Childrens Use of the Yahooligans! Web Search Engine.

III. Cognitive and Physical Behaviors on Fully SelfGenerated Search Tasks

Dania Bilal
School of Information Sciences, The University of Tennessee, 804 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996.
E-mail: dania@utk.edu

This article presents the third part of a research project

that investigated the information-seeking behavior and
success of seventh-grade science children in using the
Yahooligans! Web search engine/directory. In parts 1
and 2, children performed fully assigned tasks to pursue
in the engine. In the present study, children generated
their tasks fully. Childrens information seeking was captured from the cognitive, physical, and affective perspectives using both quantitative and qualitative inquiry
methods. Their information-seeking behavior and success on the fully self-generated task was compared to
the behavior and success they exhibited in the two fully
assigned tasks. Children were more successful on the
fully self-generated task than the two fully assigned
tasks. Children preferred the fully self-generated task to
the two fully assigned tasks due to their ability to find the
information sought and satisfaction with search results
rather than the nature of the task in itself (i.e., selfgenerated aspect). Children were more successful when
they browsed than when they searched by keyword on
the three tasks. Yahooligans! design, especially its poor
keyword searching, contributed to the breakdowns children experienced. Implications for system design improvement and Web training are discussed.

Introduction
A recent survey by the U.S. Department of Education
shows that 98% of all public schools in the U.S. have
Internet access. The penetration of the Internet in schools
has increased from 78% in 1998 to 95% in 2000 (NUA,
2001). The number of children and young adults on-line has
grown from 8 million in 1997 to 25 million in 2000. NUA
estimates that by 2005 more children will go on-line at
school than at home.

Received March 27, 2002; revised May 17, 2002; accepted May 17,
2002
2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online 19 September 2002 in
Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/asi.10145

The Web is an information retrieval system (IR) that

differs considerably from its conventional on-line counterparts (i.e., CD-ROM, OPAC). First, it is a vast, dynamic,
and heterogeneous hypertext system that creates cognitive
overload and disorientation on users. Second, its content is
uncontrolled and, therefore, the quality of information cannot be guaranteed. Third, it lacks indexing conventions,
thereby making information retrieval often imprecise
(Schacter, Chung, & Dorr, 1998). Fourth, a sites viability
may require it to have advertising potential, which is a
function of the number of visitors it attracts . . . Webmasters
[may] pad their sites with commonly used but inapplicable
search terms in the hope of increasing the number of visitors
the site attracts . . . This can produce hits that have nothing
to do with ones search topic (Broch, 2000, p. 5).
Research has shown that children and adults often experience difficulty finding information on the Web (Bilal,
1998, 2000, 2001; Bilal & Kirby, 2002; Jansen, Spink, &
Saracevic, 2000; Large & Beheshti, 2000; Large, Beheshti,
& Moukad, 1999; Nahl, 1997; Schacter et al., 1998; Wang,
Hawk, & Tenopir, 2000). The infusion of the Web in public
schools, coupled with its unstructured and uncontrolled
nature raises questions about childrens information seeking
and success in finding information. The fact that childrens
information needs vary from those of adults (Bilal & Kirby,
2002) and that their cognitive ability, terminology, problem
solving skills, and mechanical skills (e.g., typing) are not as
developed as those of adults (Bjorklund, 2000; Piaget &
Inhelder, 1969; Siegler, 1998) make them a special user
group to study. Studies have shown that even when children
use a search engine that is specifically designed for their age
level, they encounter difficulty, including applying correct
search syntax and finding relevant results (Bilal, 2001;
Bilal, 2000; Large & Beheshti, 2000; Bilal, 1998). The tasks
that children perform may also influence their information
seeking behavior and success in finding information on the
Web. Typically, in public schools children often perform
search tasks that are imposed (i.e., assigned), and that may

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be of little or no interest to them (Gross, 1997). When

children carry out tasks that do not require use of their
content knowledge creatively, they are less likely to succeed
(Hirsh, 1999) and recover from system breakdowns (Solomon, 1994). Oliver and Oliver (1997) maintains that to
lead to higher levels of knowledge acquisition, learning, and
engagement, tasks given to children should be based on
contextual purposes. Small (1999) notes that the type of
tasks children are given should stimulate and encourage
intellectual curiosity, information seeking, and exploration
behaviors. Garland (1995) supports these views, and contends that when children select their research topics, they
develop a sense of control and tend to be more positive
about embarking on a research project than if they had used
an assigned topic. In her study of a group of middle school
students, Pitts (1995) found that one of the criteria the
students employed in selecting topics for a class project was
interest in the subject matter. Thus, one may infer that when
children generate their own topics, they may be more motivated, challenged, engaged, and successful than when they
pursue topics that are imposed or assigned.
Although we have knowledge about the influence assigned closed- and open-ended tasks have on childrens
information-seeking behavior and success (Borgman et al.,
1995; Hirsh, 1997; Large et al., 1994; Marchionini, 1989;
Schacter, Chung, & Dorr, 1998), we have little knowledge
about the effect that fully self-generated tasks have on
childrens success and information seeking. This study is an
initial attempt to fill this gap in the literature.

