Stepping Out: Organizing Information in the 21st Century

If we begin with the premise that the role and responsibility of the information professional is to ensure that we “get the right information to the right person at the right time,” then we have a framework for considering what information, in what format, and by what means to make it accessible and usable for whom, where, and when. In short, there is clear motivation for developing and implementing approaches to organizing information, and a long history of principles and best practice on which to draw. Considerations for organizing information in the 21st century may perhaps offer different challenges in terms of the sheer volume of both analog and digital information, and in the multitude of ways in which individuals can find, acquire, and use it, but the underlying principles are surprisingly robust, largely because they are focused on a requirement for information to a person. Simple in its statement, more complex in its realization. In some cases, the person is an individual whose needs may vary in myriad ways, and be influenced by a progression of changing circumstances. That individual may be part of an organization, an association, a group, also requiring information to support a variety of activities, outputs, goals. Individuals may generate information of a personal or professional nature, and also within an institutional context as valued knowledge assets. Consequently, in considering approaches to organizing information, we should be mindful, not only of what is produced and available “out there,” but also what information we as individuals and part of an organization or other kinds of groups create and choose to share and/or preserve. While information to a person remains a guiding framework, organizing information will be discussed in this chapter as a kind of interactive multi-piece puzzle that takes shape across time and in different ways, though always with a whole picture, an underlying goal in mind.