IASL Research Abstracts

IASL Research Abstracts: 233

Todd, R. (2008). Youth and their Virtual Networked Worlds: Research Findings and Implications for School Libraries

This paper provides an analytical review of recent research that examines young people's engagement with the web environment, and particularly their use of Web 2.0 applications and tools, and identifies key challenges for the school library and instruction in schools. Set within the immediate context of the role of information technology in school libraries, and the broader context of adult use of the web, the article provides a brief description of the web 2.0 environment, its growth and its functionality. It elaborates social network analysis as a useful framework for understanding the dynamics of young people's participation in Web 2.0, and identifies predominant virtual information seeking behaviors emerging in the Web 2.0 environment. Key challenges for school libraries relate to conceptualizing the school library as a knowledge commons, shifting instructional emphasis from information provision to knowledge development, and engaging the whole school community in appropriate pedagogical and policy decisions in relation to Web 2.0.

Subject categories: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) (9), Information literacy, information processing models (10), Information sources and services (11), Knowledge management (13)

Abstract submitted by Janice Newsum, Florida State University