Weaving through the web: How students navigate information online in the twenty-first century

This chapter investigates the processes students employ when searching online for information to include in an academic essay. Against a backdrop of literature from the past three decades, we present findings from a recent observational study (employing screen-recording software and stimulated recall) of how students approach a writing-from-sources task, supplemented by interviews with librarians at a post-1992 UK university. We discuss three aspects of our participants’ search for sources: where they searched, how they searched and which sources they selected. Our participants displayed a wide range of skill levels and approaches to searching, and in some cases a high degree of persistence. We highlight the information literacy challenges they faced, and suggest how some of these could be addressed.

Citation

Bailey, C., Bowley, H. and Withers, J. (2020) Weaving through the web: How students navigate information online in the twenty-first century, in Bartram, B. (ed.) Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education Contradictions, Complexities and Challenges. Abingdon: Routledge.

Type

Chapter in book

Language

en

Description

This is an accepted manuscript of a chapter published by Routledge in Understanding Contemporary Issues in Higher Education Contradictions, Complexities and Challenges, edited by Brendan Bartram on 30/10/2020, available online: https://www.routledge.com/Understanding-Contemporary-Issues-in-Higher-Education-Contradictions-Complexities/Bartram/p/book/9780367374150 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.

ISBN

9780367374150

Collections

Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences