A novice-expert comparison in information search

In the age of Google, it is commonly believed that university students, especially those at postgraduate level, should have attained enough information searching skills to support their studies. However, recent researches have found that the information literacy level of quite a few postgraduate students is, in fact, far from satisfactory. One possible way for information search specialists to help students effectively search information is to use a novice-expert comparison to examine the differences between novices and experts in information search. The aim of this study is to uncover some of the major differences in the search query statements and information search strategies between eight doctoral students (novice searchers) and an expert information literacy professional. Preliminary findings show that conspicuous differences do exist in the complexity of the formulation of query statements, choice of keywords, use of operators between the novice and the expert searchers.postprin

Doctoral students' development in information literacy

This paper aims to investigate how doctoral level students developed their information literacy in the beginning years of their doctoral research by focusing on the sources, databases and search engines they found relevant, the difficulties they encountered when engaging in information search with different databases, and the affordances offered by the databases which they found useful. This study adopts a one-year longitudinal approach which involved students‟ interactions with a search expert who showed them how to conduct searches more effectively. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, such as surveys, interviews, think-aloud protocol, and direct observation were used. The goal is to identify students‟ initial searching abilities and their performance after receiving guidance from an expert. Vygotsky’s social learning theory is used as the theoretical lens. Social learning theory argues that interactions with the more capable ones in the environment stimulate developmental processes and foster cognitive growth. For example, teachers and learners can work together on a difficult task with the teachers providing scaffolding to students. As such, students can complete tasks that they could not have completed on their own. The relationship between the teacher and the learner is essential in student learning as acquiring knowledge and skills from an experienced other is an important method for developing competence in a task. Social learning theory could also be applied into the information seeking situation where a master-apprentice relationship could be a possible solution to improve doctoral students‟ information literacy skills, where scaffolding support by information search experts could probably help them to improve their search techniques.postprin