Critical Thinking Skills - Information Overload

What Is It?

TOO MUCH INFORMATION: way more than we need, can deal with, or understand at any given time!

Every day we encounter and work with information. What are the sources of this information? Websites, newspapers, magazines, books, mail and e-mail, radio stations, television, people we meet, signs, electronic gadgets (e.g. cell phones, media players, computers), music, memories, dreams, and more.

For many of us, the Internet can be a major (or the greatest) source of information overload, especially when we attempt to locate information on a topic. If we do not know where to find something on the Internet, we often turn to search engines such as Google or Bing Without search skills - knowing how to search effectively - and critical thinking skills, we are likely to get too many results from search engines.

Dealing with It...

Can we eliminate information overload? Not entirely. Why? Information literally flows everywhere, around everything and everyone. We all need information at various times and for different reasons. Whenever we are unable to accurately describe what we want to find - and then to know where we might find such information - we can experience information overload and the sheer frustration that follows when we fail to use our time and energies productively.

We can begin to address this complicated situation by becoming aware of how information works and how we work with certain kinds of information.

Your Information Situation

When you need information, here are some questions to consider:

What is your topic?
Is your topic too general? Could your topic be more focused and specific?
Can you describe your topic accurately and completely?
How many sources do you need?
How much of the information that you encounter do you really need? Can you identify and filter-out anything unnecessary?

Review your approaches and habits when working with information, and then consider these questions:

Can you distinguish between essential and relevant information and unnecessary and irrelevant ideas?
Do you find yourself guessing or jumping around aimlessly between ideas and tactics?
Do you develop a unique research strategy or follow similar steps every time you research a topic?
Are there better ways you can organize and rearrange the information you encounter?
Could you benefit from taking notes, using index cards, or creating an outline?
Have you consulted too few or too many sources? Did you really consider those sources?
Are you aware of all the different kinds of sources potentially available for your topic?
Do you rely heavily on general search engines? Do you often receive too many search results?
Have you consulted subject-specific reference works and specialized search engines?
Do you know how to use a computer, e-mail, and word processing software to type, store, transfer, and retrieve information whenever necessary? Are you computer literate?
When overwhelmed by information you encountered, can you request clarification or assistance?

Try to think things through before typing or jumping online prematurely. Whenever possible, try to use technology and all available information resources to your advantage! Many technologies first created with the intention of "making our lives easier" (such as the Internet, search engines, portable media players, and cell phones) often become major contributors to information overload.

Try to keep your options open, and try not to rely on only one source or search technique. Try to diversify and improve your use of tools and services (such as article databases, library catalogs, encyclopedias, specialized reference works) so you can spend less time searching and more time understanding and developing ideas. Consider multiple and alternative sources. Sometimes you must expand or alter your search to include other topics. When in doubt, ask a librarian for help!

Other Tactics & Considerations...

When communicating online, never share your e-mail address with just anyone or any website because you might be overwhelmed with messages, advertisements, and all sorts of junk mail!
If you do receive excessive e-mail, especially from unknown / unsolicited sources, try to learn how to block or filter unwanted messages through your Internet or e-mail service provider.
While online, try to observe and carefully consider websites you visit, especially those requiring registration. Whenever possible, try to protect your privacy. How? By not sharing things such as e-mail or mailing addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers, or other unnecessary personal details - especially on "social networking" websites.
Education can help you improve your reading and memory skills, enabling you to handle more information intelligently, creatively, and efficiently.
Critical thinking - the ability to actively evaluate and intelligently apply information -empowers you to make the best of any information situation. To think critically is to question any information you encounter, along with its authors, thoroughly and objectively. Always consider the sources!
Try to limit distractions to keep your mind attentive, focused, and refreshed. This goes for "real life" and online activities. Instead of dividing your attentions by trying to "multitask" so much, try setting separate times aside for activities such as research, social networking, checking messages, reading, and so on.
Consider the quality of information sources you incorporate both in your research and your life. Ask yourself if there are better sources elsewhere - "better" meaning, among other things, "more authoritative and current," "less biased and more balanced," and "more orderly and complete."
Remember: quality is almost always better than quantity when it comes to information! Getting "a million results" (or more) in an article database or search engine is a major warning sign that your topic (as you have described it) is still too general and would benefit from greater specificity.
The Internet can be a very powerful research tool, but only if you use it properly. Why waste hours and days randomly searching when you could jump to "the good stuff" within minutes? You can use our in-depth Internet resource guides (at www.thrall.org/guides) to do just that!

Librarians often use classification systems, such as the Dewey Decimal System, to arrange items so all of us can find things quickly and reliably.

Also, librarians can show you shortcuts to better information sources as well as research tools and services you never knew existed. Rather than presenting to you thousands - or millions - of random and uninformative search results, librarians prefer suggesting one to several excellent resources actually worth your time and attention!