Information Anxiety

Wurman identifies a special ailment of this age of communicationsso-called ``information anxiety,'' caused, in his view, by an overwhelming flood of data, much of it from computers and much of it unintelligible. The author, a graphic artist and architect, argues that ``learning is remembering what you are interested in,'' and proposes to help the anxious individual to select personally relevant information from the body of raw data or ``non-information.'' He also demonstrates how to ``access'' resources and take advantage of experiences, suggesting specific information-processing skills and media habits. His breezy, colloquial style using short, headlined paragraphs is sprinkled with graphics and notes, imaginative quotes and anecdotes. This stimulating book is worth reading in or out of sequence if only for Wurman's views on education and the need to ``transform information into structured knowledge.'' Author tour. (Feb.)