Information-Seeking Behavior in Generation Y

Students: Motivation, Critical Thinking, and

Learning Theory
by Angela Weiler
Available online 2 November 2004

Research in information-seeking behavior, INTRODUCTION

motivation, critical thinking, and learning Much commentary has been circulating in academe regarding
theory was explored and compared in a search the research skills, or lack thereof, in members of ‘‘Generation
Y,’’ the generation born between 1980 and 1994. The students
for possible motivating factors behind students’ currently on college campuses, as well as those due to arrive in
dependence on television and the Internet for the next few years, have grown up in front of electronic
their information needs. The research indicates screens: television, movies, video games, computer monitors. It
that only a very small percentage of the general has been said that student critical thinking and other cognitive
skills (as well as their physical well-being) are suffering
population prefer to learn by reading. because of the large proportion of time spent in sedentary
pastimes, passively absorbing words and images, rather than in
reading.
It may be that students’ cognitive skills are not fully
developing due to ubiquitous electronic information technolo-
gies. However, it may also be that academe, and indeed the
entire world, is currently in the middle of a massive and wide-
ranging shift in the way knowledge is disseminated and
learned.
THE ROOTS OF INFORMATION-SEEKING RESEARCH
Information seeking has been studied since the 1950s, but these
early studies involved mostly the information-seeking activities
of researchers and scientists. Information seeking has only been
studied in the general population, and particularly within
student groups, in the past 20 years or so.
The first model for study of information-seeking behavior in
the general population was developed by James Krikelas in
1983. This model suggested that the steps of information
seeking were as follows: (1) perceiving a need, (2) the search
itself, (3) finding the information, and (4) using the informa-
tion, which results in either satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Krikelas stated that ‘‘information seeking begins when some-
one perceives that the current state of knowledge is less than
that needed to deal with some issue (or problem). The process
ends when that perception no longer exists.’’1 Krikelas’ model
is clearly a linear one, and Eisenberg and Brown have
suggested that it lacks complexity and flexibility necessary to
Angela Weiler is Public Services Librarian, adequately address the topic.2 It is interesting, however, to note
Coulter Library, Onondaga Community College, that this model states that information seeking is based on
4941 Onondaga Road, Syracuse, ‘‘need,’’ a concept which is closely related to motivation and
NY 13215, United States consequently to many theories of learning, which will be
bweilera@sunyocc.eduN. examined later in this article.

46 The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 31, Number 1, pages 46–53

 A second model developed by Carol C. Kuhlthau of Rutgers are usually less effective than intrinsic rewards.7 In fact, there
University stresses a process approach with an emphasis placed have actually been negative correlations found between the
on cognitive skills; as they increase, so does information- number of extrinsic motivators used and student performance.8
seeking effectiveness. This model is one of the few that was Some other related motivational components that are
developed based on actual research and not simply on practical important to keep in mind when considering information
experience. Kuhlthau’s model goes beyond the actions of seeking are level of effort, expectations, and curiosity. The
seeking and looks at the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the ARCS model utilizes these components to finally provide a
seeker as they go through their process. It is based on a strong framework that is often used in designing instruction to
longitudinal study of a group of high school students as well as enhance motivation levels. ARCS stands for attention, rele-
additional studies using larger, more diverse groups of students vance, confidence, and satisfaction and gives the instructor
and two additional smaller longitudinal studies. The model she responsibility for designing lessons around these areas and thus
described is valid across the user groups studied. Kuhlthau’s increasing student motivation.9 The ARCS model can also be
model includes cognitive issues and also feelings which arise applied when designing lessons in information seeking.
during information seeking: confusion, anxiety, doubt, con-
fidence, etc.3 CRITICAL THINKING
While Krikelas and even Kuhlthau’s models are for the most Critical thinking is a process that is widely acknowledged in
part linear processes, component-based models have also been the literature to be crucial to the learning process, to cognitive
suggested. Eisenberg and Berkowitz proposed a model based development, and to effective information seeking. Most
on the ‘‘Big Six Skills’’—task definition, information seeking, college faculty and librarians are painfully aware of how often
implementation, use, synthesis, and evaluation. Their model is students seem to be incapable of thinking critically about
flexible and nonlinear in the same way that hypertext is, coursework in general, and about information needs or
allowing for different areas and avenues to be explored out of information resources in particular. Evaluation and effective
sequence. In addition, seekers can go back to refine and use of information in any form is impossible without the use of
reidentify the information need, implementing new strategies. critical thinking, and so the level and quality of critical
Thus, the ‘‘Big Six Skills’’ may be a more appropriate way to thinking are of primary concern when speaking of information-
study information seeking and are also a better fit with the seeking behavior in Generation Y students.
more flexible of the learning theories and cognitive develop- The issue of critical thinking cannot be separated from how
ment theory.4 students view their information universe, and the Grinnell
The literature of information-seeking often refers to College study is particularly informative in this regard.10
motivation, critical thinking, and learning theory, so it is Students were questioned over several semesters about what
necessary to examine the core research in those areas in order they perceived as good reasons for discussing certain sensitive
to fully understand the complexity of information-seeking topics such as diversity issues on campus. Those students
behavior in Generation Y students. holding strong views on such topics cited their strongly held
views as their main reason for discussing these topics, as
MOTIVATION opposed to being motivated by the prospect of learning more or
The importance of motivation in information science research seeking information about the issues or the viewpoints of
has been recognized by few researchers other than Kuhlthau.5 others. Conversely, not having a strong viewpoint (as well as
However, a short overview of motivation theories clarifies the the difficulty level of the subject matter or having a lack of
important role motivation plays in information-seeking knowledge in that area) was given by students as a reason for
behavior. not wanting to discuss the topic. Here we can see that the
Abraham Maslow’s ‘‘hierarchy of needs’’ identified five students’ efforts at discussion and information seeking, at least
basic needs—physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and from peers, were limited to sharing information that they felt a
self-actualization—each one becoming a motivator after the familiarity with and of which they possessed prior knowledge.
need preceding it has been satisfied. In a campus setting, In discussion with peers, students rarely shared new informa-
clearly physiological and safety needs are for the most part tion they had located independently, or formulated new
provided; the other needs are in an ongoing process of being opinions using new information, both of which methods would
addressed at varying levels. require extensive use of critical thinking skills. Students seemed
McClelland’s ‘‘Theory of Achievement Motivation’’ identi- to relate verbal interaction with peers, then, to be equivalent to
fies three needs that are not hierarchical: the need for achieve- advocacy and not to be information seeking at all, and indeed
ment, for affiliation, and for power. One of these needs is usually they appeared to prefer it that way. From their viewpoint, the
dominant in any given person and thus drives their actions; main purpose of discussion was to convince others of the
some people are ‘‘achievers’’ and function best independently; validity of their viewpoint, and not to collect new information.
some need socialization and thrive in group projects, and others In the Grinnell study, only 5 out of 200 students, or 2.5%,
gravitate toward power and leadership positions.6 viewed discussion (i.e., verbal information gathering) as a way
Intrinsic–extrinsic orientation is related to behaviorism and to gather and/or explore new information.
thus to motivation, but is more detailed in that it allows for
varying levels of reward, both internal and external. Thus, it
theorizes that some people create their own rewards, such as ’’The issue of critical thinking cannot be
satisfaction of curiosity or simply interest in a given topic. The
reward for these motivations then is satisfaction and feelings of separated from how students view their
accomplishment or control. External rewards are the more information universe.‘‘
traditional rewards such as praise or a prize of some sort and