Taxonomy of Tasks
The literature does not clearly distinguish between fully
assigned, semiassigned, and fully self-generated. A task is
an essential factor in the information seeking process. Research has shown that the type of task a user is given
influences the users information seeking, information use,
and success (Bilal, 2000, 2001; Borgman et al., 1995; Bystrom & Jarvelin, 1995; Dimitrof & Wolfram, 1995; Hirsh,
1997; Marchionini, 1989, 1995; Qui, 1994; Schacter,
Chung, & Dorr, 1998; Solomon, 1993, 1994; Vakkari,
1999). As Figure 1 shows, tasks vary by type (i.e., openended vs. closed), nature (complex vs. simple), and the way
they are administered (i.e., fully assigned, semiassigned,
fully self-generated). Typically, open-ended tasks (also
known as research oriented) are complex in nature. They
have ill-structured problems, where the information required for accomplishment cannot be determined in advance
(Bystrom & Jarvelin, 1995; Vakkari, 1999). Typically,
closed tasks (also known as fact finding) are simple, well
defined, and have structured problems. They can be routine
information processing tasks with elements that are predetermined (the user knows them). The complexity or simplicity of a task may depend on its formulation and characteristics (e.g., cognitive and skill requirements, number of
existing facets or elements).

FIG. 1.

Taxonomy of tasks.

Closed- and open-ended tasks can be administered in

three ways: fully assigned, semiassigned, or fully self-generated. Fully assigned tasks are those that have both the
main topic and aspects of the topic imposed on the user.
Semiassigned tasks are those that have only the main topic
imposed on the user, and the user can choose an aspect of
the topic that interests him or her to pursue. Fully selfgenerated tasks are those that have both the main topic and
an aspect of the topic generated by user. Based on the
taxonomy of tasks shown in Figure 1, four possible outcomes for tasks can be driven:
(1) A task may be open-ended, complex; fully assigned,
semiassigned, or fully self-generated.
(2) A task may be closed, simple; fully assigned, semiassigned, or fully self-generated.
(3) A task may be open-ended, simple; fully assigned,
semi-assigned, or fully self-generated.
(4) A task may be closed, complex; fully assigned, semiassigned, or fully self-generated.

In the present study, children were asked to generate

their own tasks fully. Their information seeking behavior
and success on these tasks were compared to the behavior
and success they demonstrated on the two fully assigned
tasks (one research oriented and one fact finding) they had
performed in the two previous studies (Bilal, 2000, 2001).
Related Literature
Three bodies of literature relevant to this study were
reviewed: childrens use of CD-ROM databases, of on-line
catalogs (OPACs), and of the World Wide Web (Web).
Childrens Use of CD-ROM Databases
Large, Beheshti, and Breuleux (1998) examined the use
of three multimedia CD-ROM encyclopedias by 53 middle
school students for a class-related project about Middle
Ages. The students were to deliver a written assignment on
people in the Middle Ages, make an oral presentation, and

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construct a three-dimensional model of a manorial system.

Students were given a semiassigned task, that is, a list of
nine people to choose from for the written assignment and
a list of nine topics from which to select three for the oral
presentation. Although the students demonstrated confidence in operating the various encyclopedias, they encountered more problems with Exploring Castles than with Encarta or Castle Explorer due to its inadequate design. Overall, students had difficulty constructing effective queries and
with mastering the retrieval strategies of the encyclopedias.
This study did not examine the impact the topics that
children selected had on their success and information seeking behavior.
In a prior study, Large et al. (1994) compared middle
school students use of print and CD-ROM versions of
Comptons Multimedia Encyclopedia. Each student had to
answer four assigned questions that varied in complexity.
Complexity was defined by the number of search terms the
queries contained, from one word to four. Query complexity
affected retrieval time in both sources. Although in the 1998
study the students were able to choose aspects of an assigned topic to pursue (semiassigned task), the students in
the 1994 study performed fully assigned tasks. It is unclear
how complexity and use of fully assigned rather than semiassigned tasks influenced childrens success and information seeking behavior.
Using two assigned search tasks, one closed and one
open ended, Marchionini (1989) examined the searching
behavior of third, fourth, and sixth graders in utilizing a
full-text CD-ROM encyclopedia. He observed that older
children were more successful on both tasks than younger
ones and that the nature of the task (closed vs. open-ended)
did influence the students information-seeking strategies
and success rates in finding the desired information. Overall, children were more successful on the open task than on
the closed task.

Childrens Use of On-line Catalogs (OPACs)

Borgman et al. (1995) conducted a series of studies with
an experimental on-line catalog called the Science Library
Catalog (SLC), a browsing system that was designed to
facilitate childrens information seeking. The authors examined the success and searching behavior of 32 children, aged
9 through 12, as they used four versions of SLC and two
keyword OPACs, Orion and LePac. In Experiments 13, the
researchers assigned the topics to the children to search in
the OPACs from a list of curriculum-related science topics
compiled by the teacher. In Experiment 4, each child selected one topic from a science set and one other topic from
a technology set. Children were able to find some of the
topics more easily in the SLC than on the OPACs, particularly when the topics were open ended or difficult to spell.
In the two open-ended topics that the children performed,
they did better in the SLC than in the OPAC. The design of
the SLC facilitated childrens information seeking in finding

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the desired information on both the assigned and semiassigned tasks.

