[Air-l] Info Overload, and How!

[Leslie Regan Shade]

Hi there, in response to Jeff's post below re David Levy's work on info
overload...Canadian Heather Menzies has just published a new book called No
Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life (Douglas and McIntyre, 2005).
Menzies
is one of the most trenchant feminist critics of technology in Canada. I
reviewed the book for the Globe and Mail this past Sat., the entire review is
at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050416/BKTIME16/TPEntertainment/Books

Excerpt:
'Mom, you work too hard," my teenage daughter tells me. "You never stop . . .
you carry that laptop around with you, even while you're watching TV."

"Well," I say defensively, "I just told someone I would get back to them on
something . . . and a student e-mailed me about her paper topic, so I should
respond . . ."

I fear I'm one of those multi-tasking, high-achieving and frequently frazzled
adults to whom Heather Menzies refers in her compellingly honest and evocative
book, No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life. Like the Canadian
academics
she studied on a time-use survey, I find myself seduced and sucked up in the
thrill and flotsam of e-mail to colleagues near and far away, to the rush of
roaring across an ocean to another gab-fest conference, to the inevitable
time-suck of managing grants and students and juggling administrivia.

So, for many of us, Menzies's latest book will be an urgent wake-up call to
slow
down, reflect on our family and work priorities, and talk among ourselves. It's
often not until the infrastructure -- whether physical or emotional -- breaks
down that we engage in inner contemplation and a renewal of community
connections. 

Cheers, and back to Grading Lockdown

LESLIE

> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 11
> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:22:57 -0400
> From: Jeff Young <jeff.young at chronicle.com>
> Subject: [Air-l] article and discussion on 'information overload'
> To: Air-l-aoir.org at listserv.aoir.org
> Message-ID: <4263DEE1.8060508 at chronicle.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I thought folks on this list might be interested in an article in this 
> week's Chronicle of Higher Education about information overload and the 
> social impacts of technology. The article is free to anyone (even 
> non-subscribers):
> 
> Knowing When to Log Off
> http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i33/33a03401.htm
> 
> Also, we're hosting an online chat about the issues this Thursday:
> http://chronicle.com/colloquy/2005/04/overload/
> 
> -Jeff
> 

-- 
Leslie Regan Shade
Associate Professor
Communication Studies
Concordia University
7141 Sherbrooke St. W.
Hingston Hall 421
Montreal Quebec
H4B 1R6
514-848-2424 x2550