Medical librarian: There isn't “too much data” or “too many RSS feeds”

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David Rothman writes:

"I’m sincerely flabbergasted to hear a librarian (or any information professional) complain that there is “too much data” or “too many RSS feeds.” “Web 2.0″ doesn’t cause an information glut. What causes an information glut is being an information glutton, taking on more than anyone can reasonably manage. There aren’t too many RSS feeds. Rather, there are users who subscribe to too many RSS feeds. The solution isn’t for less data to exist, the solution is smarter, more selective use of the data. The tools that help us filter and manage the information that we care most about are continuing to improve in power and sophistication."

Related reading:

Too many feeds to read? Time to trim down RSS subscriptions. CasesBlog, 2008.
How to deal with the information overload from blogs, RSS and Twitter? CasesBlog, 2009.

References:
“Information Overload” vs. “Filter Failure”

How can we cope with information overload?

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From CNN:

Online content growing so fast, common problem is feeling of missing out. New services suggest filtering RSS feeds or tweets to deal with too much content.

"You could be the filter. You could read 5,000 pieces of content and find what you want. But usually you want to do some other things with your life."

My approach is described here: How to deal with the information overload from blogs, RSS and Twitter?

The circle of online information (full version) (click to enlarge).

Reading in small bites, on the go, can also help you conquer the information overload. With its free Internet access, Amazon Kindle can be a useful device to achieve this goal.

References:

How can we cope with information overload? CNN, 2010, http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/03/content.overload

Check the series "What I Read" by different people in The Atlantic (scroll to the bottom of the page to see other links) http://goo.gl/xWUb

Related: