I just came across this very interesting study that analyzes how GenY/the Millennials “Google” approach information gathering and research particularly in relation to access of scholarly information, as well as the use of Libraries. It’s a free 32 page document, released a couple of weeks ago by the British Library and the (Joint Information Systems Committee) JISC. Here’s a blurb from the conclusion:
The picture that emerges from internet research is that most visitors to scholarly sites view only a few pages, many of which do not even contain real content, and in any case do not stop long enough to do any real reading.This is either a symptom of a really worrying malaise – failure at the library terminal – or maybe a sign that awhole new form of online reading behaviour is beginning to emerge, one based on skimming titles, contents pagesand abstracts: we call this `power browsing’. We urgently need to understand the root causes of this phenomenon…
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[...] 31, 2008 by identityandconsulting January 28, 2008 How do young people do research? Filed under: Research, GenY, libraries — Robert Berkman @ 12:34 pm I just came across this very [...]
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I didn’t see a link to the study in your post…is it available online?
Comment by ssinghcs — February 5, 2008 @ 11:33 am
Hello Ssinghcs–thanks for noticing that–here’s the link:
Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future
http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf
Comment by Robert Berkman — February 14, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
Unfortunately, I see this as highly systemic. The crash of search relevance, I believe, has led users to hunt more fervently and directly for whatever they seek. If a site was not personally recommended by a source they trust, the user is left to hunt for any indication of the answer to one, single pressing question – “does this site have what I need?”
Comment by Trisha — February 28, 2008 @ 9:45 pm