OMG I’m late, so late. And I don’t even know where to start Very Happy . I should start with a definition I guess.

What is an Information Environment? Uhhmm.. Just a minute I’m still “googling” it. Ahhh there it is. An Information Environment is an area where group of IT professionals or any just anybody who has the skill to create and maintain a set of network or online services that supports the publishing and use of information and learning resources. In short it is where knowledge or information is being gathered, processed, used, stored, and updated according to what the user(s) are looking for. Since most of these environments are independent, users such as myself has to navigate through websites or series of sites in order to find the information needed for like, say for a research or for reference material or even just for knowledge’s sake. Yes, I “google” for information a lot just to satisfy my curious mind. I usually search for information mostly regarding on questions of “How” and “Why”. For example ‘How come cats always land on their feet?’, ‘How did the Mayan and Aztec Empire (which is by the way two of the most powerful empires of the old world) got wiped out?’ and ‘Why did Führer Adolf Hitler wage war on their neighboring countries?’. These pieces of information are like gold coins in a treasure chest, small yet invaluable. But these treasure chests aren’t found in a single search, neither can it be taken in a single voyage without any crew.

Okay, so much for metaphors. What I want to say is that knowledge is priceless and cannot be learned all at once without anyone’s help. That is why books are published, libraries are constructed, and schools and universities have been erected. Speaking of libraries, I think I just came up with an example of an information environment, hooray!

Library, a place where knowledge sits in a shelf, a place where we can study or just read without being disturbed, and a good place to sleep too (joke lang!). It is where people usually go whenever their craving for knowledge hit them or students whenever they’re cramming for their research papers. But finding the right information usually takes time, really takes time. That’s why books are cataloged to make the searching less hard. Back in the days where computers were not easily accessed by normal people (hehe), libraries were the best place to be. Back then libraries only have photocopiers and typewriters which are available for readers to use. So whenever a needed information is found it is either copied by hand, get it photocopied, or have it typewritten (haven’t tried this one though Very Happy). Therefore the transition or flow of knowledge is rather slow, which inhibits the acquisition of knowledge. Now here comes the bloom of information age, Internet became the best source of information and combined with the principles of sharing knowledge and information, search engines were improved and billions of information became online, thus the creation of digital libraries.

The rise of digital libraries marks the new age of information dissemination. Not only does it abide to the principle of knowledge sharing, it also makes it easier for users to access to the information needed through search engines. Since all information found in digital libraries are searched through search engines I’d pick search engine sites to be my information environment, specifically an information-dedicated search engine. And a search engine head developer/programmer will be my role.

Information are like grains of sand in Boracay Laughing, it is just lying still in the open. But finding the right grain of sand will take a lifetime. That’s why searching tools or search engines are very important if not, a necessity. That’s why as a search engine developer I should make the searching algorithm more complex to make the search output more accurate. If possible I would add to the word-based search engine a logic-based searching method. That is, when a user is searching with keywords the engine will simulate the logic or sense of these keywords and provide a set of possible meaning of the whole inputted phrase, basically making it artificially intelligent. It really seems not possible, for now, but time will come, it will. Then I would make the user interface more appealing, not with added visual effects or embedded applications but with just a simple relaxing theme that would not strain the eyes of any users, yet beautiful enough to appreciated. Since knowledge should be free of cost there should only be small amount advertisements on the search engine. Ads redirect the attention of the users especially when the advertised product or service is quite enticing (e.g. pornsites, free download, etc.). Some ads really annoys me, like the ones that keep on flashing, and ones that moves with the scroll bar, and also there are ads that pops-up in the center of the web explorer and doesn’t even had and exit button on it. In line with the digital libraries’ advocacy of free knowledge the search engine site should have direct links to certified accurate-information digital libraries placed on the web page.

Creating this complex search engine will really take time and lots of effort, not to mention the maintenance of it afterwards. But for a team dedicated in helping people to acquire knowledge and information, knowing that they’ve learn something means our efforts have paid off.

*Disclaimer: This article does not imply that going to libraries and reading reference books makes the learning process slow. Reading tangible materials is still the best way of reading, trust me. Nothing beats the smell of an old book.