In a later study of the SLC, Hirsh (1997) examined the
impact of task complexity on childrens information retrieval. Sixty-four fifth grade children, ages 10 11, participated in the study and performed eight assigned tasks that
varied in complexity. Contrary to Marchioninis findings
(1989), Hirsh observed that science domain knowledge
rather than the type of the task (open ended vs. simple)
significantly influenced childrens success rates.
Solomon (1993) collected data over a school year to
examine the search strategies and type of information seeking breakdowns children in grades one through six experienced. Data was collected during students OPAC orientation sessions, planned research, and curriculum-related use.
Childrens cognitive developmental abilities influenced the
search moves they made and that inadequate design of the
OPAC contributed to many of the breakdowns the children
encountered. It is unclear, however, whether the nature of
the tasks influenced their success or contributed to the
breakdowns they had experienced.
Childrens Use of the Web
Studies of childrens use of the Web have recently
emerged. Bilal (1998, 2000, 2001) conducted studies of
childrens information-seeking behavior in using the Yahooligans! Web search engine/directory to find information
for fully assigned research-oriented and fact-finding tasks.
The key findings of these studies are below.
Childrens information seeking and success on fully assigned
research-oriented tasks. Bilal (2001) investigated the success and information-seeking behavior of 17 seventh-grade
science children in using Yahooligans! to locate relevant
information for an assigned research task about the depletion of the ozone layer. The author captured childrens
Web moves using the Lotus ScreenCam software package.
Childrens success was measured in three ways. They were
judged to be fully successful if they printed and submitted
all relevant pages with a short text (12 pages). They were
considered partially successful if they printed and submitted
selected relevant pages that discussed the topic. They were
deemed unsuccessful if they printed and submitted irrelevant information or if they did not submit any information.
Two middle-school science teachers and one expert in environmental science evaluated childrens search results and
judged their success. Results showed that 69% of the children partially succeeded and 31% failed. Regardless of
success, however, children seemed to seek specific answers
to the task rather than develop understanding of the information found. Evidence of this approach was seen in their
search results that contained fragments of sentences highlighted as answers. Children had more difficulty with the
research task than with the fact-finding task they performed
in the previous study (Bilal, 2000). This finding is not

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surprising, because the research task was more complex,

contained multiple facets, and required that children construct meaning from the relevant information found. Children possessed inadequate knowledge of the informationseeking process.
Childrens physical behavior varied by success levels.
Partially successful children backtracked less often than
unsuccessful ones (mean ! 4.7 vs. 9.25, respectively), made
fewer Web moves (mean ! 34 vs. 56, respectively), and
took half the time to complete the task (mean ! 8 minutes
vs. 16 minutes, respectively). These differences appeared to
be influenced by the difficulty that unsuccessful children
experienced in finding relevant information. The inadequate
design of Yahooligans!, especially its keyword searching
was a major problem. Children expressed their information
needs and made recommendations for improving the engines interface design.
In a pilot study of middle school students use of Yahooligans! to locate information for a fully assigned research task about diet, Bilal (1998) found that children
were unsuccessful in finding the relevant information they
needed. Here also, children encountered difficulty in using
the engine and in navigating its space. Again, Yahooligans!
inadequate design surfaced as a problem and influenced
childrens information seeking and success.
Childrens information seeking and success on fully assigned
fact-based tasks. Bilal (2000) examined childrens information seeking and success as they used Yahooligans! to
locate the correct answer for an assigned fact-based task
about the age of alligators in the wild and in captivity.
Twenty-two children from three seventh-grade science
classes taught by one teacher participated in the study.
Childrens success rates in finding the correct answer to the
task was judged by extracting the correct facts from the
relevant home page that contained the answer. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to collect
the data. Childrens Web moves were captured using the
Lotus ScreenCam software package. Their prior knowledge
about the Web and Yahooligans! was gathered through a
questionnaire that was administered before using the engine. Their affective states were collected via individual exit
interviews that took place at the end of the research experiment. The Web Traversal Measure the author employed
quantified the moves children made and provided a weighted score that measured effectiveness, efficiency, and quality in using Yahooligans! Findings reveal that 50% of the
children found the correct answer to the task. Childrens
cognitive behavior reflected an understanding of the task,
term relationships, and placement of topics within appropriate subject hierarchies. Childrens information-seeking
behavior varied by success levels. Successful children employed incorrect search syntax less often, looped searches,
and hyperlinks (reactivated previous searches and relaunched previously visited links) less frequently, took less
time to complete the task (mean ! 11.89 vs. 19.69 minutes),

