Description
A recent article stated, "Information is to our age what coal and iron were > the Industrial Revolution" (Miericke 327). What information did you need day-to do your job? to make a purchase? to plan for the future? Where did you get that information? Did you ask a friend or relative? Did you read a book? Did you watch TV? Everyone needs and uses information. And everyone agrees hat there is too much information. The statistics about publishing output and he emergence of new information are well documented.
Computers have made finding information both easier and more difficult. Just to begin to find information, one must choose from an extraordinary array of information resources, and often what Oberman (1991, 190) calls the "cereal syndrome" occurs. Too many possible choices lead to anxiety and avoidance. Once some information is found, one must evaluate the materials and determine what is useful. This evaluation process is actually two steps, evaluating citations or actual resources to determine if they are relevant and assessing the content of each source (Kissane and Mollner 1993, 486). Further, information users need to know "how their questions can build upon one another" and to see the interconnectedness of information.
Technostress further complicates the information picture. Many people, particularly those who are older, lack experience with computers and find them daunting. Miericke (1991) comments that "without the confidence which comes from successful experience, many people are understandably hesitant to approach an automated system, including those increasingly found in modern libraries. Librarians, then, must approach potential end-users; they must proactively interact with them in their own environments and on their own terms" (333).