January 2005 47
 In addition, the study found a strong bias in favor of development, and indeed the results of the Grinnell study
knowledge collected through personal experiences, or by discussed above make perfect sense in the context of Perry’s
talking with others about the others’ personal experiences, scheme.
rather than from disinterested information sources such as A more effective lesson on Internet information then,
research studies or statistics. Only about 13% of students rather than specifically dwelling on ‘‘good’’ and ‘‘bad’’
acknowledged scholarly information such as research studies to Web sites, would be to present actual examples and to raise
be an important source of knowledge for them. questions rather than giving answers, opening the student
And lastly, students in the Grinnell study felt that up to the next level intellectual development, ‘‘multi-
having their own knowledge and/or opinions challenged, or plicity.’’ Multiplicity is the ability to acknowledge that
even questioned, was undesirable and created discomfort, the world contains knowledge that the student cannot yet
which should be avoided. They felt that the search for classify as right or wrong, knowledge which requires
common ground and consensus should always take prece- further study and thought (the so-called ‘‘gray area’’). The
dence over disagreement and debate, regardless of the student progresses from dualism to multiplicity as they
issues or the possibility of new information to be learned. encounter more and more diversity and legitimate uncer-
Interestingly, 25% of the women claimed the right as part tainty in the world, facts or occurrences that cannot be
of a diverse community to not have their opinions easily answered or explained. It is at this point that critical
challenged at all, as opposed to only 6% of the men. In thinking has its roots; the student must use more complex
fact, other statements in the study suggested that the men reasoning to determine the validity or nonvalidity of any
fully expected that their views would be challenged by given piece of information.
others. This ability or inability to accept dissonance will be The student moves from multiplicity to ‘‘contextual relativ-
seen in other research among students as well and is ism’’ when the knowledge characterized as multiplicitous
attributed by researchers to students being at various stages begins to outweigh the knowledge that is thought to be either
of cognitive development. right or wrong, or dualistic. The student begins to see the world
In direct contrast to the Grinnell study, other studies refer as primarily relativistic and context-bound, rather than as a
to the introduction of ‘‘motivational dispositions’’ as being world of black-and-white facts. Slowly over these last two
essential to the employment of critical thinking, and cite such periods, critical thinking begins to develop and is used more
attributes as inquisitiveness, concern for being well informed, and more frequently.12
open mindedness, flexibility, understanding of opinions of Considering Perry’s work, and from reading the
others, fair mindedness, willingness to reconsider, and anecdotal student comments he recorded in his study, we
reasonableness as reflective of this motivation. As the can see that not all college students come to college at the
students in the Grinnell study showed few of these traits, it same levels of critical thinking ability, or even at the same
may well be that critical thinking becomes of secondary level of intellectual development, regardless of academic
importance when presented with emotionally charged and standing.
personally sensitive subject matter such as campus diversity
issues. It may also be that face-to-face, verbal information LEARNING THEORY
seeking may also affect the propensity to use critical thinking Learning Theory is an offshoot of motivational theory. As
skills.11 most educators are already painfully aware, students will
The most realistic appraisal of this apparent conflict in data only seek information and learn if they are motivated to do
would come from the research of psychologist William Perry. so. The difficult part is to discover the answer to the age-
By surveying Harvard undergraduates, he gradually developed old question of what motivates students. Educators have
a scheme of ethical and intellectual development and theorized often turned to motivational theory in their attempts to
that intellectual development undergoes a series of steps, answer this question, and the following are a few of the
eventually reaching the stage wherein critical thinking occurs more prominent theories closely related to motivation and
on a regular basis. thus to learning.
Perry’s scheme begins with ‘‘dualism,’’ which is the belief
that information is either right or wrong (i.e., ‘‘You’re either Behavior Theory
with me or against me’’). Dualism begins early in intellectual This theory, first developed by B. F. Skinner in the 1950s,
development and often is reflected in the system of beliefs uses the concepts of ‘‘positive’’ and ‘‘negative’’ reinforce-
and acquired knowledge and viewpoints that a student brings ment to control behavior. This theory explains learning
with them to college from secondary school and is charac- behavior very simply: Reward students who perform well,
terized by the need for an authority figure to transmit and punish students who do not. Behaviorist theory, although
knowledge and beliefs. Independent or even collaborative certainly observed among student populations, does not
learning is difficult for students at this stage. In this phase, explain all learning (i.e., learning that takes place without
students view teachers and other adults as ‘‘authorities,’’ and overtly rewarding the behavior) and so has fallen increas-
on the information provided by them as either ‘‘good’’ or ingly out of favor in recent years. In addition, behavior
‘‘bad,’’ creating either ‘‘good authorities’’ or ‘‘bad author- learned by this method has been found to be easily changed
ities,’’ depending on whether or not they agree or disagree later on when conditions change or additional information is
with the teacher’s information. Students in the dualistic phase encountered.13
of intellectual development are thus particularly unsuited for
lessons the evils of the Internet, a source they view as ‘‘good’’ Control Theory
information. Anyone who has worked with college freshmen The ‘‘Control Theory’’ of behavior was developed by
will most likely be familiar with this dualistic phase of William Glasser. The theory states that, rather than being a

