Organizing Information

Principles in Organizing Information

Chronological Order

In chronological order or time order, items, events, or even ideas are arranged in the order in which they occur.  It naturally fits in narration, because when we tell a story, we usually follow the order in which events occur. Chronological order applies to process in the same way, because when we describe or explain how something happens or works, we usually follow the order in which the events occur.

Spatial Order

In this pattern, items are arranged according to their physical position or relationships. In describing a shelf or desk, I might describe items on the left first, then move gradually toward the right. 

Climactic Order

It is also known as order of importance. In this pattern, items are arranged from least important to most important. Typical transitions would include more important, most difficult, still harder, by far the most expensive, even more damaging, worse yet, and so on.

Still other principles of organization based on emphasis include

general-to-specific order,

specific-to general order,

most-familiar-to-least-familiar,

simplest-to-most-complex,

order of frequency,

order of familiarity, and so on.

Topical Order

A fourth broad principle of organization is called topical order.  It refers to organization that emerges from the topic itself. For example, a description of a computer might naturally involve the separate components of the central processing unit, the monitor, and the keyboard, while a discussion of a computer purchase might discuss needs, products, vendors, and service.

Source: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu 

 FIVE HAT RACKS OR LATCH PRINCIPLE

Richard Saul Wurman (1989) posits that there are five fundamental ways to organize information

Location

Location is chosen when the information who you are comparing comes from several different sources or locales. Doctors use different locations of the body to group and study medicine. Concerning an industry you might want to know where on the world goods are distributed.

Alphabet

Alphabet is best used when you have enormous amount of data. For example words in a dictionary or names in a telephone. As usually everybody is familiar with the Alphabet, categorizing by Alphabet is recommendable when not all the audience is familiar with different kind of groupings or categories you could use instead.

Time

Time is the best form of categorization for events that happen over fixed durations. Meeting schedules or our calendar are examples. The work of important persons might be displayed as timeline as well. Time is an easily framework in which changes can be observed and comparisons made.

Category

Category is an organization type often used for goods and industries. Shops and services in the yellow pages are easy to find by category. Retail stores are divided into e.g. men- and woman-clothing. This mode works well to organizing items of similar importance.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy organizes by magnitude. From small to large, least expensive to most expensive, by order of importance, etc. Hierarchy is to be used if you want to assign weight or value to the ordered information.

Source: http://www.infovis-wiki.net

Techniques in Selecting and Organizing Information

1. Brainstorming - process for generating creative ideas and solutions through intensive and freewheeling group discussion.

2.  Graphic Organizer -  a communication tool that uses visual symbols to express knowledge, concepts, thoughts, or ideas, and the relationships between them.

3. Outline (Sentence/Topic) - arranges ideas hierarchically (showing which are main and which are sub-points), in the desired sequence and shows what will be talked about.

Principles in Outlining

• Principle of Coordination 

Ideas of the same relevance to be labeled in the same way

• Principle of Subordination

Minor details have to be placed under their respective major details

• Principle of Division 

No cluster should contain only one item

•  Principle of Parallel Construction

All entries in each cluster use the same structure and format

Types of Outline:

• topic outline lists words or phrases
• sentence outline lists complete sentences 

Sources:

www.shoreline.edu

www.techlearning-english.weebly.com

www.plymouth.k12.in.us