Youth Information Seeking Behavior: Theories, Models, and Issues

by Mary K. Chelton, Colleen Cool

Overview

This resource is as much a tribute to its editors and contributors, a cadre of champions who have made the study of this underrepresented group their lifework, as it is a testament to their unwavering respect for the young inquiring mind. It begins with a historical overview of the literature on children's use and understanding of electronic information systems, when these retrieval mechanisms were in their infancy. Subsequent essays by leading figures in the field, all peer-reviewed, highlight the theoretical and empirical progress that has occurred since then. Including classic papers originally published elsewhere, the result is a powerful synthesis of thought, practice, and belief.

For practitioners and academics, and all those who seek to better understand the complex dynamics of information seeking among children and young adults. Deserves a place on every professional bookshelf for many years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810849815
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/19/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	5.48(w) x 8.58(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Mary K Chelton is Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, NYC.
Colleen Cool is Associate Professor at Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, NYC.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	vii
1	Information-Seeking Behaviors of Children Using Electronic Information Services During the Early Years: 1980-1990	1
2	Student Learning in the Library: What Library Power Librarians Say	37
3	Learning and the Digital Library	65
4	Do Scribes Learn? Copying and Information Use	95
5	Composing Boolean Search Statements: Self-Confidence, Concept Analysis, Search Logic, and Errors	119
6	"If You Don't Have It, You Can't Find It": A Close Look at Students' Perceptions of Using Technology	145
7	Children's Information Choices for Inclusion in a Hypothetical, Child-Constructed Library	181
8	Children's Information Seeking at School: Findings from a Qualitative Study	211
9	Domain Knowledge and Children's Search Behavior	241
10	Research on Children's Information Seeking on the Web	271
11	Information Seeking on the Web by Elementary School Students	293
12	Adolescent Decision-Making for Careers: An Exploration of Information Behavior	321
13	Adolescents' Information Seeking and Utilization in Relation to Drugs	353
14	Future Direction and Bibliography	387
	About the Authors	399

Editorial Reviews

...14 essays that examine a variety of ways of understanding how youth (except for pre-linguistic children) seek, process, and use information. Presented roughly in order of children's development stages, the papers address such topics as librarian assessments of student learning in libraries; students' perceptions of using technology; children's information choices for inclusion in a hypothetical, child constructed library; learning in the digital library; domain knowledge and children's search behavior; information seeking on the Web; information behavior in adolescent decision-making for careers; and adolescents' information seeking and utilization to drugs.

Reference and Research Book News

In Information-Seeking Behavior: Theories, Models, and Issues, Mary K. Chelton and Colleen Cool compile a collection of articles published in the 1990s about how children and teens look for and use information. The compilation not only demonstrates how far we have come but also how far we still have to go....Chelton focuses on what needs to come next in the field of youth information-seeking behavior. She raises many important issues, including the value that youth place on Internet resources over other types of resources, the role that electronic communication tools play in information gathering, and technology's impact on male literacy.

VOYA

In Information-Seeking Behavior: Theories, Models, and Issues, Mary K. Chelton and Colleen Cool compile a collection of articles published in the 1990s about how children and teens look for and use information. The compilation not only demonstrates how far we have come but also how far we still have to go....Chelton focuses on what needs to come next in the field of youth information-seeking behavior. She raises many important issues, including the value that youth place on Internet resources over other types of resources, the role that electronic communication tools play in information gathering, and technology's impact on male literacy.--VOYA

...a thorough, well-organized presentation of what is needed to teach research adequately...This volume would be an excellent addition to the school library curriculum at graduate schools...--School Library Journal

...14 essays that examine a variety of ways of understanding how youth (except for pre-linguistic children) seek, process, and use information. Presented roughly in order of children's development stages, the papers address such topics as librarian assessments of student learning in libraries; students' perceptions of using technology; children's information choices for inclusion in a hypothetical, child constructed library; learning in the digital library; domain knowledge and children's search behavior; information seeking on the Web; information behavior in adolescent decision-making for careers; and adolescents' information seeking and utilization to drugs.--Reference and Research Book News

From the Publisher

In a thorough, well-organized presentation of what is needed to teach research adequately, but which few if any professionals have the resources or time-mostly time-to implement, Cool introduces the topic by providing a literature review of how children learned to use electronic resources during the 1980s and `90s. What follows are a dozen studies of search behavior in various environments, including what a research library should look like from a child's perspective. The reports move from studies of early elementary through adolescence, concluding with Chelton's take on what the future portends as well as a massive bibliography (in addition to extensive notes at the end of each research report). This volume would be an excellent addition to the school library curriculum at graduate schools, but most working librarians are likely to find the enormity of what must be done, compared to the time they are allotted to do it, a depressing experience without a resident Rumpelstiltskin to perform miracles.-Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal