Information zones

An idea that's been buzzing around in the back of my head for some time is applying Permaculture's zone (and maybe sector) analysis to information.

Broadly speaking, the zone concept in Permaculture works to aid in the design process when making use of energy available on a site. Zones are established according to the patterns "of use, of access, and of time available". [quoted from Permaculture - A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison]

The zones are pictured as an expanding ring of concentric circles, moving from Zone 0 (the house or village), through intermediate zones containing herb spirals, kitchen gardens, vegetable plots, shelterbreaks, etc and out to Zone 5 (the natural, unmanaged environment).

I believe this could be a helpful way of reviewing the personal information landscape. I think we unconsciously select the information zone when carrying out information retrieval activities, and use this as a contextual aid according to the need we have.

Zone 0 - the individual

First up in Zone 0 is everything I myself know without reference to any external aid.

Zone 1 - immediate personal proximity

Zone 1 contains information that I carry with me pretty much all the time, but don't remember. So this may include information I keep in my wallet, my mobile phone, or my PDA. There needs to be minimal disturbance between thinking of an information need and accessing it through such resources.

Zone 2 - local vicinity

The next zone constitutes any information readily accessible to where I spend much of my day. This zone includes fixed PCs or notebooks at my home or my work. It can also include the books and magazines on my bookshelf, or the contents of my filing cabinet. There is likely to be a greater disturbance between thinking of an information need and accessing it, unless of course I'm currently sitting in front of the computer and that's where the information resides.

Zone 3 - immediate networked neighbourhood

Before leaping onto the Web at large to find an answer, I know that sometimes information resides in the immediate networked neighbourhood. This zone can include other PCs and storage repositories connected to my computer (either at home or at work), or people who I can easily communicate with (in person, by phone or IM).

Zone 4 - the 'net

Next step is everything I can reach through the Internet or other more old fashioned communication channels. This zone includes the contents of the publicly accessible Web, libraries, but also people who I can contact through email or letters. The key here is that there is some substantive degree of physical distribution and/or asynchronicity between my local environment and the environment in which the information resides. I can't rely on an immediate response. It should be noted that this is where search engines such as Google and organisations like the Internet Archive have played an invaluable role by caching information in case it has changed or is temporarily unavailable.

Zone 5 - beyond

The last zone is everything beyond what I can reach in one step. This zone includes huge quantities of information in the "Dark Internet", or that is accessible only by other people (such as within corporate intranets). This information may never become accessible to me, but has at least the potential to do so.

I'm going to explore this concept some more in future - particularly with respect to how tools have worked to compress the lag in accessing information in outer zones. A nice diagram would be helpful too.

Have I missed any zones that are important do you think?