and appeared to be more engaged and focused in completing

it. The Web Traversal Measure showed that successful
children were more effective than unsuccessful ones
(31.14% vs. 12.42%). These scores mean that successful
children put nearly 70% of their efforts to locate the target
hyperlink, whereas unsuccessful ones devoted nearly 88%
to that end. Successful children were relatively more efficient that unsuccessful ones (26.28% vs. 22.14%), and had
a higher score of quality moves (32.14% vs. 28.85%, respectively). Most children (85%) were highly motivated to
use the Web, but were confused and frustrated mainly due
to lack of matches in Yahooligans! Childrens motivation,
self-confidence, and challenge in using the engine surfaced
as main factors that influenced their patience and persistence in completing the task. No child quit searching before
the allotted time given.
A recent study found that not only children but also
adults experience difficulty in using Yahooligans! Bilal &
Kirby (2002) compared childrens and graduate students
information-seeking behavior and success in using the engine to find the correct answer for a fully assigned factfinding task. Childrens information needs varied from
those of the graduate students. Both student groups experienced cognitive difficulty in using the engine, employed
incorrect search syntax, and were frustrated during the
search process. Children and graduate students made recommendations for improving Yahooligans! design to support their information seeking and information needs.
Other Web research. Large and Beheshti (2000) interviewed 50 middle school students after they used Infoseek
and Alta Vista search engines to find information about a
semiassigned task dealing with Winter Olympics. The
teacher allowed the students to pursue their chosen sport
from a list of 14 activities. Overall, children had difficulty
finding relevant information due to information overload
and were dissatisfied with most of the information they
found. Children liked the speed in using the Web, but found
it harder to use than print sources. The authors did not
examine whether the topics children pursued influenced
their success, cognitive behavior, or affective states in using
these sources.
Hirsh (1999) explored the relevance criteria and search
strategies of 10 fifth graders in using an on-line catalog, a
CD-ROM magazine index, the Web, and a CD-ROM encyclopedia to locate information for a semiassigned task. The
teacher assigned students to write a research paper about
any sports figure they wanted. Children exhibited little
concern for the authority of textual and graphical information they found and spent most of their time finding pictures
and relied heavily on the Web for their research. As before,
the study revealed that children had little concern for evaluating the quality of Web content (Watson, 1998), rarely
examined the pages retrieved (Bilal, 1998), and that few
questioned the accuracy of the information they find (Kafai
& Bates, 1997). Hirsh (1999) observed that children were

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motivated in seeking information about the specific topics

that interested them.
Schacter, Chung, & Dorr (1998) examined the searching
behaviors of fifth and sixth graders in using the Web for two
fully assigned tasks: one closed and one open ended. The
nature of the task influenced childrens success in finding
the desired information as well as their information-seeking
strategies. Children were more successful on the open task
than the closed one, and they made more analytic searches
on the closed as opposed to the open task.
Using a semiassigned research task, Wallace and Kupperman (1997) observed a group of sixth graders as they
used the Web to find information for a class-related project
about ecology. Despite the fact that children chose specific
aspects of ecology that interested them, they were not successful in locating the desired information. Children possessed an inadequate level of research skills, had naive Web
navigational skills, and approached the task by seeking
specific answers.
In sum, the literature reveals that regardless of the information retrieval system used, most tasks that were given to
children were either fully assigned or semiassigned. This
finding is not surprising, however, because teachers must
assign tasks that are class-related. In addition, the issue of
imposed queries did not surface until 1997 when Melissa
Gross studied their prevalence in school libraries. How
successful are children in finding information in Yahooligans! for fully self-generated tasks? Does childrens information-seeking behavior in finding information in Yahooligans! vary by the way tasks are administered (i.e., fully
self-generated vs. fully assigned)?
Research Questions
This study examined the information-seeking behavior
and success of seventh graders in using Yahooligans! to find
information for fully self-generated tasks. It investigated
childrens behavior from the cognitive and physical perspectives. The cognitive aspect of information seeking pertains to thoughts (the cognitive domain) and the physical
aspect to actions (the sensorimotor domain). In this study,
the cognitive behavior was explored in terms of searching
and browsing, and the physical behavior was examined in
terms of looping searches and hyperlinks (i.e., reactivating
previously executed searches and clicking on previously
visited sites/hyperlinks), total Web moves made, time taken
to complete the task, and exploratory moves (e.g., use of
Netscape Help).
In interacting with an information retrieval system, such
as Yahooligans!, it becomes important to learn the underlying thoughts and cognitive processes of the user (Ingwersen, 1996), and how these thoughts interact with their
actions and affective states (Dervin, 1983; Kuhlthau, 1993).
By examining childrens thoughts, actions, and preferences,
one can obtain a holistic view of their information-seeking
behavior.
The following questions guided the present study:

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(1) How successful are children in finding information for

their fully self-generated tasks, and how does this success compare to their success on the two assigned tasks
(fact-finding and research-oriented) that they had performed in the previous studies?
(2) What cognitive behavior do children demonstrate in
using Yahooligans! to find information for their fully
self-generated tasks, and does this behavior vary from
the behaviors they exhibited on the two assigned tasks
(fact finding and research oriented) that they had performed in the previous studies?
(3) What physical behavior do children demonstrate in using Yahooligans! to find information for their fully
self-generated tasks, and does this behavior vary from
the behaviors they exhibited on the two assigned tasks
(fact-finding and research-oriented) that they had performed in the previous studies?
(4) What tasks (fully self-generated vs. fully assigned) do
children prefer, and why?

Method
This study employed both quantitative and qualitative
inquiry methods. Through the quantitative method, data
about childrens Web moves were captured using the Lotus
ScreenCam software package. Through the qualitative
method, childrens task generation and data about task preference were captured using individual interviews that took
place at the conclusion of the research experiment.
The Setting
The study took place at a Middle School (named Middle
School for confidentiality purposes) located in East Tennessee. At the time of the research experiment, the School
library had two computer stations with an Internet connection. For purposes of the study, three computers were added,
networked, and connected to the Internet to accommodate
use of five computers simultaneously. Lotus ScreenCam
version 2.0 was installed on each computer to capture childrens Web activities. Software and hardware were pretested to ensure proper operation. Yahooligans! was set up
as the default home page in the Netscape browser.
Population and Sample
The population for this study consisted of students in
three science classes (90 students) taught by one science
teacher. Due to the Schools Internet Use Policy, childrens
parental consent to use the Internet was sought. Out of 90
invitations the teacher sent to the parents, 30 consent forms
were received. Of these, 25 children were willing to take
part in this project. Three were involved in pilot testing,
leaving 22 children who participated in the present study.
The children who participated in this study were the same as
those who took part in the previous two studies (Bilal, 2000,
2001).

