Information Overload

Information overload is a big problem, more so nowadays than ever before. This problem have invaded our lives and affected every part of it in ways that we could not deem possible. At work, I receive on average about 100 emails per day. You can only imagine what happens when I take a week off. One time, I had a little over 1000 email waiting in my box after I returned from a week-long vacation. Luckily not all of these emails needed personal replies. But of course, I had to review them all to decide which ones needed replies and which ones did not. It would take me at least a week of long working hours to go through all of these messages while carrying out my daily responsibilities.
As of school email, I receive an average of about 10 emails daily. This number could vary day to day - it all depends on what is going on at the moment. If I am working on any publishing or research projects, there would be a lot more emails addressing those engagements. I also receive my library circulation reminders, which I love, reminding me of the books that are due in five days of less. This ensures that I either renew the book or return it to the library. Not to mention the Ucnet and digest messages that I receive from my college as well as other professional organizations which I am a member of.
At a personal level, I receive about 5 messages a day from family and friends on average, which is not too bad.
Let’s do the math, between email I receive from work, school and family/friends, I receive an average of 115 messages daily. Could you imagine that? I was startled when I realized that this is what is happening her. I am sure I am not alone in this. Some people may receive more or less than that. But let’s thing about this for a second and consider the amount of time that we spend everyday. Do we really need all of this? Are we able to absorb and benefits from all of this information that comes traveling our way whether we ask for it or not. Does too much means too little? Do we even have the option of not reading our emails.

This is one side of the issue, the internet is another and more critical side of the information overload problem. The internet provides access to massive volumes of data that cultivating by the second. With these large volumes of data, it becomes important to focus on aspects of information storage and retrieval. Topics like data warehousing and data mining become more important than ever before. Inevitably, information representation becomes the interface of the new world of information overload.

I was hoping that you would share your thoughts on this topic.