Information systems for organizations and the problem of ephemeral information

Management of information is one challenge facing organizations in an era of increased inter-networking and electronic communication. Workers have access to more information than ever before, and organizations provide a context and framework for information use that enables individuals to identify information required for their work and for their growth and development. While studies show that individuals manage large volumes of their working information without difficulty, there is some evidence that ephemeral information poses problems for them. Ephemeral information is peripheral to their work, time-sensitive, and requires some further action, and much of it is in electronic form, stored in electronic mailboxes or system notepads.;The context for information use in organizations is partly defined and supported by the organizational information systems. Indeed, how well these information systems fit the organization's needs may well determine how the information is used and how successful workers will be. This study describes three organizations that use the same information system to support their customer services tasks. Interviews were conducted with 19 individuals who provide customer services and 3 who provide systems support in order to identify the information uses and to assess the fit of the system to the organizations' needs. A content analysis of the interviews resulted in a more refined definition of ephemeral information and a notion of good fit. Results suggest that ephemeral information is dynamic and situational and that it may pose some problems even in environments where most of the work is routine and procedures and personnel exist to manage it. Where the system was integrated well with organizational tasks and the fit was good, turnover was low and information was managed effectively. The situational and dynamic nature of ephemeral information requires tools in shared environments that accommodate varied states and uses, and results suggest that designers need to pay attention to how workers in organizations actually use systems.