Small task - information overload

1. Information overload is the feeling that you are in a quicksand of information - there is so much that you feel as though you are slowly sinking in it. It is threatening to overwhelm you and sometimes you can't find the piece you want.
2. Mostly I don't suffer from information overload but sometimes when I'm researching for my assignments I have trouble knowing when to stop. I start following citation trails and find more and more information. Then I have trouble getting my word count down to the recommended range because I want to put all the information I found, in my assignment.
3. The Internet has contributed massively to information overload because it has made it so much easier to generate and to find information. Look at all the people who have blogs now. Before the Internet they may have kept diaries (I didn't) but that information wasn't readily available. Think of all the funny stories, urban legends, virus warnings, special offers that land in your email in box on a daily basis. Nobody would have bothered to send a letter just to pass these on.
4. Filters on search engines (especially those searching databases) can help you narrow your search considerably so you don't need to wade through heaps of straw to find the few grains of wheat. Email filters can sort your email for you and direct it into suitable folders - including the 'junk mail' folder. You can set up personalised news filters so you only see the stories you are interested in. I have set up an iGoogle page with tabs for the various areas I am interested in. Each tab has feeds from relevant and interesting blogs or websites. I can look at this when I have time and easily see which feeds are new. If I don't have time to check it for a while some of the new posts will have dropped off without me seeing them but that's OK - if I can't see what I have missed reading then I don't worry about it. I subscribe to a couple of list servs and have signed up for the digest version as I find that more manageable than constantly receiving emails through the day.