Information overload
More issues than I know what to do with
May 25th
The library and information profession isn’t facing just those issues I listed a couple of posts back. There’s more than that. I have, just this morning, started another assignment topic for my assignment that is due tonight by midnight. That brings the total to four. Four running assignments, that I have going for the purposes of this assignment?!
What is it that I want to convey? There is simply a lot to write about, a lot of issues, not just contemporary ones, or labelled as such, that are facing the profession in the “information age”. And what is the information age anyway? Define that please.
My assignment topics so far are as follows:
- “Feeling Overloaded? Experiencing #Filterfail? It could be time to change your settings.”
I shouldn’t really have to explain it, but I have to, so I’ve already failed in one aspect of this assignment, – supply a title that accurately reflects the content of your paper. I like to see html markup out of context, it’s interesting to me. - “Education in Information Literacy, the answer to our digital divide”
- “Information Overload and the Information Professional’s role: how Librarian’s can help”and my latest one…
- “User pays, the digital divide and freedom of access to information : economics and the public library”
Readings completed this week
Apr 10th
Reading 2.2
Rubin, R. E. (2004). Redefining the library: The impacts and implications of technological change. In Foundations of library and information science (2nd ed., pp. 79-120). New York, NY: Neal Schuman.
Reading 2.4
Cooper, S. (1997). President’s address: The future. Library Life, (218), 4-7.
I have many highlighted quotes from Rubin’s chapter, being a whopping 30+ pages long. I will reference them in my assignment.
However, one in particular grabbed me, because it’s highly negative, but also irritatingly, makes total sense to me.
“…the implementation of technologies is not democratically controlled; it serves the interestes of the people who control them” (Bushman as cited in Rubin, 2004, p. 116).
I’m currently in the process of trying to write a proposal to have a social media policy at my workplace. This has stemmed out of my want to trial a Twitter account. To play around with a hot piece of technology at the moment and see how it works in the context of a library.
I’ve read countless literature, blogposts, articles and opinion pieces on the subject of Twitter and libraries, and even hold the interesting fact of my partner having worked with the founder of Twitter and holding the first New Zealand based Twitter account. It is all abuzz in my mind. Is it ok that I want to share that buzz with other people via my institution of choice?
I wrote a sidenote next to this quote in my notes –
“Action: make technology work for you; not you for it.”
I suggest you highlight this for future reference. You control technology, it does not control you. This sentiment will feed directly into a topic covered in this paper later in the semester about Information Overload.
Information Anxiety and Web two-point-oh
Mar 30th
The pressure to remain relevant in an society where everyone and everthing competes for your time and attention is overwhelming at times. If you’re a person who suffers from bouts of depression and anxiety and you’re a female who’s susceptible to the occasional PMS or PMT, then this won’t be news to you. Already, the overwhelming and all-encompasing nature of web2.0 has me in it’s grips.
Lately, the term 2.0 has made me increasingly uncomfortable. Perhaps even just in the last hour or two. It’s got to a point where if I’m surrounded by talk of it, I want to physically curl up into a ball and hide for a wee while to get over the anxiety of being surrounded by this huge thing that you can’t get away from. Interestingly, this is somewhat similar to the physiological nature of an anxiety attack. The feeling that the world is out to get you and it’s all just about to crash on top of you. It’s a really scary feeling, I can tell you now.
How I can justify that the term web2.0 caught in the same sentence as the word library, prompts such a reaction, is in referring to articles and sharing my real experiences.
I am currently in the process of writing a proposal for social media use by the library for management at my workplace, including incorporating a trial of a twitter account into the libraries services. I haven’t even written the full proposal yet. I’m still in the groundwork, writing it up, fleshing our ideas out stage, but I’m finding myself flipping between the full spectrum of the web2.0 in libraries debate. Is it even a debate??
On the one hand I remain positive in the face of doubt and challenges.
On the other hand, I take the doubts, cynacism, pessimism, and overall negative energy to heart.
Maybe it’s because I’m female and I tend to let my emotions rule me. But I have often thought that I have an larger than normal amount of testosterone in my chemical makeup which makes me tend to hang out with the boys, and ahere to the ”harden up” school of thought more often than not. My cat’s veterinarian recently complemented me on this way of thinking towards my cat’s new [smaller] dietary requirements.
Anyway, back to the point – negative thinking gets me down. What can I do about this?
In regards to music, one of my all-time favourite auditory past-times, I am currently listening to
”I shall believe” by Sheryl Crow
I don’t know what I’d do without inspirational music and lyrics, and thus, quotes.
Update
Am still pondering what to do about negative thinking around me. I say, just walk away. Then you’re away from it at least, if it’s coming from someone else. If not, then… drugs perhaps? Yup, drugs. And the power of positive thought, and a cat lying next to you 
Requirements of this Paper
Mar 16th
I find that I’m quite susceptible to information anxiety and information overload. More notably the former, as I occasionally have bouts of actual anxiety and depression that aren’t related to information (but could be related to assignment pressure and stress).
I tire of subscribing to new list-serv’s and blogs for the purpose of this paper. I live life in free-form, but now, what I do anyway, has to be documented here. Which is fine, as I do plan to integrate this blog into my website’s existing thoughts, in a more seamless way in the future.
To make myself feel better and to put the anxiety at bay, if just for a few minutes, I share funny links that make me smile. Nice moments, quotes, uplifting ones that make you feel right with the world again. Today it has been sharing links about a character that appears in just two episodes of Blackadder – Lord Flashheart. He cracks me up. And I shall share a video link now for your viewing pleasure.
I appreciate drama and theatre and comedy for what it is. I love characterization, building a character up. And someone has found some good information on how his character might’ve been created on wikipedia.
Love it.
But other than that little sidenote, I really don’t like studying. Here’s hoping this blog is going to keep me alive during this one, and by keep me alive, I mean help me PASS THIS ONE! Oh god how I want to pass this paper. My future rests on it. Feels like it anyway.
Going offline
May 25th
In the past 12 hours I have deleted accounts with linkedin, myspace, oldfriends.co.nz, secondlife and countless applications on facebook. Also recently I deleted my bebo account. It feels good to go offline and interact in the real world. I prefer the real world. So I’m reducing my digital footprint. I feel so refreshed already. Yay
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