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNovember 2002

Childrens Fully Self-Generated Tasks

Children were asked to select topics of interest to search
in Yahooligans! They were instructed to transcribe the
topics on the work sheet given to them. The researcher and
the school librarian examined the topic statements that
children generated and found that they were open ended and
stated in a broad sense. Examples: I want information about
Ebola virus; What can dogs do to help out other people; I
want information about psychology. Three children transcribed two initial topics of interest to pursue; four modified
their topics during searching as they were allowed to do so
if they did not find information of interest or if they changed
their mind about their initial topics. Two children had two
different subject matters in their topic statements (e.g., I
want to find information on baseball and gymnastics; I want
information about acting and skating). After mediation, five
of the topics that children generated and were open ended
became fact finding and more focused. The child who
transcribed the topic What can dogs do to help out other
people, for example, identified his/her main interest as the
kind of birds springer spaniels flush out from, which is, in
fact, a new topic rather than an aspect of the initial topic.
Five children (33%) were unable to choose specific aspects
of their topics to pursue during mediation. They mentioned
that they would do so based on what they found in Yahooligans! during searching. Appendix 1 shows a sample of the
topics that children generated before mediation.
Success Measure
Both the researcher and a research assistant from the
School of Information Sciences judged childrens success in
finding the information sought. Each search result (printout)
that a child submitted was reviewed vis-a`-vis the topic(s)
that he/she pursued to judge success. Children were judged
to be successful if they found any relevant information
pertaining to their topics. They were judged to be unsuccessful if they did not find any information about the topics
or if they submitted irrelevant information.
Instruments
The researcher developed and used a work sheet to be
used by children to transcribe their fully self-generated
topics. The work sheet contained instructions about how to
proceed in using Yahooligans! after choosing the topics.
The work sheets were placed in front of the children at the
their computer stations throughout the search process. The
researcher utilized an additional sheet that contained two
interview questions, which were: (1) out of the three search
tasks that you did in Yahooligans!, what task did you like or
prefer the most?, and (2) for what reasons did you prefer
that task? Children were interviewed individually by the
researcher at the conclusion of the research experiment.
Procedure
The research experiment began in April 1998. Both the
science teacher and the researcher described the nature of

the project to the children. As they volunteered to participate, children were escorted five at a time to the School
library and instructed to sign a consent form. After the task
was explained to them, they were asked to transcribe the
topic they would like to pursue in Yahooligans! on the work
sheet that was given to them.
Children were instructed to (a) use the work sheet to
transcribe their topics; (b) perform the task in Yahooligans!
only, (c) limit search time to 45 minutes, (d) highlight the
information that met their need using the computer mouse,
(e) print the information found, (f) highlight the relevant
information on the printout using a marker, and (g) announce the completion of the task to the researcher and/or
the school librarian. When a child did not locate information
on a topic, the child was allowed to modify the topic.
Children were encouraged to ask questions as needed. When
technical problems occurred, children were given additional
time to complete their tasks. Upon completion, each childs
Web session was saved on the local computer used. All Web
sessions were transferred electronically to the researchers
computer station. Each session was replayed, analyzed, and
transcribed by both the researcher and a trained research
assistant.
Limitations of the Study
This study involved 22 children aged 12 and 13 years
old. However, the results of this study are based on 15
usable Web sessions that replayed fully. The children who
participated in this study were selected from three seventhgrade science classes in one Middle School located in East
Tennessee; therefore, they may not represent all middle
school students in Tennessee, nor may they represent the
general population of seventh-grade science students.
The fact that the data presented in this study were collected in 1998, the data reflect the participants cognitive
and physical behaviors in using the Yahooligans! search
engine at that time. It is possible that these participants
behaviors have changed since then.
At the time of this study, Yahooligans! was the only Web
search engine designed for children ages 712. Despite this
fact, use of only one search engine to examine childrens
information-seeking behavior may not represent an in depth
view of childrens behavior in using Web search engines.
Another limitation concerns lack of concurrent verbalization during use of Yahooligans! The fact that exit interviews took place at the end of the research experiment
rather than immediately after children completed their tasks
may impact the reliability of the responses due to recall.
Results
The results of this study are reported within the context
of the four research questions posed. Due to data loss, the
results are based on 15 usable Web sessions that replayed
fully. Due to the small sample size (15), descriptive statistics were employed to describe trends in the data. The

