"As long as the centuries continue to unfold, the number of books will grow continually, and one can predict that a time will come when it will be almost as difficult to learn anything from books as from the direct study of the whole universe. It will be almost as convenient to search for some bit of truth concealed in nature as it will be to find it hidden away in an immense multitude of bound volumes." –Dennis Diderot, “Encyclopédie” (1755). [21]
There are some general causes for information overload. First one is the vast amount of new information being produced, and the number is increasing all the time. The second is the easiness to duplicate and transmit data all across the Internet. The third one is about the increased number of available channels of incoming information (e.g. telephone, email, Instant Messaging, RSS). Fourth is the huge amount of historical information to go through. [21]
The fifth cause for information overload are the contradictions and inaccuracies in the information available. Sixth is a low signal-to-noise ratio. And the seventh and last one is a lack of a method for comparing and processing different kinds of information. [21]
The Internet provides access to a broad range of information, so broad that it is hard to even imagine. Search engines help users to find information quickly. It is still to be remembered, that not all the information found online is reliable. It is important always to check the accuracy, but it demands time and can also cause the feeling of information overload. [21]
There are studies that suggest that the internet, and particularly email, have exacerbated information overload. For example, a survey conducted by Reuters in 1998 revealed that 42% of managers believed that information overload would substantially decrease job satisfaction. [2]
According to Savolainen, one problem with information seeking is the unavailability of sufficiently specific information provided. Also, of the interviewees who Savolainen interviewed for his study, most of them who found information overload a real problem claimed that it mainly originates from the internet, particularly email. [1]
Some of these interviewees saw that generation effects on how information overload is experienced. Young people are more used to using computers, Internet and other information resources, they have learned them in school. The have better information seeking skills than adults. Interestingly, this view supports the assumpiton that ultimately, information overload would be a myth of our time. [1]
Email is the most widely identified in the recent literature as the major contributor. According to Dawley and Anthony, this is often due to peer misuse and lack of training. That is, it is not technology that causes information overload, but rather its use (or rather, its misuse). Hence, in order to research the problem it is necessary to investigate managers' information and communication behaviour. Furthermore, it is also necessary to examine the information environment and the organizational culture - i.e., the contexts that frame management behaviour. [22]
In a survey conducted by Know Technologies of 1,000 professionals, 50% of the professionals surveyed find themselves frustrated with the inability to locate the emails and attachments necessary to perform their tasks; the percentage rose to 58 in the insurance industry alone. [5]
Also according to Wikipedia, email remains a major source of information overload. People are really struggling in order to keep up with the rate of incoming messages. Filtering out unsolicited commercial messages (spam) can be helpful. Still users have to face the wast amount of email attachments; there are long reports, presentations and media files coming in every day. The York Times reported in April 2008 that "E-MAIL has become the bane of some people’s professional lives" due to information overload, yet "none of the current wave of high-profile Internet startups focused on email really eliminates the problem of e-mail overload because none helps us prepare replies". [21]
Organization vs. Individual Information Retrieval
The use of mobile information and communication technologies was found to have had an impact on work patterns and social interactions within West Yorkshire Police. [3]
Email was cited by most of the officers as the primary cause of personal information overload. This is reflected in a number of other studies (for example [22] and Whittaker & Snider, 1997). However, the use of mobile information and communication technologies in West Yorkshire Police was found not to have significantly contributed towards the problem (although a small overall increase in email traffic may be identified). Some officers, however, believed that the volume had risen slightly as a result of the ability to work faster and 'move things on' more quickly. Greater interaction with colleagues was also cited as marginally increasing the flow of emails. [3]
The second most common cause of information overload was the amount of information officers deemed necessary to acquire. This is driven partly by the requirements of the managers' roles and the uncertainty in police work, but it also results from a level of information anxiety (Wurman 1990) and a vague sense that additional information is needed (more, in fact, than could be used). Police, managers frequently feel that, despite being overwhelmed by information, they need more. This issue has not been directly affected by the use of mobile devices as the BlackBerrys were used mainly for e-mailing. [3]
Causes for Problems in Organisations
CIOs realize that acquiring a “single view of the truth” can support better decision-making but the demand for information access is fast spiralling out of control. An explosion in both volume and costs has made it harder to assess the relative importance of unstructured and structured data. Manual data entry errors and poor processes result in information that is often of poor quality or untimely, making reporting a hazardous exercise. Adding to this, the activity around mergers and acquisitions often results in a legacy of both applications and hardware requiring consolidation. [5]
