Judith B. Strother, Jan M. Ulijn, Zohra Fazal

Information Overload

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

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.

Produktdetails

• IEEE PCS Professional Engineering Communication Series .
• Verlag: Wiley & Sons
• 1. Auflage
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. Oktober 2012
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 254mm x 178mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 605g
• ISBN-13: 9781118230138
• ISBN-10: 1118230132
• Artikelnr.: 34754645

Autorenporträt

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.

Inhaltsangabe

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
1.2 Perspectives on the Concept of Information Overload 4 1.3 Readers of
this Book 7 1.4 Structure of this Book 8 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 2.5 Information Overload Concepts 29 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 3.4 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 Emergence of
Digital Tribes 65 4.4 Quill to Keyboard: The Writer and New Media 66 4.5
Helping the Reader: Techniques for the Information Shaman 68 4.6 The Magic
of Hypertext Techniques: Journeys at the Speed of Thought 70 4.7
Conclusion: The Responsibilities of the Information Shaman 72 References 73
PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE LIMBURG MEDIA GROUP 75 Newspaper Position in
The Netherlands 76 Managing Information Overload Using an Evolutionary
Approach 76 A Revolutionary Perspective 77 5 THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON
INFORMATION OVERLOAD 79 Jan M. Ulijn and Judith B. Strother 5.1
Introduction 80 5.2 Levels of Culture 81 5.3 Cultural Patterns of Discourse
Organization 82 5.4 High Context Versus Low Context 83 5.5
Internationalization Versus Localization 85 5.6 The Effect of Professional
Culture 88 5.7 Japan and U.S. Discourse Structures 91 5.8 Cultural Issues
in Reader Versus Writer Responsibility 92 5.9 Implications for Engineers
and Technical Communicators and Their Corporations 93 5.10 Conclusion 95
References 95 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM A2Z GLOBAL LANGUAGES 99 6 EFFECT OF
COLOR, VISUAL FORM, AND TEXTUAL INFORMATION ON INFORMATION OVERLOAD 103
NoEURel T. Alton and Alan Manning 6.1 Introduction 104 6.2 Previous Studies
of Decorative and Indicative Effects 106 6.3 Experiments and Results 111
6.4 Practical Implications for Engineers and Technical Communicators 117
6.5 Conclusion 119 References 121 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM APPLIED GLOBAL
TECHNOLOGIES 123 7 COST OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD IN END-USER DOCUMENTATION
125 Prasanna Bidkar 7.1 Introduction 126 7.2 Information Overload 126 7.3
Causes of Information Overload 128 7.4 Sources of Noise in User
Documentation 129 7.5 Effects of Information Overload on Users 132 7.6 The
Current Study 133 7.7 Cost of Information Overload 135 7.8 Conclusion 138
References 139 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM HARRIS CORPORATION 141 Sources of
Information Overload 141 Strategies for Dealing with Information Overload
142 SECTION II. CONTROL AND REDUCTION OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD: EMPIRICAL
EVIDENCE 8 TAMING THE TERABYTES: A HUMAN-CENTERED APPROACH TO SURVIVING THE
INFORMATION DELUGE 147 Eduard Hoenkamp 8.1 Introduction 148 8.2 Reducing
Information Overload by Being Precise About What We Ask for 150 8.3
Steering Clear of Information Glut Through Live Visual Feedback 152 8.4
Improving Search Engines by Making Them Human Centered 156 8.5 Conclusion
167 Acknowledgments 167 References 168 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE
LABORATORY FOR QUALITY SOFTWARE 171 References 173 9 TECHNOLOGIES FOR
DEALING WITH INFORMATION OVERLOAD: AN ENGINEER'S POINT OF VIEW 175 Toon
Calders, George H. L. Fletcher, Faisal Kamiran, and Mykola Pechenizkiy 9.1
Introduction 176 9.2 Information Overload: Challenges and Opportunities 177
9.3 Storing and Querying Semistructured Data 179 9.4 Techniques for
Retrieving Information 183 9.5 Mining Large Databases for Extracting
Information 187 9.6 Processing Data Streams 190 9.7 Summary 190 References
191 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS, FLORIDA INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY 195 From Data to Information to Situational Awareness to
Decisions 196 Transformative Airspace Architecture 197 Robust, Agile, and
Intelligently Responsive Information-Sharing Architecture 197 Next
Generation Efforts to Manage Information 198 Distributed Decision Making
199 System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) 200 Shared Situation
Awareness and Collaborative Decision Making 201 Automation and Information
in the NAS 201 Summary 201 References 202 10 VISUALIZING INSTEAD OF
OVERLOADING: EXPLORING THE PROMISE AND PROBLEMS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION TO
REDUCE INFORMATION OVERLOAD 203 Jeanne Mengis and Martin J. Eppler 10.1 The
Qualitative Side of Information Overload 204 10.2 Causes of Information
Overload 206 10.3 How Information Visualization Can Improve the Quality of
Information and Reduce Information Overload 208 10.4 Using Visualization in
Practice: Understanding the Knowing-Doing Gap 209 10.5 Methods and Context
of the Study 211 10.6 Indications of the Knowing-Doing Gap: Visuals Are
Valued, but Poorly Used 214 10.7 Understanding the Knowing-Doing Gap with
TAM 214 10.8 Discussion 216 10.9 Conclusion 217 10.10 Future Research
Directions 218 10A.1 Appendix 219 References 222 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM
ALVOGEN 227 The Challenges of Information Overload 227 Strategies for
Dealing with Information Overload 228 11 DROWNING IN DATA: A REVIEWOF
INFORMATION OVERLOAD WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS AND THE VIABILITY OF STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES 231 David Remund and Debashis "Deb" Aikat 11.1
Introduction 232 11.2 Defining Information Overload within Organizations
232 11.3 Evolution of the Information Overload Concept in Organizations 234
11.4 Implications of Information Overload within Organizations 235 11.5
Traditional Strategies for Addressing Information Overload 238 11.6
Strategic Communication Principles: A Viable Solution? 240 11.7 Putting
Strategic Communication into Practice 242 11.8 Further Research 243 11.9
Conclusion 243 References 243 PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE DUTCH EMPLOYERS'
ASSOCIATION 247 Acting as an Information Resource 248 Focusing on the Added
Value of Information 248 Co-Creating Added Value in Interaction with
Companies 249 A Final Observation 250 References 250 12 BLINDFOLDED THROUGH
THE INFORMATION HURRICANE? A REVIEW OF A MANAGER'S STRATEGY TO COPE WITH
THE INFORMATION PARADOX 251 Arjen Verhoeff 12.1 Introduction 252 12.2
Decomposing the Information Paradox 253 12.3 A Framework to Analyze the
Information Paradox 255 12.4 Illustrating the Framework with Some Dutch
Empirical Evidence 258 12.5 Discussion and Conclusion: Lessons in
Information Strategy 260 References 265 List of References for Boxed
Quotations 267 Author Index 269 Subject Index 275