. Anything that I do not need to know right now is too much information.

Best regards
Mark