Legal Research

Information Productivity Calculator

It seems like an odd thing to release such a tool in the news dead zone of the holiday season, but this seems like a useful tool to play with. So, I'll re-blog it for my special librarian friends.

Calculate the Cost of Information Overload to Your Company
By Steve Rubel

"If the stock market and housing crashes aren't costing you enough, just wait. The Attention Crash may also be eroding your company bit by bit.

According to Basex, a research firm, information overload cost the U.S. economy $900 billion per year in "lowered employee productivity and reduced innovation." Up to 50 percent of our day is spent managing and searching for information.

Now Basex has created a a free, Web-based "information overload calculator" so that anyone can now can estimate the dollar impact of the Attention Crash on their own business. There's also a free report, "Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us."

Simply visit the web site, identify your industry and the percentage of your employees who are highly skilled, skilled, single skilled or unskilled and it will give you a number. I am not sure how they are doing this though without asking for revenues. Still, it's a fun - yet scary - tool."

There have been a number of studies showing the need for information professionals. I think this sort of calculation is a nice conversation starter. And it's a strong defence of the role of information professionals in making organizations more cost effective during tumultuous financial times. Hint - Check out the SLA member resources too. SLA member Mary Ellen Bates and Dow Jones / Factiva did a number of studies on this issue as well (example).

It's not searching for information that is the productvity sink - - - it's doing it badly.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on December 22, 2008 (boomark / email).