Study Notes for MI 201 - Introduction to Information Science

Managing Information

MI 201: Introduction to Information Science

Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Instructor: Dr. Jean Hardy

Course Structure

  • Sections Covered:
    • Introduction
    • Jean’s reads
    • Course updates
    • Address any leftover questions
    • Review last few slides from Thursday
    • Understanding attention
    • Personal information management
    • Privacy and information management

Course Updates

  • Fieldnotes:
    • Fieldnotes #1: Released before class
    • Fieldnotes #2: Due next Thursday, February 12
    • Details:
    • Analyzing the classification systems of an information technology or system
    • Ensure all three components are incorporated:
      • Overview of the system
      • Analysis of its classification categories/criteria
      • Usability and reflection on the limitations/uses

Career Opportunities

  • Career Fairs:
    • February 10-11: Engineering Career Fair
    • Opportunity open to non-engineering or CS students
    • February 12: ComArtSci Career Fair
    • Important Note:
    • Students must have Handshake for job and internship applications.
    • Research attending companies and available positions in advance.

Ethics Week at MSU (Feb 16-20)

  • Topic: Ethics of AI, Information Systems, and Libraries
  • Event Time: 9:30-11am on Wednesday, February 18 in the library
  • Details:
    • Hosted by MSU Libraries; features a panel of scholars and practitioners.
    • Focus on artificial intelligence's impact on copyright, creativity, and the circulation of knowledge.
    • Registration needed via the Ethics week website, with a link to be shared by the instructor in the weekly recap.

Jean’s Reads

  • Recent statements from the Trump administration indicating a cautious approach towards the expansion of data centers.
  • A senior White House official expressed:
    • Commitment to data centers without increasing consumer costs.
  • Observations:
    • Growing opposition to data centers.
    • Claims by hyperscalers regarding community processes.
    • Rising electrical costs affecting consumers.
    • Policymakers urging tech companies to shoulder the responsibility of data center development rather than public utilities.

Leftover Slido Question

  • Question: Impact of evolving creator personalities on contract roles versus traditional contractors.
  • Response: Variability exists among creators regarding their influence and the nature of contracts.

Review of Previous Lecture Slides

  • Retrieving the paradox of Web 2.0:
    • Built on open-source software while platforms remain closed and proprietary.
    • User data is captured, not portable, leading to the creation of "walled gardens."
    • Infrastructure openness contrasts with closure as a business model.

Historical Evolution of Tech Jobs

  • 1990s-2000s: The narrative evolved towards gaining employment at a tech company.
  • 2010s: Shifted to the idea that every job is shaped by tech company influence.
  • 2020s: Emergence of every individual becoming a tech entrepreneur.
  • Connection to Marwick:
    • Web 2.0 ushered in new forms of social status.
    • Metrics like followers, likes, and shares became the new currency.
    • Visibility transformed into a form of social capital; attention emerged as a scarce resource.

Persisting Consequences of Current Platforms

  • Major platforms dominate the internet landscape.
  • Advertising shapes the operational landscape of various sectors.
  • Algorithms aim to maximize user engagement.
  • Risks related to precarious creative labor arise.
  • Concentration of tech power among few companies raises concerns.
  • Challenges related to platform power and antitrust laws persist.
  • Ongoing issues with content moderation, free speech, privacy, and surveillance.
  • User-generated content becomes the basis for AI training.

Today's Lecture Focus

  • Managing information

Understanding Information Management

  • Definition: Information management refers to the systematic and strategic collection, storage, retrieval, and analysis of information aimed at fulfilling specific purposes.
  • Key Concepts:
    • Intent
    • Actions
    • Attention

The Importance of Attention Management

  • Management of attention is crucial in an information-dense environment.
  • Herbert Simon's perspective: "In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, necessitating efficient allocation of attention among various information sources."

Scientific Insights into Attention

  • Realization of mind wandering affects cognitive performance akin to multitasking, often resulting in inefficiency.
  • Investigation of multitasking vs. focused tasks highlights:
    • Heavy multitaskers believe they accomplish more, but cognitive science suggests the contrary, indicating poorer performance in cognitive and memory tasks.
    • An average person can accurately process seven units of information simultaneously (George Miller's 'Rule of 7' from the 1950s), though some studies claim this limit is lower.
  • Concept: Informational bottleneck – denotes a constraint on processing information within cognitive systems.

Strategies to Mitigate Informational Bottlenecks

  • Proposed Methods:
    • "Chunking" information allows managing more than seven units.
    • Attention management prevents cognitive overload from working memory.
    • Control over attention directly impacts memory retention outcomes.
  • Types of Attention:
    • Hyper attention: Rapid switching and shallow processing.
    • Deep attention: Focused and in-depth processing of information.

