Coping with Information Load: User Strategies and Implications for Librarians

Abstract

The major purpose of this paper is to describe i~portant tec~niques _ by wh~ch library users avoid information overload. The paper also clarifies the termmology m the mformatwn load literature and reviews its major findings. The paper applies these findings to a library context and discusses their implications for users and librarians.ow are library users handling the increasing amounts of information available to them in college and research libraries? This question has drawn the attention of numerous commentators in recent years.

How Do Our Students Learn? An Outline of a Cognitive Psychological Model for Information Literacy Instruction

“…25 When people are confronted with too much information to process, they turn to a variety of coping behaviors to limit information input (e.g., tuning out, satisficing). 26 What we call "learning" begins when information enters the working memory, the part of the brain that "holds the stuff you're thinking about" and which is the site of the information processing that is addressed in cognitive load theory. 27 For information to be learned it needs to travel from the working memory to the long-term memory, which stores facts and procedures for later recall.…”

Full Text Document Delivery: A Study Understanding User Perceptions and Needs

“…Table 3 shows usage by gender and division. Comparing column 4 and column 5 we see that in every division women were the heavier users. B n the School of Arts and Sciences, for example, woman constitute 56% of enrollment (column 5), and requested 69% of the PowerPages articles requested by …”

“…Among the techniques listed by Rudd and Rudd for managing "information anxiety" is complete avoidance of the library; other techniques include minimizing the time spent in the information search, and abandoning the search altogether. 5 Avoidance of help-seeking was widespread prior to the introduction of PowerPages. Without evidence that PowerPages gravely exacerbates the problem, the prevalence of this unfortunate situation requires us to look with greater tolerance upon this service.…”

Difficult Library Patrons in Academe

“…What is needed is a paradigm shift-not only a change in procedures and methods but also the reconstruction of reality and beliefs-especially our beliefs about how our patrons should conduct their information research. Rudd and Rudd (1986) discuss the tendency of patrons to only acquire a satisfactory subset of the amount of information available-Herbert Simon's (1997) "satisficing" principle. Librarians must accept that this shorthand way of finding, scanning, and organizing information is the modus operandi of the majority of our patrons.…”