Interview with the Editors: Addressing Cognitive Overload in the Learning Journey

The impact of cognitive load extends beyond the classroom—it affects how students, faculty, and researchers engage with knowledge across the learning journey. In their new edited volume, From Chaos to Order: Addressing Cognitive Overload in the Learning Journey (available for pre-order from Bloomsbury, December 2025), librarians Courtney McAllister, Sara Kern, and Elliott Rose bring together diverse perspectives from across library services to explore strategies for facing this challenge in today’s information age.  

I spoke with them about their motivations for tackling this topic, the impact of cognitive overload on learners, and how librarians can help reduce it. Our conversation is below.

Please introduce yourselves to our readers. 

CM: Hi there! I am Courtney McAllister, a former electronic resources librarian now working as a solution architect at Atypon. In my various roles, I’ve worked with students, faculty, librarians, and publishers. While their respective backgrounds and information goals differ, they seem to have a shared state of being overwhelmed: stretching their time and bandwidth across an assemblage of increasingly complex tasks and systems. 

SK: Hello! I am Sara Kern, an engineering librarian at Penn State. In my role as a liaison, I do a lot of outreach and instruction. Recently, my outreach work has particularly focused on graduate students at the university.  

ER: And I am Elliott Rose! I am a STEM librarian at Penn State as a liaison librarian to Geography, Geoscience, and Meteorology. I engage in library instruction, outreach programming, and collection development for my subject areas.  

Briefly summarize From Chaos to Order: Addressing Cognitive Overload in the Learning Journey.  

Cognitive load refers to the amount of information an individual can retain in their working memory at one time. When you surpass that limit, it can be more difficult to learn or engage with new information. Learners today must attempt to navigate competing responsibilities, deadlines, and a constant stream of information as they try to learn new things and/or complete a degree.  

In an effort to support them, this book brings together a diverse range of case studies and theories that explore the nuanced role cognitive load has in the learning journey. We also introduce actionable approaches and resources to help bolster success in a library setting. Cognitive load is not limited to one aspect of life or learning, so we have situated these resources within a hub-and-spoke framework, where we argue that a multifaceted approach is necessary to address a multifaceted problem. This book is great for information professionals who are working with learners both directly or indirectly and are interested in an intro-level exploration of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). 

Why did you decide to edit a book on this topic?  

The short answer is that we noticed cognitive overload was affecting our students/faculty/end users, even though we each have very different roles in the knowledge ecosystem. As we reflected on this shared challenge, we felt motivated to demystify cognitive overload, help others recognize its often-overlooked impact, and contribute to a solution-oriented discourse to address it.   

In our initial conversations, we started to consider how essential it is for various aspects of library services to come together, because while cognitive load and/or being overwhelmed is often discussed within instruction, factors outside the classroom can serve to exacerbate or reduce cognitive load. With that framework in mind, we recognized that we should take a similar, collaborative approach to creating a collection of solutions to reduce cognitive load.  

The value of the book is in this diversity of perspectives, bringing together solutions from different realms of library services across North America and illustrating how a collaborative approach can make the most impact. We hope this will stimulate further cross-sectoral endeavors as we collectively strive to support learner success in a constantly shifting information landscape.  

How have you seen cognitive load impact researchers?  

CM: In my various library and vendor roles, I have seen cognitive load emerge as an insidious blocker to success during any information-seeking endeavor. Whether working with a first-year student looking for articles, a special librarian managing the administration settings of their discovery layer, or a publisher learning a new content production workflow, I’ve seen cognitive overload interfere with someone’s learning or retention.

The feeling of frustration and being overwhelmed is pernicious in its own right, but the negative impact is compounded because many folks internalize cognitive overload as a personal shortcoming. It is an isolating experience that can jeopardize future successes. Even if the episode of cognitive overload was brought on by a unique convergence of high stress, exhaustion, a complicated technology interface, and time pressure, the impact on a researcher’s confidence and engagement may persist.   

SK: I will focus on my out-of-classroom experiences here because that was my motivation for being involved in this project! In more informal settings, I have had the opportunity to see where learners missed or failed to retain information (sometimes from classes I was teaching!) because they were focused on other tasks or deadlines. This has often happened during an event, where I have had time to chat with them directly and been able to share information and directly connect to how learning skills or resources can help them. Being able to connect to information they already know, often in the form of tasks they are worried about, has seemed to help them better retain what they are learning.

