Over the weekend the NYTimes.com published an article, Lost in E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast, by Matt Richtel. The article’s explains how the major IT companies have formed a non-profit organization to deal with information overload. The new group, Information Overload Research Group, has resources on its web site that include, tips, and research articles on email and information overload. Some of the articles are available freely online, others not. It is not a new topic, but maybe the creators of the tools may find ways to tame the beast.  Also, here is a discussion on the Chronicle’s Tech Therapy podcast on email overload.

EBSCOhost has recently updated it Visual Search, for the better. It now is Flash-based and no longer uses Grokker or those awful circles. The visual search is more user friendly, but I do not think it makes the quality or relevance review of articles any easier or faster. I think one might be more quick to dismiss an article in the visual search interface versus the normal list interface (I see a study on the horizon). Plus, one is not able to search a specific field unless he knows the field codes (e.g. SO = Journal). I am now contemplating how to teach this search interface during my instruction. View EBSCO’s Flash demo of the new Visual Search and try it yourself.

The 2008 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report was recently released and it provides quality information to help institutions, faculty, and students to better understand trends in technology and higher education.  The report discusses six emerging technologies, critical challenges to higher education institutions, and significant trends.  Some of the report restates what is already known, but places the information in context and provides a time line for adoption.  This report is always worth the time to read.