The Information Age... and How to Manage It

September 20, 2004 - The Internet. Security chips on DVDs. E-Z Pass. Communication satellites. Medical record and DNA databases. All of these modern technologies are sources or conveyors of information. We live in an information-rich world, but like water that floods, more is not always better.

As the 9/11 Commission discovered, information that is not well-organized, not well-managed, and not effectively communicated is information that can hinder human performance. On the other hand, just as water under control can generate vast amounts of electricity, so can well-managed, accessible information spark human insight and empower individuals and societies to function more effectively.

Information sources and information technologies must be designed and managed for effective use by those who need accurate, timely information in the most appropriate formats. The Ph.D. program in Information Studies at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at C.W. Post is preparing students to effectively and efficiently access, manage and utilize the vast amounts of information available today.

Program Director Charles Hildreth explains, "We are teaching people to think about the impact of new technology on society; to focus on the human and social dimensions of an information-rich world." For example, Palmer School student Joni Lelchuk has discovered that a vast number of newly diagnosed cancer patients go home and look up their illness on the Internet. She is now studying whether they are finding valid information from authoritative sources, whether they understand the information they find, and if it is helping them - or just alarming them unnecessarily.

John Sullivan, a retired NYPD precinct captain, is applying his studies at the Palmer School to an examination of how the law enforcement community manages and exchanges information and how that exchange can be improved. "When a police officer pulls over a motorist, he or she accesses certain information through a computer. But is it accurate information - and more importantly, is it thorough enough?" he asks. "The more  informed our local authorities are, the better they can help fight crime and terrorism," he added.

Doctoral candidate Raymond Rhoden, Commissioner for Economic Development for the Town of Hempstead, is examining how K-12 educational institutions can apply the performance related information they gather on students to create curriculum and instructional changes that will benefit those students.

The C.W. Post Information Studies doctoral program - the only one of its kind in the New York Metropolitan - is now entering its seventh year. Alumni are now working as faculty in higher education and as information management consultants to various fields. Current students plan to apply their expertise to health care administration, art history, information systems design, governmental policy development and more.