Children's Information Retrieval Behavior: A Case Analysis of an OPAC

This article reports research that explored children’s information retrieval behavior using an online public access catalog (OPAC) in an elementary school library. The study considers the impact of a variety of factors including user characteristics, the school setting, interface usability, and information access features on children’s information retrieval success and breakdown. The study reports the overall patterns of children’s behavior that influence success and breakdown in information retrieval as well as findings about the intentions, moves, plans, strategies, and search terms of children in grades one through six.

[1]  Paul Solomon,et al.  Information systems for children: explorations in information access and interface usability for an online catalog in an elementary school library , 1992 .

[2]  Carol Collier Kuhlthau.  Meeting the Information Needs of Children and Young Adults: Basing Library Media Programs on Developmental States. , 1988 .

[3]  Carol Collier Kuhlthau.  Inside the Search Process: Information Seeking from the User's Perspective. , 1991 .

[4]  Martha M. Yee.  System design and cataloging meet the user: User interfaces to online public access catalogs , 1991 .

[5]  Bruce Joyce,et al.  The creation of information systems for children , 1970 .

[6]  Susan Bonzi,et al.  Terminological Consistency in Abstract and Concrete disciplines , 1984, J. Documentation.

[7]  Marcia J. Bates,et al.  Subject access in online catalogs: A design model , 1986 .

[8]  Christopher Williamson,et al.  Dynamic queries for information exploration: an implementation and evaluation , 1992, CHI.

[9]  Elaine Svenonius,et al.  Unanswered questions in the design of controlled vocabularies , 1986, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[10]  Christine L. Borgman,et al.  The Science Library Catalog: A prototype information retrieval system for children , 1991 .

[11]  K. Bhattacharyya,et al.  The Effectiveness of Natural Language in Science Indexing and Retrieval. , 1974 .

[12]  R. Tesch.  Qualitative Research: Analysis Types and Software , 1990 .

[13]  John R. Anderson,et al.  The Transfer of Cognitive Skill , 1989 .

[14]  Carol H. Fenichel.  The Impact of Online Catalogs , 1987 .

[15]  Sharan B. Merriam,et al.  Case Study Research in Education : A Qualitative Approach , 1991 .

[16]  Leslie Edmonds.  The Effectiveness of an Online Catalog. , 1990 .

[17]  C. R. Hildreth,et al.  Intelligent Interfaces and Retrieval Methods for Subject Searching in Bibliographic Retrieval Systems , 1989 .

[18]  John Tolle,et al.  Transaction log analysis online catalogs , 1983, SIGIR '83.

[19]  Irving B. Weiner,et al.  Adolescence: a Developmental Transition , 1985 .

[20]  B. Kwasnik.  THE IMPORTANCE OF FACTORS THAT ARE NOT DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES IN THE ORGANISATION OF PERSONAL DOCUMENTS , 1991 .

[21]  Karen Markey,et al.  Thus Spake the OPAC User , 1983 .

[22]  Terry Winograd,et al.  Understanding computers and cognition , 1986 .

[23]  Karen Markey,et al.  Catalog Use Studies--Since the Introduction of Online Interactive Catalogs: Impact on Design for Subject Access , 1983 .

[24]  E. Guba.  Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries , 1981 .

[25]  Gary Marchionini,et al.  Information-seeking strategies of novices using a full-text electronic encyclopedia , 1989, JASIS.

[26]  Christine L. Borgman,et al.  Children's use of an interactive science library: Exploratory research , 1990 .

[27]  Joseph R. Matthews,et al.  Using Online Catalogs: A Nationwide Survey , 1983 .

[28]  Ann L. Brown.  Analogical learning and transfer: what develops? , 1989 .

[29]  Donald O. Case,et al.  Conceptual Organization and Retrieval of Text by Historians: The Role of Memory and Metaphor. , 1991 .

[30]  Shan-Ju L. Chang,et al.  Taking account of User Tasks, Goals and Behavior for the Design of Online Public Access Catalogs , 1990 .