The subject is of absorbing interest to me, at least, with my preoccupation with cataloguing and arranging a large collection of books, records and tapes, slides and digital images, reference papers, photography and audio equipment, and so on. But this book has been rather frustrating because of the very wordy way that it circles around the actual matters of interest. It promises to get into arranging computer files into folders only by Chapter 5, for example. The first hundred pages could be easily compressed into a few paragraphs; the whole book could be compressed to a third of its length, as it follows the copybook approach of telling you you what it's going to tell you, then tells you, then tells you what it told you, and then repeats this cycle at successive levels as the book progresses. It is frustrating also because it indulges in an overly detailed listing of questions at he start of each section, but seldom gets to any specific answers. It also expands metaphors or analogies to unnecessary detail, rather than getting on with the actual subject under discussion. At the end, one is left with some vague generalities, very few useful suggestions or examples, and no guidance to actual techniques or tools. ( )

Personal information management - the history, the academic terminology, and thoughts for the future ( )