Coping with Information Load: User Strategies and Implications for Librarians

ow are library users handling the increasing amounts of information available to them in college and research libraries? This question has drawn the attention of numerous commentators in recent years. While some have expressed concern that the increased amount of information in libraries may have a negative impact on users, i.e., may "overload" them, 6 others believe that users do quite well through use of any of several ''coping mechanisms. " 7 The question remains an open one, in part because so little empirical library research has been conducted in this area. Instead, we must rely mainly on the findings from information load research performed in fields other than library science, e.g., clinical psychology and consumer behavior. In addition, there is considerable conceptual and definitional ambiguity apparent in the use of important terms. After clarifying these ambiguities and reviewing what empirical researchers have discovered about the impact of increasing amounts of information on users, the present paper applies these findings to a library context and discusses the implications of these findings for users and librarians. CONCEPTUAL AND DEFINITIONAL AMBIGUITIES

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