Attention as an Economic Resource

  • Concept: The “Attention Economy” treats attention as a limited resource susceptible to allocation and spending like an economic entity.
  • This perspective frames information management as a rational problem-solving exercise akin to how economic problems are reasoned through logic and imposed control.

Objectives of Information Management

  • Managing information serves as a problem-solving mechanism, a rational response to identified issues.
  • Steps include:
    • Identify existing information.
    • Determine who needs the information and when.
    • Store the information for easy accessibility, ensuring it can be updated or discarded when necessary.

Personal Information Management (PIM)

  • Definition: PIM refers to the study and practice surrounding how people acquire, organize, maintain, retrieve, use, and control information like documents, web pages, and emails, habitually for task completion and fulfilling various roles (e.g., parent, employee, friend, community member).
  • Types of Personal Information:
    • Information actively kept for personal use (e.g., documents, journals).
    • Information held by others (e.g., medical records, social media data).
    • Information experienced by an individual (e.g., library books, lectures).
    • Information directed to an individual (e.g., emails, advertisements).

Challenges in Controlling Personal Information

  • Degree of control is often overrated.
  • Difficulties exist in governance concerning:
    • Records maintained by others (e.g., companies, social media platforms).
    • Documents not owned by the individual
    • Internal documents and notes.

Common Issues in Personal Information Management

  • Maintenance: Strategies to keep personal information updated.
  • Organization: Techniques to systematically organize personal data (e.g., classification systems, chaos management, search tools).
  • Privacy, Security, and Sharing: Understanding privacy and security needs regarding personal data sharing practices.
    • Sharing private information can vary (e.g., medical records with parents vs. sharing personal activities on social media).
    • Decision-making governed by information type, perceived privacy requirements, and motivations for sharing.

Strategies for Effective Personal Information Management

  • Getting Things Done (GTD) Method:
    • Capture all tasks in external systems, process these tasks regularly, and organize them based on context and priority.
  • PARA Method:
    • Organizes data into Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives focused on actionable outcomes.
  • Cognitive Load Reduction Tactics:
    • Externalize memory to minimize mental load using calendars, task managers, and note-taking apps.
    • Implement consistent naming conventions for files and folders.
    • Schedule regular review cycles (weekly/monthly) for information maintenance.

Considerations for Choosing a PIM Strategy

  • Evaluate:
    • Volume of information needing management.
    • Retrieval patterns (searching vs. browsing habits).
    • Collaboration needs (frequency and method of information sharing).
    • Comfort with technology (tools utilized should match personal comfort and usability).
  • A successful PIM system is one that is consistently maintained by the user.

Information Storage and Privacy

Computational Storage & Information Evolution

  • Early Storage (1950s-1970s):
    • Punch Cards & Paper Tape: Utilized for data entry and programming storage.
    • Magnetic Tape: Adopted for mainframes; earlier models handled under 5MB of data.
    • Hard Drives: First developed in the 1950s, with widespread adoption occurring in the 1980s.

Mobile Storage Media (1980s-2010s)

  • Floppy Disks: (8”, 5.25”, 3.5” formats)
  • CDs (1980s): Initially read-only, later allowed writing.
  • DVDs: Introduced in the late 1990s with greater storage capacity.
  • Flash Drives: Became common in the late 1990s allowing portable storage.

Cookies & Personal Information Privacy

  • Current web architecture often opposes a privacy-centered framework for personal information management.
  • Definition: Cookies are small pieces of data stored on a user's device when visiting websites.
    • Various purposes, beneficial and harmful, for personal information management exist.
  • Classification of Cookies:
    • Essential Cookies: Necessary for website functionality; generally cannot be opted out of.
    • Performance/Analytic Cookies: Track user behavior for site optimization (e.g., Google Analytics).
    • Advertising/Tracking Cookies: Monitor behavior across sites to build user profiles for targeted advertising.
  • Privacy Control Issues:
    • Lack of user control over how personal data is managed raises significant privacy concerns.

Upcoming Schedule

  • Upcoming Class Date: Thursday, February 5
    • Topic: Information management & organizations
    • Required Reading: Argyris and Ransbotham (2016) before class
  • Quiz #4 to be conducted in the next class session.
  • Office Hours:
    • Tuesday: 4-5pm
    • Wednesday: 1-2pm
    • Thursday: 11am-12pm
    • Friday: 3-4pm