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The Mythology of Information Overload
Library Trends, Wntr, 1999 by Tonyia J. Tidline
Group members felt that they developed a command of folklore concepts and vocabulary and an appreciation for multiple points of view as a result of participation in the class. Presentations of other class members were listed as the class activity most beneficial for understanding folklore concepts. Numerous and varied responses confirmed that students felt their class project was informed by things they learned in LIS 450FL. Respondents also indicated that this experience would influence their attitude in future work. While class projects were listed as the most informative assignments, these were also considered the chief source of information overload. Readings were also noted as a source of information overload--in other words, simply having the class as something else to do generated a feeling of overload. It was clear that the class was not viewed as an alternative information system or filter for information overload. This observation does not directly contradict ideas that the folkgroup can be an antidote for information overload. It is logical that class members would not perceive this particular "folk group" as an information filter if they report feeling no strong sense of community and perceived the class itself as a source of overload. Studies based on lessons learned from this pilot project should first verify member identification as part of a folk group before asking if group affiliation reduces the effects of overload.
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CONCLUSION
Mythologizing can indeed be considered a timeless process invoked to cope with modern dynamics that sometimes seem beyond individual power to affect. The "information society" has generated concerns and consequences shaped by the interplay of its titular elements--information and society. Information overload has become a convenient code phrase for many of these concerns and consequences. The abundance of solutions proffered for overload reduction emphasizes presumed cause and effect, precluding any need for systematic investigation of how people actually experience and cope with this modern-day problem. The coincidence of these conditions--respectful attention to something unproven--is an essential feature of the mythological process.
The findings of a pilot project confirmed the presence of information overload associated with "the information age." While it is true that the project revealed people coping with overload, it also confirmed the presence of negative effects cited in library and information science and other literature. The results of the project add descriptive detail to the story of information overload. This story--like most mythology--illustrates the continuing ability of human beings to adapt to altered circumstance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to Elizabeth G. Hearne, W. Boyd Rayward, and Katherine H. Tidline for review and comments on drafts of this article.
NOTES
(1) Folk groups are clusters of people who have something in common that makes communication "meaningful or rewarding." Most people belong to more that one folk group, and group delineation is no simple task. Essentially, shared language and inherent group dynamics combine to make the folk group an important source of context that shapes and affects interaction of members. Language and communication in the folk group can take many forms, including both verbal and material (Toelken, 1996, pp. 37-58).
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