New Book: Ambient Findability : What We Find Changes Who We Become by Peter Morville

The title of this book, Ambient Findability : What We Find Changes Who We Become by Peter Morville, is rather intriguing, but a quick review of its description leaves me a bit confused about whether it lives up to its promise. In any case, it won't cost you a dime to read up on it yourself.

The Amazon description starts out like this:

How do you find your way in an age of information overload? How can you filter streams of complex information to pull out only what you want? Why does it matter how information is structured when Google seems to magically bring up the right answer to your questions? What does it mean to be "findable" in this day and age? This eye-opening new book examines the convergence of information and connectivity. Written by Peter Morville, author of the groundbreaking Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, the book defines our current age as a state of unlimited findability. In other words, anyone can find anything at any time. Complete navigability.

Morville discusses the Internet, GIS, and other network technologies that are coming together to make unlimited findability possible. He explores how the melding of these innovations impacts society, since Web access is now a standard requirement for successful people and businesses. But before he does that, Morville looks back at the history of wayfinding and human evolution, suggesting that our fear of being lost has driven us to create maps, charts, and now, the mobile Internet.

The book's central thesis is that information literacy, information architecture, and usability are all critical components of this new world order. Hand in hand with that is the contention that only by planning and designing the best possible software, devices, and Internet, will we be able to maintain this connectivity in the future. Morville's book is highlighted with full color illustrations and rich examples that bring his prose to life.

Click here to read more.

Personally, I learn toward the philosophy that we should be doing things to help information find us, rather than focus so much attention on navigation.

BTW, I do get a tiny commission if you buy the book after clicking on my link to Amazon.

-- Jack Krupansky