Infotention

<pageby nominor="false" comments="false"/>

Introduction

“Infotention a word I came up with to describe the psycho-social-techno skill/tools we all need to find our way online today, a mind-machine combination of brain-powered attention skills with computer-powered information” (Mindful Infotention: Dashboards, Radars, Filters, by the Howard Rheingold, SFGate, 2009).

See also:

• other links in the Knowledge and idea management category.

Software

A wide range of software could be used to manage and process information.

Tools for processing

I.e. the idea is to (re)write and link information.

• Wikis, provided that you know how to link, categorize, etc.
• blogs, citing others, using good tags
• concept maps,

Writing down

This strategy can become pretty messy after a while, should be combined with one of the above.

• Various note taking tools
• Various links managers, making sure to annotate also

Monitoring

Using various kinds of dashboards and other aggretators. For example:

• Simple webtops like Netvibes
• Datadisplay oriented Dashboards like Cyfe
• Mindmap-like dashboards like Swiftriver (announced)
• Wiki monitoring tools like Wikisweeper (still vapourware on April 2012 ?).

Links

By Rheingold

• Infotention. First appearence in public of this word.
• Infotention, managing & information. A commented list of interesting pieces by H. Rheingold
• Concep Map (Cmap) by Rheingold (updated on regular basis).
• A mini course on infotention
• Infotention Part One: Dashboards, Radars, Filters (Video by H.R)
• Infotention Skills: From Information Overload to Knowledge Navigation

Others

• @Infotention Twitter Network

Bibliography

• Rheingold, Howard (2012). Net Smart: How to Thrive Online, The MIT Press, ISBN 0262017458. Sales blurb from Amazon (US): “Like it or not, knowing how to make use of online tools without being overloaded with too much information is an essential ingredient to personal success in the twenty-first century. But how can we use digital media so that they make us empowered participants rather than passive receivers, grounded, well-rounded people rather than multitasking basket cases? In Net Smart, cyberculture expert Howard Rheingold shows us how to use social media intelligently, humanely, and, above all, mindfully.”