“In 2008, Americans consumed information for about 1.3 trillion hours, an average of almost 12 hours per day. Consumption totaled 3.6 zettabytes and 10,845 trillion words, corresponding to 100,500 words and 34 gigabytes for an average person on an average day...These estimates are from an analysis of more than 20 different sources of information, from very old (newspapers and books) to very new (portable computer games, satellite radio, and Internet video). Information at work is not included.” -- How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers (PDF)
That’s a lot of information! We sometimes don’t consider information as something we consume, much like we consume food. Yet, as the above quote indicates, we are filling our minds every day with information from many different sources.
In its rawest sense information is data with context, in other words a number, say 5, only becomes information when we know that the symbol represents the number 5, and we know what numbers are. This is only one small piece of information. Consider what your world would be like if you were constantly receiving information nonstop. We are, but our brains have ways of organizing the information that help us retain and recall the information stored there. Similarly, information that exists in the larger world is ideally organized for the same purpose.
This may seem like an obvious statement, but we rarely consider how the organization of information influences our ability to find and use it. Often the key to finding the information we need is unlocking the organizational structure, known as schema, used to categorize, sift, and present the information. There are many different schema for organizing information, but the ones most relevant for academic research involve several over-lapping organizational structures. Understanding these organization principles will help you find the right information you need. In the course of reading through this guide you will be presented with a number of tools, techniques, and strategies for finding, evaluating, and using information. While the primary intent of the guide is to assist you with library research assignments, students who become savvy information consumers ultimately become better informed citizens.
How do you think about information? In this short TED Talk information is compared to food. It is a good analogy and sets the stage for a discussion about the nature of information, the ways we consciously and unconsciously organize it, and why a good understanding of how becoming a savvy information consumer will help you in your educational efforts. As you watch the video think about the ways you routinely consume information. Are you a grazer, do you digest ‘junk,’ or are you consciously maintain a diet of quality information, understanding that your mind, like your body, can become overloaded with empty information?
