JIBS User Group Workshop 13th November 2008

Information seeking behaviour in the Google Age

Maggie FieldhouseCIBERSchool of Library, Archive and Information StudiesUniversity College, London

The Google Report

• BL/JISC funded

• Effects of digital transition

• Information seeking behaviour

CIBER’s study

• Literature reviews of academic researchers information seeking behaviour– Pre 1990 (Generation X, Baby

Boomers)– 1990-1993 (Generation Y)– Post 1993 (Google Generation)

• Longitudinal studies• Log analysis• Review of new technologies

Digital Natives

• Implications for libraries and information providers in a post-web-world

• Digital literacy• Information seeking• Information literacy

Information seeking behaviour

• How different is the Google Generation?

• Will they seek information in new ways?

• Does technology matter?• What is the impact of ICT

on older generations?

Hype, Myths and Assumptions

• Hype– Google is the answer to everything– The Google Generation is expert at using technology

• Myths– Not all young people use the internet all the time– Older generations are less competent

• Assumptions – Search engines are the preferred means of finding information– Search results are fit for purpose– Instant, 24/7 access is expected– Search engines are more relevant to students

CIBER has found overwhelming evidence that………

• EVERYONE – students, professors, lecturers and practioners – exhibits bouncing/flicking behaviour, searching horizontally rather than vertically. Power browsing and viewing is the norm

This raises concerns about………………

• The demise of creative and independent thinking

• Self directed learning• The role of libraries • Use of library resources• Information skill levels• Plagiarism and respect

for copyright and intellectual property

……Education

• Information skills need to be developed at an early age

• University is too late• Scholarly behaviour has

become promiscuous diverse and volatile

• Academic perceptions of information seeking

“White bread for the mind”

• Tara Brabazon delivers a scathing attack on attack on the lack of skill and judgement displayed by her undergraduates with regard to their handling and evaluation of information.

Quote from David Loertscher, writing on ‘The digital school library’ in Teacher Librarian (30 (5), June 2003)

“Search engines such as Google are so easy

and immediate that many young people, faced with a research assignment, just ‘google’ their way through the internet rather than struggle through the hoops of a more traditional library environment”

Information space: a black hole?

• Conceptual map– Linear – horizontal– Sequential – unordered– Structured – formless

• What’s NOT found– The iceberg effect

• Search failure– Spelling (typing)

mistakes– Search strategies– Shared vocabularies– Lack of evaluation of

results

Search engines work in different ways!

Information literacy: does it matter?

• Lifelong learning• Independent learning• Expectations of Higher Education• Role of schools• Closing the gap between actual

performance and perceived skills

Information provision

• Investigate user behaviour and preferences – Making library research

more rewarding and exciting

• Market research– Know your users

Information provision

• Access to library resources– Making content easier to

use– Making systems as

intuitive to use as Google• Complexity of search

interfaces– Inconsistent search

functions– Inconsistent refining

mechanisms– Inconsistent terminology

JIBS User Group Workshop 13th November 2008

Thank you

m.fieldhouse@ucl.ac.uk