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The science of managing our digital stuff
Bergman O., Whittaker S., The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2016. 296 pp. Type: Book (978-0-262035-17-0)
Date Reviewed: May 25 2017

Written by two leading experts in the field, The science of managing our digital stuff is a very well-crafted book covering a wide range of work on how people store, organize, and use personal information in digital form. The book covers the foundations of personal information management (PIM) and the fundamental approaches to support it, many of the ideas that have been experimented with in the literature, and several ideas yet to be deployed at large scale. The authors frame the discussion with compelling examples that virtually all readers will easily relate to, making for an enjoyable and quite illuminating read.

The book starts by laying out the principles of the science behind PIM as a continuous data curation process consisting of three main tasks: (1) deciding whether to retain incoming information; (2) if so, where and how; and (3) exploiting previously stored information. The book explains how these processes are intimately intertwined, as the choice of how to store information greatly affects how that information can be exploited later, and greatly affected by the tools available to the user. Most importantly, however, the book provides ample evidence that these processes are not equally effective for all kinds of personal data.

The authors devote quite some time to discussing hierarchical folder organization systems and possible alternatives, namely searching, tagging, and group information management. In each chapter, the authors provide compelling evidence in support of manually curated folder hierarchies and reasons why users tend to prefer that to other methods. One very interesting explanation is the relatively lower cognitive burden in navigating a hierarchy previously created by the user compared to searching or exploring some other information organization system that was not designed by the user, even if these methods are successful in other information management and retrieval settings (such as the web).

The final chapters of the book cover techniques and tools developed by the authors for PIM. Their ideas are rooted in the principle that hierarchical organization structures should be exploited and enhanced with other mechanisms, instead of replaced. Keeping with their vision, the book argues that PIM should be made more contextual and subjective. It would seem that their goals and vision are attainable with existing personal computers, which is encouraging. Moreover, the authors make the point of not patenting their ideas, opening the door for enthusiastic researchers and practitioners eager to contribute to the field.

In summary, this is quite an enjoyable and thorough introduction to the science of PIM that will serve academics and practitioners who work in the area well.

More reviews about this item: Amazon, Goodreads

Reviewer:  Denilson Barbosa Review #: CR145297 (1708-0512)
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