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children who participated in this study were the same as

those who took part in the previous two studies.
Research question 1. How successful are children in
finding information for their fully self-generated tasks,
and how does this success compare to the success they
had on the two fully assigned tasks (research-oriented
and fact-finding) that they had performed in the previous studies?
Eleven children (73%) were successful in finding the
information they sought on their fully self-generated
tasks. Twenty-seven percent were unsuccessful either
because they did not find any information of interest or
that they were undecided as to the information they were
seeking. One child who was unsuccessful, for example,
submitted the wrong answer to the topic selected (i.e., the
name of the head coach of the Atlanta Braves). One child
who sought information about veterinarians, for example, misspelled the term repeatedly. The child tried the
related term horses, but was still unsuccessful. Similarly, the child who sought information about psychology as a career misspelled psychology and psychologists. Another child who looked for information about
art, was undecided about which aspect of the topic to
pursue after viewing the retrieved results. The child who
looked for information about games browsed related
sites, but did not select any information. Another child
who searched for information about poetry and specifically the poetry of Walt Whitman was uncertain as to
the poem to use. Similarly, the child who sought information about Spice Girls was undecided as to the
information to obtain about the group. It seems that these
children did not possess a clear focus about their information need, despite the fact that the researcher and
school librarian assisted them in clarifying their specific
topics before using Yahooligans! It is noteworthy that
there were cases when children searched under broad
terms they extracted from their initial topics rather than
using the more specific terms from the mediated topics
(e.g., games instead of video games).
Overall, children were more successful on the fully selfgenerated task than on the two fully assigned tasks they had
performed in the previous studies. On this task, 73% succeeded in finding the information sought for the fully selfgenerated task, compared to 69% who partially succeeded
on the research-oriented task and 50% who fully succeeded
on the fact-finding task.
Research question 2. What cognitive behavior do children demonstrate in using Yahooligans! to find information for their fully self-generated tasks, and does this
behavior vary from the behaviors they exhibited on the
two fully assigned tasks (research-oriented and factfinding) that they had performed in the previous studies?
Childrens cognitive behavior was examined in relation
to searching and browsing.

1176

Searching
Thirteen out of 15 children (87%) began their initial
moves by performing keyword searches using single and
two terms in their search statements. Most of these searches
included broad terms that children extracted from their
initial rather than mediated topics. The child who selected
the topic about large oil reserves, for example, entered
oil, in the initial move and oil reserve in the subsequent
move. Another child who needed information about the
name of the coach of the Atlanta Braves typed baseball
instead of Atlanta Braves.
Two children committed misspelling errors, one misspelled veterinarians as veternarians and another misspelled psychology as phsychology, and psychologists as physychologits. The first child modified the
search by using synonyms (e.g., pet doctors, dog doctors),
but found no matches. The child switched to the new topic
horses. Apparently, the child was unaware of the error
he/she committed. The fact that Yahooligans! did not have
a spell-checking technique to alert the child about the error
contributed to the breakdown the child experienced. Although the child found three categories and 33 sites under
horses, the child did not select any information to view.
The second child failed in his/her quest and transcribed on
his/her sheet that he/she did not find any information about
the topic.
Childrens search moves varied by task. As shown in
Table 1, they performed more searches on the fully selfgenerated task (mean ! 5.05) than the research-oriented
task (mean ! 3.07). The number of searches on the former
is lower than that on the fact-based task (mean ! 6.7).
Thirteen percent submitted natural language on the fully
self-generated task, whereas 8% performed this type of
searching on the research-oriented task and 35% did so on
the fact-based task. Most searches on the fully self-generated tasks had two concrete concepts, whereas most
searches on both the research-oriented and fact-based tasks
contained single concrete concepts. No child used Boolean
operators, indicating childrens unfamiliarity with this type
of searching.
Search moves also varied by success levels on the three
tasks (Fig. 2). Successful children made fewer keyword
searches on the three tasks. Their mean score of search
moves was 5.5 on the fully self-generated task, 2.4 on the
research-oriented task, and 3.49 on the fact-based task.
Unsuccessful childrens score on these tasks had a mean of
4.78, 8, and 10, respectively.
Browsing
Children browsed much more than searched by keyword
to find information about their topics. They activated 117
hyperlinks, of which 93 were appropriate to the information
sought (appropriateness ratio ! 79%). The number of hyperlinks they browsed varied by success levels (Fig. 2).
Successful children activated 68 hyperlinks (mean ! 7.5),

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNovember 2002

TABLE 1.

Childrens Web activities on the three tasks.

Variable

Fully self-generated task

(n ! 15)

Research-oriented task
(n ! 13)

Fact-based task
(n ! 14)

73%

69%

50%

M ! 5.05a
13%
13%
M ! 12.26
M ! 1.93
M ! 7.4
M ! 14.35 minutes
33%
M ! 78
47%

M ! 3.07a
8%
2%
M ! 4.15
M ! 1.54
M ! 6.07
M ! 10.42 minutes
23%
M ! 41
20%

M ! 6.7a
35%
2%
M ! 8.4
M ! 5.1
M ! 12.2
M ! 15.78 minutes
64%
M ! 49
20%

Success
Search moves
Keyword
Natural language
Misspelling
Browsing moves
Looping moves
Backtracking
Time
Exploratory moves
Web moves
Task preference
a

M!Mean score.

whereas unsuccessful ones activated 49 hyperlinks (mean

! 8.1). Regardless of success, however, most children
visited sites that were irrelevant to the information need.
The child who wanted information about summer Olympic
games basketball, for example, activated five links relating to rock music. The child who needed the name of the
coach of the Atlanta Braves activated three links, one about
chess, one about games, and another about computer
games. It is possible that these children wanted to explore

FIG. 2.

topics of interest other than those they were pursuing. A few

others did not wait for the results to load after activating the
hyperlinks; and they switched immediately to keyword
searching. One child, for example, clicked on the category
Smith, Will, then on the site Will Smith, and performed
a keyword search under Will Smith before the results
loaded.
Childrens browse moves varied by task (Table 1). They
browsed more on the fully self-generated task (mean