However, cognitive load is not limited to classroom considerations and, in the outreach section, we particularly explored the concept of extraneous cognitive load, or attention that is drawn to processing information outside of the learning objective. In the classroom, this often refers to how the information is presented, but some scholars have also considered the impact of other anxieties and worries. Maybe more importantly, though, I work on a lot of events that include food. Attendees often mention that they appreciate having food present because they have one less worry and are better able to focus on learning.

ER: I’ve been an instruction and reference librarian since 2013. Throughout my work with students and faculty across a wide range of tasks like research, source evaluation, assignment design, finding OER materials, and beyond, I have noticed moments where they may seem completely lost or overwhelmed with the content we are exploring. I never had a term for this situation until we started planning this book.

Through my own exploration of CLT and the psychology behind learning, I’ve been able to find a foundational philosophy that can help me ease the learning process in a more direct way. Yes, I have used helpful guiding pedagogy to continuously evaluate and update my instructional practices and tools, but with CLT, I’m able to be more conscious in the moment and recognize when I’m teaching something that is triggering a moment of overload with learners or my colleagues. For example, I now have lessons that flow much better, chunking research actions into helpful bites so that students learning a new database or research skill can engage with new lessons in a much more manageable way.  

With advances in technology, do you see issues surrounding cognitive load increasing? If so, in what ways? If not, why? 

CM: Technology changes often affect a user’s cognitive load and change the amount of effort and energy it takes to accomplish research tasks. With the introduction of new tools, such as generative AI, there is often an initial learning curve that exacerbates cognitive overload. However, users are adaptable, and, when well supported by instruction and digital literacy tools or activities, the pendulum can swing in the other direction, saving time and effort.

The perennial problem is that new technologies often carry the value proposition of “efficiency,” but there should always be an asterisk associated with that, since one must invest time, energy, and cognitive attention to experience potential improvement. Users who do not have access to this kind of support are often excluded from the virtuous cycle, which is a critical concern for information professionals. 

SK: I will echo what Courtney said and just make a small addition; I have observed that people’s overall comfort with things like video calls has created new opportunities for informal learning, especially if you’re working with learners not close to you physically. It reduces some of the stress around communication.  

ER: Technology anxiety came up a lot in our research around cognitive load theory. Just like with any other external stressor, it can definitely serve as a barrier for learners who may feel they are being forced to use a new online tool or application to meet a learning goal. We are seeing a lot of this today with the explosion of Generative AI tools. However, just as with the fear around Google, it is our job as information professionals to work with learners to learn, experiment, and engage with new technologies in an ethical way until they are more comfortable. 

Want to go deeper into this topic?

Learn about the impact and potential of Gen AI for special librarians in Lauren Hays’ on-demand webinar: How Special Librarians Can Put Generative AI to Work

The book is organized into three sections: Instruction, Systems, and Outreach. What is one key idea from each section that you hope all readers take away? 

ER: The first section is focused on Instruction, and it’s designed to be a helpful and accessible resource on theory and easy-to-adapt assignments and activities. This should be helpful for instructors who want to integrate pedagogy more mindfully into their instruction activities—to give learners more time to engage with research step-by-step to minimize learner cognitive stress and to minimize cognitive overload for instructors.

CM: In the Systems section, a key takeaway is how much system design decisions can affect researcher success. Many systems are presented as “self-serve” solutions, which a user is expected to engage with asynchronously without formal support or instruction, but that framing may not be aligned with actual user needs.

Technology tools are complex, and new features and elements are being introduced constantly, thanks to agile or iterative development cycles. This might look good on paper; however, given the wide variety of interfaces and tools researchers engage with, and the dramatic differences between those experiences, there are many potential pain points and frustrating moments of fragmentation a user might encounter during the learning journey.

This dynamic underscores the importance of information professionals’ work in augmenting a researcher’s online experiences and bolstering their digital literacy, so that researchers will be able to adapt to future changes, have the confidence to learn new technologies, and conserve cognitive load. 

SK: The Outreach section takes a unique approach where nearly all of the chapters discuss addressing cognitive load for outreach and event organizers to some extent. Many people who do outreach in libraries balance that with other aspects of their jobs, and the huge amount of time and thought that goes into planning is often un- or under-recognized.

In many of these chapters, the authors discuss not just how to address cognitive load for learners but also offer strategies to reduce that load for organizers. Much of that work centers on creating workflows that reduce how much new information organizers have to create, or offers recommendations for identifying strengths to create effective teams. There’s an overarching theme that to keep this kind of work sustainable and to help reduce the cognitive load of others, you have to first take care of yourself.  

Is there anything else you would like to share? 

The book is available for preorder through Bloomsbury! It will be available on December 11, 2025, and we encourage readers to check it out!