48 The Journal of Academic Librarianship

response to outside stimulus, behavior is determined by what people who are professionally affiliated with education and
a person wants or needs at any given time, and any given libraries.18
behavior is an attempt to address basic human needs such as
love, freedom, power, etc. Thus, if the desired behavior
addresses students needs, the students will respond. If
students appear to be unmotivated to perform, it is because ’’. . . it could be argued that in heavily relying
the rules, assignments, etc., are viewed by them as irrelevant upon television, the Internet, videos/DVDs,
to their ‘‘basic human needs.’’ Glasser has shown that a
majority of students recognize when the work they are doing
and other primarily visual sources of
is irrelevant ‘‘busy work,’’ even if they perform well because information, students may simply be using the
of incentives and even when the teacher uses praise as an modes of information seeking that are the
incentive. Many students will reject such empty work most efficient and . . . effective . . . for their
altogether.14
particular learning styles.‘‘
Learning Styles
The concept of people having different ‘‘Learning Styles’’
originated in the work of psychologist Carl Jung, who first An interest in active learning techniques has come to the
proposed the theory of different ‘‘personality types.’’ This forefront in recent years in an attempt to teach more to those
theory was expanded to education by determining that these students relying on other types of intelligence to learn. There
personality types have varying ways of learning. The have been reports of appreciable increases in posttest scores as
Myers–Briggs Personality Analysis test, developed by Isabel opposed to pretest scores when the teaching methods were
Myers and Katherine Briggs, was developed using Jung’s changed to address other types of intelligence. For instance, a
theory of personality types in an effort to determine what change to active learning activities (kinesthetic learning)
type any given individual is. The personality type then increased such posttest scores by 28.74%, and simply changing
determines the learning style of a given individual. Jung from a purely textual handout to one which used analogies and
determined 16 personality types by weighing the degree in charts instead (visual learning) also increased participation and
which the following four main areas of personality dominate posttest scores. Adding to the argument for teaching to learning
a given person’s behavior: extraverted or introverted; style is the fact that students for the most part retain only about
learning mainly by use of the senses or by intuition; 10% of what they read, but they retain 20–30% of what they
learning mainly by thinking or by feeling; and learning see.19 These figures may account for students’ strong prefer-
mainly by judging or by perceiving. To be effective, ence for visual modes of information seeking (e.g., a television
teaching styles would have to be modified to accommodate or a computer screen). Indeed, it could be argued that in heavily
these multiple learning styles.15,16 relying upon television, the Internet, videos/DVDs, and other
primarily visual sources of information, students may simply
Multiple Intelligences be using the modes of information seeking that are the most
Psychologist Howard Gardner developed the theory of efficient and the most effective ones for their particular learning
‘‘Multiple Intelligences.’’ Although Gardner’s theory is styles.
related to Jung’s personality theory, Gardner’s theory relates
more directly to intelligence rather than to personality. INFORMATION-SEEKING BEHAVIOR
Gardner states that there are different skill sets that Motivation and critical thinking, along with the learning
individuals use in problem solving, and that these skill sets theories above—behavior, control issues, multiple intelligen-
represent distinctly different types of intelligence. Gardner ces, and learning styles—become more meaningful as we begin
states that intelligence is comprised of a group of different to look at the literature on information seeking itself. Clearly,
abilities, which originate in the stages of development each there are many intellectual and emotional factors at work when
person passes through as they grow to adulthood. He a Generation Y student is seeking information.
identifies seven such intelligences—verbal–linguistic, logi- Although a large number of studies have been done on
cal–mathematical, visual–spatial, body–kinesthetic, musical– information-seeking behavior, the process itself is still largely a
rhythmic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal—but he suggests mystery. As is clear from the material just covered, learning
that there are probably more.17 theories, motivational factors, behavioral considerations, intel-
Traditional education has heavily favored only two of lectual development, and personality types are all factors in the
these areas: verbal–linguistic and logical–mathematical. The information-seeking process, making it a highly complex
lecture, teaching by rote memorization, and other timeworn one.20 Although recently researchers have been expressing
classroom methods obviously favor students who use the need for more qualitative research in studies of this type,21
verbal–linguistic and logical–mathematical skills most often quantitative and/or longitudinal studies on generalized infor-
in problem solving (e.g., the SAT test). Thus, people who mation seeking are also scarce, particularly in student
solve problems visually (visual–spatial—artists, for instance) populations.
or who have to actually do an activity to learn or to solve a However, to get a better feel for how students approach
problem (body–kinesthetic) would be at a distinct disadvant- information seeking, we shall begin by considering a focus
age in the traditional classroom setting. Indeed, educators group study done at the University of Idaho Library. This study
recognized years ago that only a very small percentage of was exceptional in that it made an effort to examine
the general population prefer to learn by reading, and that information seeking of all types, not just in the context of
small percentage, not surprisingly, is comprised mainly of academic research or the library. Although the study was done

January 2005 49
by librarians, their purpose was to examine the broadest they viewed as more important. (‘‘More time to play’’ is how
possible range of information-seeking behavior and attitudes. one student put it.) Unless there is an intrinsic or extrinsic
For this reason, they did not mention the word ‘‘library’’ in any motivation of some kind, or the research is of crucial importance
of the questions asked, and all of the groups but one met in to them on a personal or professional basis, students have no
nonlibrary settings. A neutral moderator was used as well.22 ‘‘need’’ to obtain high-quality information resources, harkening
The researchers were concerned about the ‘‘general infor- back once again to both Maslow and Glasser.
mation seeking’’ aspect of their study primarily because most When asked to describe a ‘‘dream information machine,’’
of the research already done in this area has been done in the groups consistently imagined a machine that was a ‘‘mind
highly specific areas. Studies have been done on students reader,’’ that was ‘‘intuitive,’’ and could determine their
seeking information in specific subject areas such as geog- information needs without them having to verbalize them.
raphy23 or nursing,24 or on the differences among students Clearly, both students and faculty realize the difficulty of
seeking information in different disciplinary areas.25 Studies verbalizing complex information needs, and although they
have also been done on the use of specific information think themselves to be clear in their minds as to what they
resources such as the Internet or online catalogs, and on need, they still wish there was some mechanism that could see
specific user groups such as ‘‘mature undergraduates’’ (i.e., what they envisioned their needs to be instead of having to
those over 21 years old),26 ‘‘nontraditional undergraduates,’’27 sacrifice accuracy during verbalization.
multicultural students,28 or the homeless.29 However, the This ‘‘dream machine’’ would also be a one-stop source for
researchers at Idaho University Library wanted their study to information needs, using voice recognition and natural
remain as general as possible, using undergraduates seeking language to search to return a comprehensive collection of
information of any type, in any location or resource. information sources. ‘‘Portability’’ and ubiquitous access 24/7
This study illuminated a number of very useful points. First were also important qualities in such a machine. It is difficult to
of all, students often cited human beings as frequently cited imagine such a machine ever being developed; however, the
sources of information, both people they knew and strangers as authors remarked on the similarity between many of the criteria
well. Although some preferred to find information on their and a reference librarian.33
own, many expressed the preference to discuss information Considering all of this data and research, particularly the
needs with a ‘‘real person’’ rather than find all of the needed propensity for visual learning and the concerns over time spent
information on their own. (This brings to mind the ‘‘author- exhibited by Generation Y students, it comes as no surprise to
ities’’ that Perry discussed.) Students would appear to be find that they will usually go to the Internet first, whether it be
initially seeking ‘‘sources of truth’’ (i.e., Good Authorities) for personal, academic, or professional information. This has
rather than information per se. been confirmed again and again in research studies such as
The most interesting and perhaps even the most useful John Lubans’ various studies at Duke University from 1997 to
information coming from this focus group study is the criteria the present.34 D’Esposito and Gardner found in 1999 that 40–
these students use when discussing their information ‘‘needs,’’ 50% of the subjects in their study used the Internet on a weekly
which as we saw from Glasser’s Control Theory are crucial in basis,35 and the Pew Internet study in 2002 found that 71% of
defining what students will learn. High on their lists of needs college students said they used the Internet as a major source of
when seeking information were ease of use, reliability, information.36
accuracy, currency, availability, and cost. Other terms they Looking at how faculty are dealing with this phenomenon,
mentioned as being important to them were trust, quality, Susan Herring’s study of faculty acceptance of student use of
credibility, validity, completeness, and comprehensiveness; but the Internet in class work found that 73% of faculty accepting
these were secondary to the first group. student use of the Internet in assignments accepted such use
Whereas obstacles to the obtaining of information in the past with no criteria or limits attached regarding the accuracy or
were simply not having physical access to the information quality of the Web sites students used.37 It is assumed that this
(‘‘the book wasn’t on the shelf,’’ or wasn’t available at all), lack of discrimination or guidance among faculty regarding
‘‘infoglut’’ and questionable validity were cited as the most student information resources would remove one motivating
common current obstacles to finding information. Not being factor students would have for seeking accurate, high-quality
able to determine where a Web site came from or whether or information. Clearly, the time factor which Young and Seggern
not it was accurate was also of primary concern to students in found in their focus group study to be of paramount concern
this study.30 The fact that these students questioned the validity applies to faculty as well as students; checking the Web sites
of Internet information at all is encouraging and seems to students are using or providing criteria or specific sites to use is
reveal a multiplistic view of information among these particular time consuming. Conversely, if time is of such concern to
students. It had been previously found that Generation Y students, it is not surprising that they would be drawn to
students tend to overrate their abilities a great deal when it Internet use, as it takes no time at all find information on a
comes to finding information on the Internet.31,32 topic on the Internet if concern for accuracy is not a factor.38
Regarding criteria for information seeking, the concern for Unfortunately, most data collected on student information
time spent locating information was brought up the most often seeking using the Internet has been collected by asking
across the board, among undergraduates, graduate students, and students how often they use the Internet, how they would rate
faculty. It was considered to be both of great importance and their own skills at information seeking, etc. As has already
also in undersupply. Indeed, they rated most information- been noted,39 conflicting statements and inaccuracies show that
seeking experiences based on how much time they took, and students tend to overrate their Internet skills and experience,
often will accept inappropriate information or information of presumably because the Internet is regarded as a ‘‘cool’’
lower quality if finding it takes less time. They referred to medium, which students are expected to know about in great
information seeking as taking time away from other things that detail. Even the OCLC white paper on the information habits of

50 The Journal of Academic Librarianship

college students found that although two thirds of students felt used the most often (67%), with electronic books (21%) and
strongly that they know best what Internet information to use online reference (6%) being used the least often. However, a
for assignments, only half agree completely that information on full 90% of students also use their library’s print resources.
the Internet is acceptable for assignments.40 While acknowledging the demographic limitations of the Duke
A number of other interesting findings in this OCLC paper study, the OCLC study still made several references to it.45
include the fact that 88% of students state they are less likely to When studying general, across-the-board information seek-
pay for information; and although 80% of students are ing, the term used is ‘‘everyday life information seeking’’ or
bothered at least somewhat by advertising on Web sites, only ELIS, made popular in information research by Reijo
20% believe that ad-free Web sites have are likely to have more Savolainen in the framework he developed for such study in
reliable information that sites with advertising. The Internet 1995. Although not specifically targeted at students, Savolai-
falls somewhat short of meeting student performance expect- nen’s framework has been acknowledged to be seminal in the
ations in all areas (particularly currency and accuracy) except field of information seeking. Two major dimensions of this
‘‘ease of use’’ and ‘‘self-service,’’ where performance of Web framework are seeking ‘‘orienting’’ information and seeking
resources equals the importance students place on those ‘‘practical’’ information, two areas that are important to keep in
qualities. Also interesting is the finding yet again that four mind when considering students’ information seeking.46
out of five students are more likely to seek face-to-face help Perhaps the most interesting of the recent studies in
with assignments rather than online or phone help; few information seeking are the studies done by Ethelene Whitmire
students mentioned using an ‘‘Ask a librarian’’ service.41 on the effects of prior (epistemological) beliefs on information
There are a number of flaws apparent in some quantitative seeking. Her findings have indicated that students at higher
studies of students use of the Internet. First of all, they are often levels of epistemological development (i.e., who have moved
conducted online, skewing results in favor of students who are from a dualistic world view to a multiplistic or relativistic world
already heavy users of the medium. Secondly, because random view) are better able to handle conflicting information and to
samples have for the most part not been used, these studies use critical thinking to determine authority and accuracy.47,48
have tended to use groups of students who are fairly
homogenous either academically, ethnically, or economically, CONCLUSIONS
thus skewing results and missing possibly important factors Information seeking is a highly subjective process, one which
such as the effects of the ‘‘digital divide’’ on student students approach with prior knowledge, strongly held
experiences with the Internet. The Lubans studies in particular opinions, and differing levels of cognitive development. From
used students from Duke University, whom we can assume the research it is apparent that, aside from personal precon-
come from different backgrounds both economically and ceptions, issues of time and levels of difficulty in obtaining
academically from the average American college student.42 information are usually of more concern to students than issues
Studies using quantitative methods such as citation analysis of accuracy. It is still unclear, however, whether this is because
