Research into young people's information‐seeking: perspectives and methods

Abstract

Despite the fact that effective information skills are a prerequisite for young people in today's society, relatively little is known about how youngsters actually find information. The existing knowledge base on the subject is scanty and piecemeal, and few efforts have been made to explore, as an entirety, studies of young people's information‐seeking and to isolate the methods, perspectives and strategies that researchers have adopted. Examination of these areas can alert prospective investigators to issues that they should explore and approaches that they might wish to take in their own work. Matters for consideration include the purposes of past studies, the specific focuses that have been under scrutiny, the techniques that have been employed for gathering and analysing data, and stances that have been taken with regard to the generalisablility/transferability of findings.