MENTAL MAPS OF THE INFORMATION LANDSCAPE

a presentation by Marylaine Block for Internet Librarian, November 6, 2001

Organizing Information by Various Kinds of Mental Maps

  • By Dewey or LC

  • By type of reference source: bibliographies, quote books, atlases, etc.

  • By format and delivery method: books, gov docs, periodicals, Internet, dissertations, etc.

  • By source: who would produce that sort of information?

  • By some combination of all of the above.











    My mental map of
    where information
    comes from.




    My mental map of
    the amount of information
    available, by form. For another
    intriguing view of what
    form information comes in see
    http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/
    projects/how-much-info/charts/charts.html

    Those divisions may be
    subdivided farther.
    Which part of the net
    are you searching? Visible?
    Invisible? Web sites?
    Bulletin boards, usenet groups?
    Books, magazines, databases
    delivered by way of
    the net?

    Which part of the totality
    of books are you searching?
    Your own catalog?
    Books in print?
    All books held by libraries?
    All books available from
    out of print dealers?

    Which part of the totality
    of periodicals? Magazines?
    Journals? Newspapers?
    Within each of these categories,
    which databases?


    The decisions we make about where to go, which sources to use, are based on our own mental maps of the information landscape, and none of us have exactly the same mental maps.