Information Overload and the Growing Infosphere : A Comparison of the Opinions and Experiences of Information Specialists and General Academics on the Topic of Information Overload

Abstract: Information overload is a popular term intimately associated with the information society in which we are now thought to live. This two-year master’s thesis explores perceptions and experiences of this phenomenon through a quantitative study of two groups of academics; on the one hand, academically active information specialists, and on the other, active academics in general. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Orrin E. Klapp’s notion of ‘meaning lag’ and Luciano Floridi’s concept of ‘infosphere’, to provide a context for discussing how and why information overload might develop. The relationship between information overload and ‘information literacy’ is another important point explored as part of this discussion. An international, web-based survey directed at information specialists as well as general academics reveals that information overload is a very common experience for people active in academic settings. A number of statistics are presented regarding how, when and where information overload is usually experienced, as well as the more general information habits and perceptions of the information environment that these groups display. After comparing the two examined groups, the thesis concludes that there are, in fact, no major differences in how these groups perceive and experience information overload and their surrounding information environment. Having an academic interest and specialty in information science is thus not indicative of being able to avoid or even think very differently about information overload. Finally, some relevant research directions are proposed.