to study student information seeking are few and far between.43 they are not concerned about the accuracy unless their
Although many studies have been done over the past 20 or 30 instructor is, or because they are assuming most information
years using citation analysis, only one was completed since the is by nature accurate. The casual ease with which students
Internet has become so widely used by students. Malone and accept information as being either true or false, particularly
Videon found in that study that only 7% of students’ citations while they are still in the dualistic phase of cognitive
were from the Internet, although this has probably changed development, would tend to bear out the last assumption.
dramatically in recent years.44 The source of the information (i.e., information from a ‘‘good
authority’’) takes precedence over the information itself, thus
saving time and effort by not having to think critically to verify
information.
’’Studies using quantitative methods such as Although the amount of available research is overwhelm-
citation analysis to study student information ing, one can see clear trends emerging from both quantitative
and qualitative studies, and particularly from focus group
seeking are few and far between.‘‘ information:
! Generation Y students are primarily visual learners, a style
The OCLC white paper, although still querying students which research has shown will almost certainly conflict
instead of measuring citations or other data and surveying only with the learning style and habits of almost any instructor.
academic information seeking, nevertheless offers quantitative Small changes in presentation, such as changing from pure
information gathered from a large population. The sample lecture to incorporate hands-on activities, will help to hold
surveyed was taken from a global panel consisting of seven student interest and increase information retention.
million individuals and then limited to 1050 U.S. college ! Any hands-on activities should be directly related to a
students aged 18–24. The sample was statistically analyzed as specific task that the student perceives as a need, i.e., to
well and was determined to have a margin of error of F3 at the personal information needs or to a specific assignment for
95% confidence level. They also mapped the zip codes of an instructor.
home and school addresses to confirm that the sample was
randomly distributed from across the United States. ! Students arrive at college at varying levels of cognitive
OCLC found that although 70% of students used their development and will continue to progress at varying levels
library Web sites for some assignment-related information, through the dualistic, multiplistic, and relativistic methods
only 20% use it for most assignments. Full-text articles are of dealing with new information. It will probably be more

January 2005 51
 effective for an instructor to instruct as much as possible by 13. B.F. Skinner, Science and Human Behavior (1953). New York:
raising questions, encouraging discussion, and using Collier-MacMillan.
hands-on activities than by lecturing. 14. William Glasser, Control Theory In The Classroom (1986). New
York: Perennial Library.
! Students, like most of us, are very concerned about saving 15. Carl Jung and H.G. Baynes, Psychological Types, Or The
time. They may be more open to instruction in search Psychology Of Individuation (1923). New York: Harcourt-Brace.
techniques (Boolean and other methods) or in using the 16. Gordon Lawrence, People Types And Tiger Stripes: A Practical
library’s Web site if the time-saving aspects are made clear Guide To Learning Styles (1982) Gainesville, Fla: Center for
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52 The Journal of Academic Librarianship

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January 2005 53