This book covers the ever-increasing problem of information overload from both the professional and academic perspectives. Focusing on the needs of practicing engineers and professional communicators, it addresses the causes and costs of information overload, along with strategies and techniques for reducing and minimizing its negative effects. The theoretical framework of information overload and ideas for future research are also presented. The book brings together an international group of authors, providing a truly global point of view on this important, rarely covered topic.

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.

A unique approach to information overload, combining theory and practical solutions

Written and edited by an international group of experts from academia and industry, Information Overload clearly links academic theory to real-world practice, providing a truly global and interdisciplinary treatment of this important topic.

Emphasizing the role of engineers and technical communicators, the book discusses the root causes and costs of information overload within organizations and introduces strategies and proven techniques for reducing information overload and minimizing its negative impact. It offers a theoretical framework and ideas for future research, and features special chapter 'insight boxes' that recount different approaches to problems from various multinational corporations.

Information Overload:

• Focuses on key definitions and challenges of information overload for both communicators and organizations
• Details a variety of technical and human-centered strategies for addressing the deluge of data
• Presents effective solutions tried at IBM, Xerox, and Harris Corporation
• Examines the effects of culture as well as that of color, visual form, text, and end-user documentation
• Offers an engineering perspective on the technologies available for dealing with information overload

Information Overload also serves as a first-rate survival manual for researchers in academia, practicing engineers, technical communicators, and managers and professionals at all levels of profit and nonprofit organizations.

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 BCEThirteenth Century) 21

2.4.2 The Age of Renaissance (FourteenthSeventeenth Century) and the Printing Press 22

2.4.3 The Industrial Revolution (EighteenthNineteenth 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 ...