Youngsters’ Use of Other People as an Information-Seeking Method

Use of other people has often been found to be the most frequently employed and most successful method by which youngsters obtain information. Nevertheless, significant questions remain largely unanswered, especially with regard to the types of information need that are met via this action, the sorts of people typically approached in order to satisfy needs of particular types, the actions taken by adults in response to youngsters’ approaches to them and the problems that youngsters face when using other people. In an attempt to shed more light on these outstanding issues, this paper draws on the findings of an essentially qualitative project devoted more generally to the information needs and information-seeking action of young people. The article closes by offering recommendations, based on the project’s results, for future practice in the teaching of Information Skills.

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