Information Overload

[Jan Boyle <boylej@msun.edu>]

Information overload in our society tends to spur us to be more selective in what we will read.  We may be movtivated to view a TV program, listen to the radio, or read an article on a particular subject of interest to us personally.  We may even go so far as to research a topic to solve a problem or enhance our situation.

However, as Sue Van Patten implies, technical documents are not the reading of choice usually for the average citizen.  Public officials may weigh through the jargon, but for the average public, no.  Therefore, if EPA repositories are to be useful to citizens, then some draw must be implemented.  A part of that draw might include brief abstracts, or synopses in layman terms.  Layman terms should not to be viewed as derogatory or insulting to one's intelligence.  As a society we are not all rocket scientists, but we are intelligent in our own ways.  

As a rural Montanan I know that our rural community libraries are used by citizens, especially the seniors.  A technical document is most likely going to collect dust.  However, should the librarian be able to successfully read and process an abstract of that document her/himself then the librarian is likely to steer folks to that repository.  Real life terminology is crucial in getting information out to the public. 

Certainly this idea is only one aspect of getting information out to the public, but it is an important one.