Andrew D. Madden

Children's use of the internet for information‐seeking: What strategies do they use, and what factors affect their performance?

Purpose – A common criticism of research into information seeking on the internet is that information seekers are restricted by the demands of the researcher. Another criticism is that the search topics, are often imposed by the researcher, and; particularly when working with children, domain knowledge could be as important as information‐seeking skills. The research reported here attempts to address both these problems.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 15 children, aged 11 to 16, were each set three “think aloud” internet searches. In the first, they were asked to recall the last time they had sought information on the internet, and to repeat the search. For the second, they were given a word, asked to interpret it, then asked to search for their interpretation. For the third, they were asked to recall the last time they had been unsuccessful in a search, and to repeat the search. While performing each task, the children were encouraged to explain their actions.Findings – The paper finds that the ...

Educational informatics: an emerging research agenda

This paper discusses educational informatics as a research field and provides an overview of the scope of work in this, and closely related, areas by members of the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield. Current work in Sheffield focuses on the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in universities and schools, seeking to understand the effects of using ICTs in educational practice on learners, teachers and learning support staff. It also seeks to develop practical knowledge of relevance to the design and facilitation of ICT-enabled learning environments. The paper highlights the interdisciplinary nature of this research, and discusses theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that are being used by Sheffield researchers. It concludes by suggesting that library and information science has a distinctive contribution to make to the study of ICT-enabled learning, and that there is a need for further discussion within the literature of this emergent field of inquiry.

Information resources used by children at an English secondary school: Perceived and actual levels of usefulness

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to study the information‐seeking habits of children at an English secondary school. Data from two different research exercises were collated in order to provide an insight into how students perceived and used a range of information resources.Design/methodology/approach – In the first research exercise, groups of children from each academic year were asked to discuss a set of information resources and to rank them according to perceived usefulness. In the second, students were asked to report, throughout the school year, on the resources they used to complete homework assignments.Findings – The findings from these two exercises are best interpreted by using them to provide the answers to three questions: Which information resources did students consider to be the most useful? Which information resources did students use the most? When an information resource was referred to, how likely was it that students found it to be useful? The rankings differed considerably, ...

Countering method bias in questionnaire‐based user studies

Purpose – This paper seeks to discuss reliability problems associated with questionnaires, commonly employed in library and information science. It aims to focus on the effects of “common method variance” (CMV), which is a form of bias, and ways of countering these effects.Design/methodology/approach – The paper critically reviews the use of existing tools for demonstrating reliability in questionnaire‐based studies. In particular, it focuses on Cronbachs alpha, “Harmans single factor test” and Lindell and Whitneys “marker variable” approach. The paper introduces an illustrative case study based on the work on metacognition and web searching. It goes on to make recommendations for researchers considering using a questionnaire‐based approach.Findings – CMV is a problem affecting questionnaire‐based studies in different disciplines across social and information science. Where questionnaire items are more abstract, CMV has been found to be more of a problem. The widely used Cronbach alpha measure, of the ...

Web searching by the “general public”: an individual differences perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a number of human individual differences on the web searching of a sample of the general public.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 91 members of the general public performed 195 controlled searches. Search activity and ratings of search difficulty and success were recorded and statistically analysed. The study was exploratory, and sought to establish whether there is a prima facie case for further systematic investigation of the selection and combination of variables studied here.Findings – Results revealed a number of interactions between individual differences, the use of different search strategies, and levels of perceived search difficulty and success. The findings also suggest that the open and closed nature of searches may affect these interactions. A conceptual model of these relationships is presented.Practical implications – Better understanding of factors affecting searching may help one to develop more effective search support...

Evolution and information

The association between life and information is discussed. Information is considered to be “a stimulus which expands or amends the World View of the informed”. Using this definition, the standard chain of evolutionary development is reconsidered. It is proposed that information was derived from the environment as a direct result of the evolution of organisms that used other organisms as a food source. Only with the evolution of sexual reproduction did it become necessary for organisms to be aware of others of the same species. It is argued that one of the consequences of the evolution of different sexes is that often, prospective mates had to evolve means of communication, making it possible for animals to expand their World Views by other means. Such reinterpretation of evolutionary thinking has numerous implications for the information scientist. Some of these are discussed.

Methodological approaches in web search research

Purpose – This paper seeks to review the methodologies employed by researchers working in the field of information seeking on the web. It aims to present an overall picture of the research methods used in the area, in a way that will be of value to anyone seeking to design research‐based studies of web searching.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the past 11 years of research on information seeking on the web was carried out. The paper focuses mainly on the methodological approaches adopted by researchers, but, where relevant, studies of different aspects of user interaction with web‐based search tools are considered.Findings – The area is growing fast and the number of studies has been increasing steadily. A variety of research methods was employed in the studies reviewed here. However, the emphasis to date has been on quantitative rather than qualitative methods. The paper argues that a better balance is needed between these two approaches.Research limitations/implications – Web search research c...

Towards “metacognitively aware” IR systems: an initial user study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe: a new taxonomy of metacognitive skills designed to support the study of metacognition in the context of web searching; a data collection instrument based on the taxonomy; and the results of testing the instrument on a sample of university students and staff.Design/methodology/approach – The taxonomy is based on a review of the literature, and is extended to cover web searching. This forms the basis for the design of the data collection instrument, which is tested with 405 students and staff of Sheffield University.Findings – Subjects regard the range of metacognitive skills focused on as broadly similar. However, a number of significant differences in reported metacognition usage relating to age, gender and discipline.Practical implications – These findings contribute to the long‐term aims of the research which are to: develop a model of the actual and potential role of metacognition in web searching, and identify strategic “metacognitive interventions” ...

Information Behavior in Pre-literate Societies

This chapter arose from an exchange of ideas between a former life scientist, a former archaeologist, and a member of the Kope tribe, a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. All three now work in fields related to information sciences. It discusses how notions of information have been dominated by text-based information sources, and considers how one group of people (the Kope) managed information in the absence of any awareness of text. The study explores how the Kopi relate to information, how they use it, and where they get it from. It summarises the findings as six information roles. These are related to contemporary situations.

A New Generation Gap? Some Thoughts on the Consequences of Early ICT First Contact

One possible consequence of information and communication technology’s rapid rise will be a new ‘generation gap’ arising from differing perceptions of the learning technologies. The nature, causes, and consequences of this gap are of interest to educational practitioners and policymakers. This article uses data from an ongoing project, together with a synopsis of research, to describe the ICT-based generation gap that currently exists between students and their teachers and parents. It is argued that this gap may exist between students differing in age by as little as five years. Results from a related project exploring Networked Information and Communication Literacy Skills (NICLS) are used to introduce a discussion on the nature of any skills gap that must be addressed in light of this generation gap.