Instruction Session: Information Overload

Do you feel overwhelmed by the flood of information you get every day? Do you have the sneaking suspicion that you're missing information important to you amidst useless spam and pop-up ads? This session demonstrated tools and tips that you can use to help you regain control and get a grip on the information that you need most.

1. Stop browsing -€¦ Make content come to you.

   • Information Portals e.g. My Yahoo!
     One-stop location for all the information services you need anytime and anywhere. Receive automatic updates from websites that matter to you.

   • RSS Readers e.g. Bloglines
     RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Bloglines is a free service that makes it easy to keep up with your favorite news feeds or blogs. Bloglines will monitor updates to those sites, and you can read the latest entries all in one place.

   • News Aggregators e.g. Topix.net
     Brings together headlines, news, and information from over 7,000 sources, organized into over 150,000 topic-specific pages like subjects and ZIP codes. Set up news alerts as well.

     TIP:
     Identify your top 5-10 information sources and monitor them. Time yourself. Add or delete as needed. For every site you add, take one away.

2. Know what you need to know only when you need to know it.

   • Use listserv archives
     Locate the online archive for the listservs you're currently subscribed to, and bookmark them. Then unsubscribe from your email subscriptions.

   • Use RSS
     Include a RSS feed to your RSS reader for your listservs if they're available.

   • Use email alerts e.g. Google Alerts
     Receive email updates of the latest relevant Google results on the web, based on a query or topic of your choice.

3. Only keep stuff no one else has.

   • Use search engines
     General purpose: Google, Yahoo!, MSN Search, Ask Jeeves
     Special interest: Amazon A9, Catalogs.Google.com, Yahoo! Shopping
     Desktop Search: Google & Yahoo! Desktop Search
   • Use shared drives for shared information.

   • Check out new tools to search more productively
     e.g. Firefox browser (Home use only)

4. Email -€¦ Delete! Delete! Delete!

   • Use email folders
   • Use spam and email filters
   • Use disposable email addresses - e.g. Yahoo! AddressGuard
   • Use Instant Messaging (IM) or Short Message Service (SMS) e.g.

   o AOL Instant Messenger
   o Yahoo! Messenger
   o MSN Messenger
   o Trillian Multi-network IM which connects to AIM, Yahoo, and MSN. You end up with one contacts list.

5. Better than Bookmarks

• Try using Personal Web e.g. Yahoo! My Web
  Download a toolbar which allows you to save, search and share webpages using your own personal web.
• Other similar tools:
  Pluck
  Furl

Prepared By: Endrina Tay
Jefferson Library, Thomas Jefferson Foundation
May 2005

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