Childrens Web activities on the three tasks by success.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNovember 2002

1177

! 12.26) than both the research-oriented task (mean

! 4.15) and the fact-based task (mean ! 8.4). As stated
earlier, 20% of the children pursued two topics each, 26%
modified their topics during searching, and 33% searched
under their initial broad topics because they were undecided
about the specific aspects to pursue. The number of topics
pursued and their variety influenced the number of browsing
moves that children made on the fully self-generated task.
Browsing varied by success levels on the three tasks
(Fig. 2). Successful children activated nearly the same number of hyperlinks (mean ! 7.5 hyperlinks) on the fully
self-generated task as did unsuccessful ones (mean ! 8.1).
On the research task, however, partially successful children
activated a much lower number of hyperlinks (mean
! 3.28) than did unsuccessful ones (mean ! 8.75). Similarly, successful children browsed fewer hyperlinks (mean
! 7.58) on the fact-based task than did unsuccessful ones
(mean ! 9.29). It seems that the more difficulty unsuccessful children experienced in finding the information sought,
the more they visited hyperlinks.
Research question 3. What physical behavior do children demonstrate in using Yahooligans! to find information for their fully self-generated tasks, and does this
behavior vary from the behaviors they exhibited on the
two fully assigned tasks (research-oriented and factfinding) that they had performed in the previous studies?
The physical behavior was observed in terms of the
actions children made other than searching and browsing.
This included use of Netscape Back command (i.e., backtracking), looping (i.e., reactivating previously executed
searches and clicking on previously visited sites/hyperlinks), total number of Web moves made, time taken to
complete the tasks, and exploratory moves (e.g., use of
Netscape Help).
Backtracking
Backtracking allows the viewing of previously retrieved
Web pages in a linear mode. Overall, children backtracked
111 times (mean ! 7.4) while completing their fully selfgenerated tasks. The number of backtracks varied by success levels (Fig. 2). Successful children backtracked less
often on the fully self-generated tasks (mean ! 7) than
unsuccessful ones (mean ! 8). Children clicked on the Back
command but did not view most of the pages they had
retrieved. One child, for example, clicked on Back repeatedly, did not wait for the results to load, clicked on Forward
and immediately clicked on Back again. The child initiated
a new keyword search under Green Bay, although the
pages he/she had previously retrieved contained information
on this topic. Most children backtracked to loop hyperlinks.
The farther they were from these hyperlinks, the more often
they backtracked. Had these children recognized shortcuts to reactivate these hyperlinks, they would have backtracked less often and completed their tasks more efficiently.

1178

Backtracking varied by task (Table 1). Children backtracked a little more on the fully self-generated task than
they did on the research-oriented task (mean ! 7.4 vs. 6.07,
respectively), but did so much more on the fact-finding task
(mean ! 12.2). Backtracking also varied by success levels
on the three tasks (Fig. 2). Successful children backtracked
less often on fully self-generated task (mean ! 7), the
research-oriented task (mean ! 4.7) and the fact-finding
task (mean ! 5.8) than did unsuccessful children (means of
8, 9.25, and 6.4, respectively).
Although childrens frequent backtracking may be typical of user behavior on the Web (Tauscher & Greenberg,
1997), activation of shortcuts, such as the History list and
Go list may be more efficient. Lack of use of these shortcuts
by the children in this study indicates their unfamiliarity
with these features.
Looping
Search looping refers to the re-activation of previously
executed searches. On the fully self-generated task, children
looped an average of one search (mean ! 1). Search looping
varied by success rate. Successful children looped five times
(mean ! 0.56), whereas unsuccessful children looped 10
times (mean ! 1.67) (Fig. 2).
Hyperlink looping means the reactivation of previously
visited hyperlinks. Children looped an average of one and a
half hyperlinks (mean ! 1.5). Like search looping, hyperlink looping varied by success levels. Successful children
looped 8 hyperlinks (mean ! 0.89), whereas unsuccessful
ones looped 15 hyperlinks (mean ! 2.5).
Looping varied by task (Table 1). Children looped an
equivalent number of hyperlinks on the fully self-generated
task and the research-oriented task (mean ! 1.93 vs.1.54,
respectively). However, they looped fewer hyperlinks on
the former task compared to the fact-based task (mean
! 1.93 vs. 5.1, respectively).
Search and hyperlink looping also varied by success
levels on the three tasks (Fig. 2). Successful children looped
searches and hyperlinks much less often on the three tasks
than did unsuccessful ones. Successful childrens mean
average of looping on the fully self-generated task was 0.88,
0.2 on the research-oriented task, and 2.2 on the fact-finding
task. Unsuccessful childrens mean average of looping was
3.5, 3.75, and 8, respectively.
Web Moves
The number of Web moves children made to complete
the fully self-generated tasks ranged from 12 to 110. Children made a total of 1,162 moves (mean ! 77). Web moves
are those that include all activities children performed to
complete the task (e.g., hyperlink activation, backtracking,
looping, exploratory move). The number of Web moves
varied by task (Table 1). Children made the highest number
of Web moves on the fully self-generated tasks (mean

