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7 Things You Should Know About

Information Seeking Behaviors and the Information Literacy Skills

of 21st Century Learners

Arlene H. Dawson

Reference and Information sources

FRIT-7136

Dr. Stephanie A. Jones

Georgia Southern University

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 As a part of black History Month in February, students in Mr. Bartlett¶s 7th grade social
studies class will research information about various African-Americans and present a research
paper and a choice of two other formats ( monologue, news article, timeline, information poster,
comic strip, television interview, ballad) featuring information on their research subject.
Students are expected to use a variety of research tools (books, periodicals, newsletters, reference
resources, websites, online subscription databases, audio and video recording) to gain
information. Students can contact living subjects and gain first-hand information through
interviews or surveys.

Mr. Bartlett and the language arts teacher will set up the team web page with information
about the project, the requirements, and helpful resources to guide the research. Sample research
papers and projects will be on display for students to explore. Rubrics for the research paper and
other formats will be provided to students at the beginning of the project. Students will present
their research papers online. Other formats will be presented in class using the technology
available.

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As seventh graders, students are expected to seek out information using all available
information literacy skills, tools and resources. They should employ the help of the media
specialists at the school and at the public library, teachers, parents, and others to seek out all
available information. Students should be able to plan effective strategies for locating,
identifying and using information gathered. Students should be able to locate, evaluate
information and select appropriate sources to answer questions. They should be able to select a
variety of credible sources in different formats. They should be able to read and evaluate the
information that they find based on accuracy, validity, and appropriateness for the assignments.
Students should be able to show engagement and initiative by asking questions and investigating
answers going beyond just the surface facts. Students follow ethical and legal guidelines in
gathering and using information. Students should be able to monitor their information seeking
process for effectiveness and progress and change or adapt as necessary.
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Mr. Bartlett¶s students consist of general and gifted level 7th grade students in a middle
school setting. The research abilities of the students vary widely. The students possess a wide
degree of multiple intelligences, and the project attempts to allow them to use their dominant
intelligences in the final products for the assignment. Some of the students are self starters and
independent workers, while others require a degree of monitoring to insure that their work is
completed. Many of the students need help with developing a plan with effective strategies to
aid them in their research. If they encounter road blocks to gaining the information needed, the
media specialist and instructor must be available to guide and engage them in seeking other
avenues for exploration. Attention, motivation and engagement are key ingredients to active
learning and higher order thinking (Bowler, 2001).

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The information seeking behaviors of this group of students vary; however, several behaviors
stand out as common for many of the students. 1) Students prefer computer or digital resources
to text sources. Even though students may be required to include books or text resources, they
frequently resisted using hard copy books in the media center for seeking their information.
Children have developed a comfort level with using technological resources and a preference for
digitally designed, hyper textual resources (Dresang, 1999). 2) Students display poor search
strategies and frequently have no plan for seeking and gaining information about subjects and
topics. Research shows that students using the Web for homework had no search strategies and
did not know how to formulate them (Dresang, 1999). 3) Students prefer pictures or visual clues
and fail to access text rich sources. Children need a portal that provides educational and
entertainment topics. The latter seemed to increase their motivation in seeking information. The
visual design of a successful portal for children included fun names, colorful backgrounds, and
well-laid out screens (Bilal, 2005).

4) Students like to browse and skim and fail to narrow in on required topics. Students read
many things on a superficial level. In the Bowler (2001) study, the students skimmed at such a
rapid pace that they frequently missed key information. Scanning the web is different from
scanning a book. The profusion of choices and links that the reader could make seemed to
encourage the browsing and skimming. 5) There is a heavy reliance on Yahoo, Yahooligans, and
Google for seeking information. Most students preferred the ease of use of search engines over
print sources, the ability to search by keywords, availability of graphics, convenience of access,
and fun. Some student comments were, ³Easy to find information«Type a word and it takes you
to a site« Click on information to find it´ (Bilal, 2005). 6) Students do not read information
carefully for accuracy, usefulness, and relevance. Students have traditionally been in school
situations where they assume that all information is ³good¶ and fail to see the need to discern
whether information is accurate, or relevant to the task at hand (Morrissette, 2007). 7) Students
do not revise their search options. When students encounter a road block they do not revise their
search strategies so that a more effective path might be taken (Silverstein, 2005).

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To be effective participants in our global world, the 21st century learner must be able to plan
effective strategy for seeking information. They must be able to locate, identify and use
information in the most effective ways. The 21st century learner must be able to read and
evaluate the accuracy, appropriateness and validity of sources. The learners must engage and use
inquiry to search new information in ethical and correct ways. The learner must let go of
ineffective traits that hinder their full participation in information skills implementation.

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These information seeking behaviors are important because our students are handicapped by
the lack of proper information literacy skills. They are left frustrated and do not receive the full
benefits of the lessons that we are trying to convey through the tasks that are assigned. They
cannot fully grasp the knowledge that is available for them in this media enriched environment in
which we now work and in which we will work and will be expected to fully function in the
future. As a media specialist, strategies for assessing critical literacy must be developed. The
Wikipedia demonstration by Morrissette (2007) and other inquiry focused lessons must be used
to model and demonstrate effective methods of inquiry.
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Strategies for finding the best information must be taught so that the needs of the students are
met. Teaching print informational literacy as well as online literacy will provide students with
the critical skills that they need. The school librarian and teachers must collaborate and institute
measures in their schools to make sure that this happens.

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As outlined by the AASL ›



  
, there is an understanding of
the importance of fostering development of information-seeking and information literacy
skills because they will lead to more productive research behaviors and better products. In
the foundations of beliefs outlined in the above document, it states, ³ Information literacy,
the use of technology, critical thinking, and ethical decision making all have a basis in skills
and actualization in the behaviors that students choose to exhibit-from seeking diverse
perspectives, to evaluating information, to using technology appropriately, to applying
information literacy skills to using multiple formats.´ It is paramount, that we, who
proscribe to the above beliefs, take our responsibilities to heart and do all that we can to
make sure the 21st century learner is successful.


 References

American Association of School Librarians. (2009). ›

 

  


 Chicago, Ill: American Association of School Librarians.

Bilal, D. (2005). Children's information seeking and the design of digital interfaces in the
affective paradigm. 
, (2), 197-208. Retrieved from Academic
Search Complete database.

Bowler, L., Large, A., & Rejskind, G. (2001). Primary school students, information
literacy and the Web.  

,
(3), 201. Retrieved from
Academic Search Complete database.

Dresang, E. (1999). More Research Needed: Informal Information-Seeking Behavior of

Youth on the Internet.  
 
› 
›,
 (12), 1123-1124. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Dresang, E. (2005). The information-seeking behavior of youth in the digital

environment. 
, (2), 178-196. Retrieved from Academic Search
Complete database.

Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Jamali, H., Rowlands, I., & Fieldhouse, M. (2009). Student
digital information-seeking behaviour in context.  
! 
,
"(1), 106-132. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Morrissette, R. (2007). What do they know?. #$%&  , '(5), 14-17. Retrieved
from Academic Search Complete database.

Silverstein, J. (2005). Just curious: children's use of digital reference for unimposed
queries and its importance in informal education. 
, (2), 228-244.
Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.