How the information use environment influences search activities. A case of English primary schools
| Pages | 435-455 |
| Date | 06 March 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2018-0111 |
| Published date | 06 March 2019 |
| Author | Sophie Rutter,Paul David Clough,Elaine G. Toms |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
How the information
use environment influences
search activities
A case of English primary schools
Sophie Rutter
University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, and
Paul David Clough and Elaine G. Toms
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The information use environment (IUE) –the contextwithin whichthe search activitytakes place–is
critical to understanding the search process as this will affect how the value of information is determined.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate what factors influence search in English primary schools (children aged
4–11) and how information found is subsequently used.
Design/methodology/approach –Ten teachers, selected using maximal variation sampling, describe
search-related activities within the classroom. The resulting interview data were analysed thematically for the
influence of the environment on search and different information uses. The findings were then validated
against three classroom observations.
Findings –12 categories of information use were identified, and 5 aspects of the environment
(the national curriculum, best practice, different skills of children and teachers, keeping children safe, and
limited time and resource) combine to influence and shape search in this setting.
Research limitations/implications –Findings support the argument that it is the IUE that is the key
influence of search activity. What makes children a distinct user group is linked to the environment within
which they use information rather than age, as advocated in previous studies.
Practical implications –The features of search systems and practical guidance for teachers and children
should be designed to support information use within the IUE.
Originality/value –As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study to consider the influence of the
IUE on how search is enacted within primary schools.
Keywords User studies,Information research,Searching, Task analysis,Schools, Children (age groups 4-11),
Informationstudies, Information searches
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Many studies of children using search systems have concluded that children are a distinct
user group because of their age (e.g. Walter, 1994; Large et al., 2008; Gossen et al., 2013;
Duarte Torres et al., 2014). However, in a study of the professions, Taylor (1991) argued that
as the value given to information is dependent upon the environment in which it is used, it is
environment that is of crucial importance. Taylor (1991) did not consider demographics
(including age) to be a key factor. Instead, Taylor (1991) argued that a person operating in
one information use environment (IUE) will value information in a different way from
someone operating in another. This suggests that to understand how children search and
use information a good understanding is needed of the environments within which they do
so. This paper investigates whether the IUE, not simply age, is the key influence on
children’s search.
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 75 No. 2, 2019
pp. 435-455
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-07-2018-0111
Received 10 July 2018
Revised 10 October 2018
Accepted 17 October 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
The authors would like to thank the teachers and children who kindly took part in this study, and Nigel
Ford who provided much insightful feedback. This research was conducted as part of a PhD, funded
by a University of Sheffield Faculty Scholarship.
435
Information
use
environment
There have been some indications that setting influences children’ssearch
(Limberg, 2007; Lundh, 2011). However, a broad study of the English primary school
(with children starting school in Foundation age 4 and leaving in Year 6 age 11) IUE, and
especially children’s information use in primary schools, has not until now been undertaken
and forms the focus of this paper. We address the following research questions:
RQ1. What is shaping primary school children’s search?
RQ2. What do primary school children use information for?
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: first, related work on studies of how
children find and use information is reviewed, structured around Taylor’s (1991) IUE.
Then the approach taken to collect and analyse data is described, followed by the results.
Finally the results are discussed in light of prior work.
Related work
Taylor (1991, p. 221) described an IUE as having four elements, namely, “sets of people,
typical structure and thrust of problems of those sets of people, typical settings, and what
constitutes resolution of problems”. These four elements are used as a framework to review
the research literature to reveal how a primary school setting may be influencing children’s
search. Then the relationship between tasks, activities and the IUE is considered.
Sets of people
Taylor (1991) argued that sets of people should not be defined by demographic variables
(e.g. gender) or non-demographic variables (e.g. Twitter users). Rather sets are those that societ y
have already defined as a group because of a common professional education (e.g. lawyers),
occupation (e.g. farmers), interests (e.g. hobbyists) or socio-economic status (e.g. the elderly).
Primary school children too are a group defined by society and thus can be considered a set of
people. However, whether children can be considered a single set or should be subdivided is
debatable as many studies of children have found age to be an important factor (e.g. Marchionini,
1989; Duarte Torres et al., 2014). As Taylor’s (1991) conceptualisation is based on analysis of “the
professions”primary school children could be an exception, and it could be children’sroleof
student (Leckie et al., 1996) within the primary school setting that is of prime importance.
Problems
Taylor (1991) suggested three areas to contemplate when considering information problems:
whether problems change over time, characteristics of typical problems within the setting
(particularly, whether problems are familiar, well-structured, complex or dependent on
agreed assumptions) and responses to problems.
With the adoption of new technologies in schools, there has been considerable change in
the information environment. Increasing access to the internet has coincided with a move
away from rote learning towards children finding information for themselves (Kuhlthau
et al., 2007). Nevertheless, given many schools follow a national curriculum “so children
learn the same things”(Department for Education, 2016b), it is likely that there are typical
problems. However, whether children in different year groups share information problems
needs further consideration as children’s information needs change with age (Shenton and
Dixon, 2004; Duarte Torres et al., 2014).
Whether children’s problems are familiar is unclear from the research literature but it is
reasonable to thinkthat as problems stem from a recommended programme(in the form of a
curriculum)they will likely follow similarpatterns for many schools. Althoughthere has been
considerable investigation of how children’s search behaviour depends on the structure and
complexity of problems (e.g. Schacter et al.,1998; Bilal, 2002), in these studiesthe problem has
436
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