Rachel

In Ambient Findability: What We Find Changes Who We Become, Peter Morville accomplishes the lofty goal of discerning what wayfinding and findability on the Internet really mean. He asks the reader to join him in asking questions about findability and the Internet. Can you really find everything on the Internet? What kind of implications does this have for the user? Why is findability so important, and what can be done to make finding information on the Internet easier?
First, to be able to find things on the Internet, one must be skilled in keywords and categories, the two most important factors in finding what you need. The ability to find vital information is a new type of literacy that is becoming increasingly important as the Internet gains more and more information. Morville writes, “In the information age, transmedia information literacy is a core life skill (p. 7).” The ALA’s definition of information literacy is, “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information (p. 8).” Morville explained the progression of wayfinding through tools and evolutionary adaptations throughout time. These facts gelled together with the Internet. However, “Architects and graphic designers have tended to see the user of their settings as a stereotyped, physically fit, attentive individual with only one perception—to explore and enjoy the settings they have created (p. 28).” Understanding wayfinding is important for web-designers and web users, because of the difficulty in navigating the vast amount of information found on the Internet. Web-designers and other wayfinding creators must keep in mind empathy for the user, because without it users will find it nearly impossible to find what they’re looking for.
Morville looks at the amount of information on the Internet as daunting and foreboding. He writes that we no longer need to produce information, we should instead focus on how to look at it. In fact, “Half a million libraries the size of the Library of Congress. That’s how much information we create in a year—92% of it stored on magnetic media (p. 44).” Is this amount of information really useful? Do people really need to make use of all of the types of information that are found on the Internet? Morville knows that “Its time we shifted our focus from creating a wealth of information to addressing the ensuing poverty of attention (p.45).” How much of this information is being ignored, and what can people do to give the Information that they found important enough to put on the Internet more attention? As always, “…the challenges of communication are part of the human condition, unsusceptible to the eager advances of technology (p. 15).”
What is information, and what is it about the information age that makes findability so important? He sees “the power of the Internet to engage people as participants in the collaborative, productive enterprise of knowledge creation and dissemination. For information is ultimately about communication (p. 15).” Findability is of vital importance in knowledge dissemination because it “…invests freedom in the individual. As the web challenges mass media with a media of the masses, we will enjoy an unprecedented ability to select our sources and choose our news (p. 7).”
This book helps to understand the importance of navigability on the Internet. As more and more information comes along there is a need for both comprehension and appreciation for the information age.