Personal information management practices among the general public: analysis of questionnaire survey results in U.S. and Japan

Purpose Personal information management (PIM) has evolved with advances in information technology. This study focused on how ordinary people use various technologies and tools for PIM practice in daily tasks. Design/methodology/approach A web-based questionnaire survey was presented to 3,278 individuals in the United States and Japan between January and February 2022. The survey included 35 items for PIM activities assigned to three elements – task, format and management level – and three items for demographic data. Findings Descriptive analysis showed that the use of digital format exceeded that of paper format in PIM activities. However, the paper format was preferred for certain tasks and among older age groups. In terms of the management level, retrieving information without management was the most frequent. Hierarchical clustering identified six behavioral types of PIM activities: omnivorous, selective, early adopters, conservatism, minimalist and no PIM. The conservatism cluster mainly used the paper format, whereas the no PIM cluster had almost no PIM activity. This demonstrates the diversity in the adoption of PIM practices. Originality/value This study provides a snapshot of the current state of PIM practices when digital tools are commonly accessible and categorizes the PIM practices of ordinary people in the two countries. The results indicated that some people tend to retrieve information on specific tasks without managing it in advance. Moreover, the rising use of generative AI has the potential to fundamentally change PIM practices. This study suggests that examining the effect of information technology on PIM practices could be an important topic for the future.