Students in a two-year ethnographic study referred to Googlemore than any other database when discussing their research habits. But ironically, say the study’s authors, they weren’t very good at using it.
The series of studies, known as the “Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project (ERIAL)” is a collaborative effort by five Illinois universities that aims to better understand students’ research habits. Its findings are set to be published by the American Library Association this fall.
One hundred and fifty-six students who were interviewed at the five schools about their research habits mentioned Google more than any other other database. The 60 students who participated in a “research process interview” — with researchers following them around the library as they searched for information — frequently used the search engine poorly. And when they used other databases, they expected them to work the same way that Google does.
“It wasn’t so much that students were inefficient in their use of Google, but rather that students are often ill-equipped to sufficiently evaluate or refine the results that are returned,” says Andrew Asher, an anthropologist at Bucknell University and one of the project leads. “…I don’t think this is a problem limited to students.”
“They were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organizes and displays its results,” adds an article on the study by Inside Higher Ed. “Consequently, the students did not know how to build a search that would return good sources. (For instance, limiting a search to news articles, or querying specific databases such as Google Book Search or Google Scholar.)”
“Every box is a Google-like box,” is how research co-author Lynda M. Duke put students’ outlook in a recent presentation.
Of 30 students that Asher observed at work at Illinois Wesleyan University, for instance, 27 failed to narrow their search criteria at all when doing so would have helped the database return more relevant results.
“I don’t really know what there is to use,” said one first year accounting major who participated in the study. “I know there are books but I don’t really know how to find them. Really the only thing I know how to do is go to Google and type in what I’m looking for.”
A first year math student offered an alternate explanation: “I’m lazy and I use the Internet.”
The series of studies, known as the “Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project (ERIAL)” is a collaborative effort by five Illinois universities that aims to better understand students’ research habits. Its findings are set to be published by the American Library Association this fall.
One hundred and fifty-six students who were interviewed at the five schools about their research habits mentioned Google more than any other other database. The 60 students who participated in a “research process interview” — with researchers following them around the library as they searched for information — frequently used the search engine poorly. And when they used other databases, they expected them to work the same way that Google does.
“It wasn’t so much that students were inefficient in their use of Google, but rather that students are often ill-equipped to sufficiently evaluate or refine the results that are returned,” says Andrew Asher, an anthropologist at Bucknell University and one of the project leads. “…I don’t think this is a problem limited to students.”
“They were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organizes and displays its results,” adds an article on the study by Inside Higher Ed. “Consequently, the students did not know how to build a search that would return good sources. (For instance, limiting a search to news articles, or querying specific databases such as Google Book Search or Google Scholar.)”
“Every box is a Google-like box,” is how research co-author Lynda M. Duke put students’ outlook in a recent presentation.
Of 30 students that Asher observed at work at Illinois Wesleyan University, for instance, 27 failed to narrow their search criteria at all when doing so would have helped the database return more relevant results.
“I don’t really know what there is to use,” said one first year accounting major who participated in the study. “I know there are books but I don’t really know how to find them. Really the only thing I know how to do is go to Google and type in what I’m looking for.”
A first year math student offered an alternate explanation: “I’m lazy and I use the Internet.”
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