This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Beautyman, W. Articles by Shenton, A. K. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

When does an academic information need stimulate a school-inspired information want?

School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, Northumbria University

Andrew K. Shenton

Northumbria University's School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, ashenton1{at}hotmail.com

This paper explores the nature of school-inspired information wants. It considers how such wants arise and actions taken by youngsters to meet them. The methodology within the study reported was one of interpretivist ethnography, with data collected from two classes of 7- to 8-year-olds in an English primary school via a form of participant observation that incorporated dialogues with pupils and staff. Children were seen to follow up on topics taught in the classroom with their own questions when one or more of seven situations arose. These included instances in which they developed an empathic interest in the protagonists being studied and when they noted inconsistencies in their own understanding. The findings have a range of implications, notably for practices in both education and LIS.

Key Words: children • information needs • information-seeking • information wants • schools

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, Vol. 41, No. 2, 67-80 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0961000609102821


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?