Open AccessInformation-seeking processes of junior high school students: A case study of CD-ROM encyclopedia use
Author(s) -
Jennifer L. Branch
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
school libraries worldwide
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2816-3788
pISSN - 1023-9391
DOI - 10.29173/slw6765
Subject(s) - encyclopedia , cd rom , information seeking , mathematics education , focus (optics) , computer science , psychology , library science , physics , optics , operating system
The purpose of this research was to examine the information-seeking processes employed by junior high school students from Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada when using CD-ROM encyclopedias. The study revealed that participants needed both instruction and practice to develop the skills and strategies needed for full-text searching of CD-ROM encyclopedias. The participants tended to use search terms only from the original question, had difficulty selecting topics and articles from the retrieved list, and did not read long articles as carefully as short articles. Instruction related to information-seeking skills and strategies should focus on generating search terms, selecting topics from a retrieved list, and skimming and scanning through text to find the answer.