Colleagues,

One goal of managing information may be to have a system that gets  
people information they want and need, but does not flood them with  
useless or low-priority information.

Someone at a program, an "Information Manager" (IM), could develop a  
short survey to find out what information colleagues at the program  
want or need. The survey could be developed in broad or refined  
categories that could be checked off by responding colleagues. For  
example:

_ Professional Development
	_ Content area
		_ reading
			_basic literacy
			_reading for meaning
			_ etc.
		_ numeracy
		_ science
		_ etc.
	_ Use of Technology
		_ Integrating technology in the classroom
		_ Using technology for supplemental online learning
		_ Distance learning
		_ etc.
	_ Etc.


If the program has many instructors and other staff, this could be  
made as an online survey, with the advantage that the results could  
be automatically tabulated.

With the tabulated survey results the IM could determine which  
Institute discussion lists each "Information Finder" (IF) would  
subscribe to, and which topics the IF would look for, and for which  
colleagues. ( I am using "Information Finder" (IF) here to describe a  
colleague who agrees to subscribe to one discussion list to look for  
information that colleagues interested they are interested in.) If  
the IFs have more time, some could also search the discussion lists'  
archives using the survey categories as key words in the searches.  
They might also look at the Adult Literacy Education (ALE) Wiki  
topics for useful information in these categories.

  IFs should share the information with only those who said they were  
interested in the category/sub-category, and should not distributed  
to everyone. One way -- there are probably other, better ones -- to  
do this would be to have each IF set up an email distribution list  
for each category (or sub category) , to name that list using the  
category key word, and add email addresses of colleagues who  
indicated they were interested in that category.  The information  
could then be shared to (only) those who said they wanted or needed  
it. The information in most cases would be a URL to the selected  
first message of an online discussion, or to a web page with a  
summarized and organized discussion, or a web page with other  
pertinent information. The URL(s) could be included in periodic  
messages to the email distribution list that also requested (or  
required?) simple feedback to the IF such as:

Check one:

	___ Thanks, this is exactly what I want or need.

	___ This looks interesting and may be what I want or need.

	___ I am not sure why you sent this to me.

	___This is not what I want or need. What I need is:  
___________________________________


Feedback is important to fine tune the information management system,  
to make sure people are getting what they want or need.

Of course, as system like this could be used in a region or a state,  
perhaps organized by a state professional development center.

If someone decides to try out a system like this -- or is already  
using an information management system like this -- for professional  
development please let us know how it works. Also, please let us  
know, especially if you use information from the discussion lists or  
the ALE wiki:

	• what information you are or are not finding
	• how much information you are finding on what categories, and
	• the quality of the information you are finding.

Thanks.

David J. Rosen
djrosen1 at gmail.com



On Oct 6, 2008, at 8:36 PM, Jackie A. Taylor wrote:


> Hello again, All,

> In today's digital world, it's becoming increasingly important to  

> direct flows of information. Some use tech tools like RSS feeds  

> (http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english) do this for  

> themselves. Some actively seek information and direct it to groups  

> of constituents.

>

> Whether you are professional development staff managing information  

> for your region or state, or program staff / volunteers channeling  

> information for your program, what strategies do you use to manage  

> information flow?

>

> For example: In speaking with colleagues at ProLiteracy last week,  

> here's what they said:

> Have someone from your organization subscribed to one or two NIFL  

> discussion lists so that the organization has someone subscribed to  

> each list

> Join discussion lists that intersect with state initiatives

> Subscribe for guest discussions then unsubscribe afterwards

> Use other options to find posts: discussion archives, discussion  

> search engine

> What strategies would you add to this list? What strategies could a  

> moderator of an online community use that would help you?

>

> I'll bundle any ideas shared and post it back here.

>

> Thanks,

>

> jackie

>

> Jackie Taylor, PD List Moderator, jackie at jataylor.net

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>

> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki

> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development