This was a question posed by a member of our Second Life Information Literacy group today. According to Wikipedia, the phrase 'Google Generation' has entered
popular usage as ;
popular usage as ;
“a shorthand way of referring to a generation whose first port of call for knowledge is the internet and a search engine, Google being the most popular”. This is offered in contrast to earlier generations who “gained their knowledge through books and conventional libraries”.
"Some headline findings from a recent global survey by
OCLC2 suggests that the Google generation
stereotype may be broadly true:
•! 89 percent of college students use search engines
to begin an information search (while only 2 per
cent start from a library web site)
•! 93 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with their
overall experience of using a search engine
(compared with 84 per cent for a librarian-assisted
search)
•! search engines fit college students’ life styles better
than physical or online libraries and that fit is
`almost perfect’
•! college students still use the library, but they are
using it less (and reading less) since they first
began using internet research tools
•! `books’ are still the primary library brand association
for this group, despite massive investment in
digital resources, of which students are largely
unfamiliar[1]"
The organisation CIBER paper 'Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future' ('Google Generation' project) did very valuable research in this area which studied the actual behaviour of thousands of users. It is important to study what users actually do rather than asking them what they believe they do, as many exaggerate subconsciously.
"Some headline findings from a recent global survey by
OCLC2 suggests that the Google generation
stereotype may be broadly true:
•! 89 percent of college students use search engines
to begin an information search (while only 2 per
cent start from a library web site)
•! 93 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with their
overall experience of using a search engine
(compared with 84 per cent for a librarian-assisted
search)
•! search engines fit college students’ life styles better
than physical or online libraries and that fit is
`almost perfect’
•! college students still use the library, but they are
using it less (and reading less) since they first
began using internet research tools
•! `books’ are still the primary library brand association
for this group, despite massive investment in
digital resources, of which students are largely
unfamiliar[1]"
The organisation CIBER paper 'Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future' ('Google Generation' project) did very valuable research in this area which studied the actual behaviour of thousands of users. It is important to study what users actually do rather than asking them what they believe they do, as many exaggerate subconsciously.
CIBER themselves found that there were some myths resounding about the 'Google generation.' The behaviour of older people had changed a lot too, and even Professors were searching using the same scanning techniques. Many 'Silver surfers' spent over two hours a day on the Internet.
People using Google had a very high confidence in the method and wrongly believed that they understood the range of knowledge available, whereas in fact they had not covered enough ground to gain a broad knowledge of the subject. Many were not in fact the whizz kids they were reputed to be but only understood how to use a few products and did not understand key concepts.
CIBER reports that:
CIBER reports that:
"The implications of a shift from the library as a
physical space to the library as virtual digital
environment are immense and truly disruptive. Library
users demand 24/7 access, instant gratification at a
click, and are increasingly looking for `the answer’
rather than for a particular format: a research
monograph or a journal article for instance. So they
scan, flick and `power browse’ their way through
digital content, developing new forms of online
reading6 on the way that we do not yet fully
understand (or, in many cases, even recognise).[2]"
In the Mann paper, referred to below, there is a reference to an American study of user behaviour which has been cited by those making changes at the Library of Congress. This is
the “Out-Sell study” commissioned by the Council on Library and Information Resources and issued in October 2002, Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment: Introduction to a Data Set Assembled by the Digital Library Federation and Outsell, Inc., (available at http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub110abst.html ). Mann explains that the study found, from over 3,200 interviews, that 55.4% of all respondents (and 59.7% of undergraduates) still regard browsing as “an important way” to get information.
Two thirds of faculty and grad students use print resources for research all or most of the time. 52% of undergrads use print for coursework all or most of the time.
User behaviour is changing. However it is important to realise that at the moment most users are still using traditional research methods as well. We need we need to direct our resources towards catering for both.
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Footnotes
1. College Students’ Perceptions of the Libraries and Information
Resources: A Report to the OCLC Membership. Dublin, OH:
OCLC, 2006. cited in 'Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future.' London:
CIBER, 2008 p. 7
2. 'Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future.' London:
CIBER, 2008 p. 8
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