Information Overload: Strategies for Personal Information Management (PIM) and
More Effective Online Teaching
Susan Alman, Lorna R. Kearns, Barbara A. Frey, and Christinger Tomer
Our Study
Email
Research Questions
1. What challenges do online instructors face in managing digital
information within the areas of email, computer file
management, Web bookmarks, and learning management
systems?
2. What effective practices have instructors used in these areas?
What is PIM?
…the practice and study of activities a person
performs to create, store, organize, maintain,
retrieve, use, and distribute information.
-- William Jones
Keeping Found Things Found:
The Study and Practice of Personal Information Management
(2008)
Information is a source of learning. But unless it is
organized, processed, and available to the right
people in a format for decision making, it is a
burden, not a benefit.
• Administered an online survey in the summer 0f 2011 consisting
of closed- and open-ended questions about information
management challenges and practices related to online teaching
• Survey completed by 65 online faculty at 15 different institutions
--William Pollard
The participants in our study reported many challenges managing
information in each of the four contexts as well as coordinating
among contexts. The selected quotes below exemplify some of
these challenges:
Email
Desktop
“The biggest challenge is in
prioritizing which emails are very
important or time-sensitive and
keeping up with them during the
busiest time of the semester.”
“The main challenge is how to deal
with a large and ever increasing
number of files.”
“Many years of accretion make it
difficult to maintain consistency
over time.”
• Create folders for each course and subfolders for each semester
• Within subfolders, create folders for announcements, discussions,
assignments, FAQs
• Use file names that include version tracking info (e.g. version number,
date, semester)
• Make regular backups
• Save bookmarks in a shareable format
• Add notes to bookmarks
• Explore Web 2.0 tools for bookmark sharing, calendaring, scheduling, and
media sharing
• When you upload content to wikis, blogs, or other media sharing sites,
keep a copy on your desktop
Learning Management System
• Keep backup copies of course files on your personal computer.
• Create, edit, and save documents on your personal computer before
uploading to your LMS.
• Participate in training opportunities to learn more about the LMS in use at
your institution.
Cross-Context
• Align folder structure across email, desktop, and Web bookmarks
“I don't back up nearly as often as I
should.”
Web
LMS
“The biggest challenge is figuring
out a strategy to begin with. Right
now it’s hit or miss.”
“Never seems to have the tools I
need integrated in a way that I need
them integrated.”
“I have different bookmarks saved
on the toolbars of my different
computers.”
Cross-Context
“Passwords…grrr.”
Reduce or organize select emails with filters
File by using mail folders labeled for topic, sender, and/or course
Remember to file sent emails
Flag emails as high priority or for follow-up
Act on incoming email or delete it
Use subject line to keep emails clear and brief
Web
Results
“Sometimes I just hope that I’ll
remember the website.”
•
•
•
•
•
•
Desktop
Methods
“There are occasions when I KNOW
that a message is in the system
somewhere, but I can’t find it with
automatic searching.”
Recommendations
Alignment
“I try to be consistent, but
sometimes I'm in a rush and that
doesn't happen.”
“I slog on and upward, ever
reaching for the (seemingly)
unattainable goal of organization.”
Email
Desktop
Bookmarks