Information cultures and strategies for coping with information overload: case of Estonian higher education institutions

This paper focuses on the links between information culture and the perception of the information overload on the example of higher education institutions in Estonia. The aim of this study is to understand how different types of information culture affect coping with information overload.

Two focus-group interviews with 14 participants and 17 semi-structured interviews with representatives of four HEIs were conducted. First, the questions on the values, norms and assumptions as well as information related practices were discussed to assess the dominant components of the information culture. Second, the perception of information overload was explored. Further, the strategies for coping with information overload were examined. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyse the interview data.

The results of the study suggest that the construct of information culture is valuable in understanding information environments and their relation to the perception of information overload. The participants representing the open information culture prefer informal information sharing and are more vulnerable to perceive information overload than the participants representing the integrated information culture. Organisational information management is the key to effective coping with information overload.

The current study sheds light on the perception of information overload in connection with information culture.