What do you think?
Rate this book
Personal Information Management
In an ideal world, everyone would always have the right information, in the right form, with the right context, right when they needed it. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. This book looks at how people in the real world currently manage to store and process the massive amounts of information that overload their senses and their systems, and discusses how tools can help bring these real information interactions closer to the ideal.
Personal information management (PIM) is the study and practice of the activities people perform to acquire, organize, maintain, and retrieve information for everyday use. PIM is a growing area of interest as we all strive for better use of our limited personal resources of time, money, and energy, as well as greater workplace efficiency and productivity.
Personal information is currently fragmented across electronic documents, email messages, paper documents, digital photographs, music, videos, instant messages, and so on. Each form of information is organized and used to complete different tasks and to fulfill disparate roles and responsibilities in an individual’s life. Existing PIM tools are partly responsible for this fragmentation. They can also be part of the solution that brings information together again. A major contribution of this book is its integrative treatment of PIM-related research.
The book grows out of a workshop on PIM sponsored by the National Science Foundation, held in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. Scholars from major universities and researchers from companies such as Microsoft Research, Google, and IBM offer approaches to conceptual problems of information management. In doing so, they provide a framework for thinking about PIM as an area for future research and innovation.
Personal information management (PIM) is the study and practice of the activities people perform to acquire, organize, maintain, and retrieve information for everyday use. PIM is a growing area of interest as we all strive for better use of our limited personal resources of time, money, and energy, as well as greater workplace efficiency and productivity.
Personal information is currently fragmented across electronic documents, email messages, paper documents, digital photographs, music, videos, instant messages, and so on. Each form of information is organized and used to complete different tasks and to fulfill disparate roles and responsibilities in an individual’s life. Existing PIM tools are partly responsible for this fragmentation. They can also be part of the solution that brings information together again. A major contribution of this book is its integrative treatment of PIM-related research.
The book grows out of a workshop on PIM sponsored by the National Science Foundation, held in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. Scholars from major universities and researchers from companies such as Microsoft Research, Google, and IBM offer approaches to conceptual problems of information management. In doing so, they provide a framework for thinking about PIM as an area for future research and innovation.
340 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2007
About the author
William Jones
12 books8 followersWilliam Jones is a Research Associate Professor Emeritus in the Information School at the University of Washington. He received his doctorate in 1982 from Carnegie-Mellon University for research into how human memory works.
Dr. Jones has written the book “Keeping Found Things Found: The Study and Practice of Personal Information Management” (2007) and has also edited the book “Personal Information Management” (with co-editor Jaime Teevan). Dr. Jones has written invited chapters on PIM for ARIST and for the Handbook of Applied Cognition. He has given numerous invited tutorials and organized two workshops on PIM including an invitational workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation and a follow-on workshop in connection with SIGIR 2006 (http://pim.ischool.washington.edu/).
Dr. Jones is getting tired of writing about PIM and hopes to write a book about something completely different some day (such as an updated story about a boy flying atop a goose across Sweden…).
Dr. Jones has written the book “Keeping Found Things Found: The Study and Practice of Personal Information Management” (2007) and has also edited the book “Personal Information Management” (with co-editor Jaime Teevan). Dr. Jones has written invited chapters on PIM for ARIST and for the Handbook of Applied Cognition. He has given numerous invited tutorials and organized two workshops on PIM including an invitational workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation and a follow-on workshop in connection with SIGIR 2006 (http://pim.ischool.washington.edu/).
Dr. Jones is getting tired of writing about PIM and hopes to write a book about something completely different some day (such as an updated story about a boy flying atop a goose across Sweden…).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 5, 2013
Unless you're extremely interested in Personal Information Management, you'll find this book boring. Even if you do find it interesting, there are still some parts that are dull. But this is a thorough academic introduction to the academic field of Personal Information Management as it existed in the mid-2000s.
The most valuable parts of the book are the portions that are descriptive of how people really handle their personal information management tasks. Some of the chapters also cover particular tools that were developed to study PIM. These tools are not generally interesting in and of themselves, but the descriptions of findings often are.
This book is a bit dated. While there is a chapter on group information management and the topic is lightly touched throughout, the book doesn't really cover the impact of social sharing on personal and group information management. (Or, as I put it when I read the introduction: this book isn't going to give any insight into Pinterest or Facebook.)
That said, I think that anyone who is developing personal or group information management tools can benefit from learning the ideas in this book. Although much has changed, much -- especially the fundamental information management needs individuals have -- is still the same.
The most valuable parts of the book are the portions that are descriptive of how people really handle their personal information management tasks. Some of the chapters also cover particular tools that were developed to study PIM. These tools are not generally interesting in and of themselves, but the descriptions of findings often are.
This book is a bit dated. While there is a chapter on group information management and the topic is lightly touched throughout, the book doesn't really cover the impact of social sharing on personal and group information management. (Or, as I put it when I read the introduction: this book isn't going to give any insight into Pinterest or Facebook.)
That said, I think that anyone who is developing personal or group information management tools can benefit from learning the ideas in this book. Although much has changed, much -- especially the fundamental information management needs individuals have -- is still the same.
November 3, 2008
This is a dry-as-dust quasi-academic look at personal information management, outlining the problems to be addressed and the possible approaches. If you are a purveyor of PIM tools, you might find something of interest in this book. If not, not.
September 23, 2016
A bit on the academic side for any of you casual readers... but a great read for those of you who (like me) are interested in how we manage our personal information and data. Lots of great case studies ans scenarios from different perspectives.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews