Too much information and too little time to digest it. Attention pulled in a thousand directions, and by the very technologies – cell phones and handhelds, email and the Web, cable TV and satellite radio – that promise to inform and connect us. An accelerating pace of life leaving no time to relax or reflect. These are some of today’s common complaints in our information-rich, technology-infused society. Increasingly, people express a longing for a more harmonious life, a life better balanced between work, family, and community; between fast-paced productivity and leisurely reflection; between compulsive consumption and just plain living.

Why is life speeding up and what can we do about it? How can we find a more balanced life in the midst of these changes? To address these questions, the Information School of the University of Washington has initiated a program on Information and the Quality of Life (IQL) which, in recent years, has organized the following events:

• A Public Forum on Information and the Quality of Life was held in Town Hall, Seattle, on May 10, 2004. The event was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and The Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington. The program for the forum, including audio recordings, can be found here.
• A Conference on Information, Silence, and Sanctuary was held on the University of Washington campus, May 11-12, 2004. The event was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation and the National Science Foundation. The program for the forum, including audio recordings, can be found here.
• A Workshop on Mindful Work and Technology was held in Maryland and at the Library of Congress (in Washington DC) March 13-17, 2006. The event was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the Library of Congress. A video presentation about the resultsof the workshop, delivered by David Levy at the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress, can be found here.