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNovember 2002

! 78), compared to the research-oriented task (mean ! 41)

and the fact-based task (mean ! 49).
The number of Web moves also varied by success levels
(Fig. 2). Surprisingly, successful children made more Web
moves to complete the fully self-generated task (mean
! 97) than did unsuccessful ones (mean ! 48). Children
who searched under broad topics, for example, retrieved
more information than those who searched under specific
ones. Compared to the two assigned tasks, successful children made more Web moves on the fully self-generated task
than they did on both the research-oriented and the factfinding tasks (means of 34 and 36, respectively).
Time
Children spent an average of 14 minutes and 35 seconds
(mean ! 14.35 minutes) to complete the fully self-generated task (Table 1). The mean time successful and unsuccessful children took to complete the fully self-generated
task was nearly the same (mean of 14.54 minutes vs. 14.75
minutes, respectively). On the research-oriented and factfinding tasks, however, successful children took less time to
complete them (mean of 8 minutes vs. 11.89 minutes, respectively) than did unsuccessful ones (mean of 16 minutes.
vs. 19.69 minutes, respectively) (Fig. 2). Overall, children
took the longest time to complete the fact-finding task
(mean ! 15.78 minutes) followed by the fully self-generated task (mean ! 14.35 minutes) and the research-oriented
task (mean ! 10.42 minutes).
Exploratory Moves
Five out of 15 children (33%) made exploratory moves
on the fully self-generated tasks. Exploratory moves are
those that are embedded in using the browsers features
(e.g., Find, Help, Bookmarks) and/or Yahooligans! Help
file. Two activated Yahooligans! on-line Help twice, but did
not select any option. One viewed Netscape Bookmarks and
did not launch any link, one made a search about oil
reserves using the Netscape Find option, and another used
the same option and performed three searches, one search
on greenbay, one on greenbay packers, and another on oil
reserves. Apparently, the Help file did not provide the help
the child was seeking. This is not surprising, because Yahooligans! Help does not give adequate guidance about
using the engine. Use of the Find command to locate
information about a topic indicates the childs lack of
knowledge about the purpose of this feature. The child who
activated Bookmarks was looking for sites related to his/her
topic but did not find any.
Exploratory moves varied by task (Table 1). While 33%
made these kind of moves on the fully self-generated tasks,
23% did so on the research-oriented task and 64% made
such moves on the fact-finding task.
Research Question 4. What task (fully self-generated
vs. fully assigned) do children prefer, and why?

To obtain a holistic view of childrens information seeking behavior, the research elicited their affective state in
terms of task preference at the conclusion of the research
experiment. Children were interviewed individually and
asked about the task they preferred the most and the reasons
for their preference. The majority of the children (47%)
preferred the fully self-generated task, 20% liked the research task, another 20% mentioned the fact-finding task,
and 13% were unsure. Only four children (27%) articulated
reasons for their task preference. One child preferred the
fully self-generated task because he/she was able to locate
the information sought. Another who favored the same task
mentioned the challenge that use of Yahooligans! provided him/her. He/she commented: . . . because I wanted to
figure out for myself that I can use [Yahooligans] and use it
well. One child preferred the fact-finding task and another
favored the research task for the same reason: ability to
locate the information sought. Satisfaction with the search
results was the driving force behind childrens task preference rather the task in itself. This finding is inconclusive,
however, because only 27% gave reasons for their task
preference, suggesting the need for further research in this
area of study.
Discussion
This study reported the findings of a research project that
examined the information seeking behavior and success of
seventh-grade science children in using Yahooligans! to
find information for a fully self-generated task. It compared
childrens behavior and success on this task to the behavior
and success they exhibited on the two fully assigned tasks
(research-oriented and fact-based) that they had performed
in the previous studies (Bilal, 2000, 2001). Children were
more successful on the fully self-generated task than on the
two assigned tasks. In addition, their information-seeking
behavior varied by task and by success levels. The findings
are discussed within the context of the four research questions posed.
Success
Most children (73%) found the information they sought
for their fully self-generated task. They were more successful on this task compared to research-oriented task (69%)
and the fact-finding task (50%). Childrens higher success
rate on the fully self-generated task was due to these factors:
first, they selected topics they were familiar with and had
interest in. Although 67% of the topics children chose were
research-oriented, they were simple; that is, they did not
contain many facets and were not complex in nature. Second, children were given a choice to modify their topics or
select new aspects of the topics if they did not locate
information of interest or did not find relevant information.
In cases when children did not find information on one of
the topics, they were able to do so on the second one. Third,
67% of the children were able to formulate a focus during

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1179

mediation that both the researcher and the school librarian

conducted. The flexibility in topic selection and modification combined with childrens preference of the fully selfgenerated task (by 47%) may have influenced their success
rate. This finding is congruent with the results of prior
studies (Garland, 1995; Hirsh, 1999; Oliver & Oliver, 1997;
Pitts, 1995; Small, 1999; Solomon, 1994), which revealed
that children were more motivated, challenged, and engaged
in completing their tasks when they selected topics that
interested them.
Cognitive Behavior
Children browsed much more than they searched by
keyword on the three tasks. In general, children were more
successful when they browsed than when they searched by
keyword. The difficulty children encountered in finding
relevant information was due to use of incorrect search
syntax and misspelling. As was found in the previous two
studies, the poor structure of Yahooligans! keyword searching contributed to childrens breakdowns. In fact, Yahooligans! does not employ comprehensive indexing of its sites.
Because it is a directory rather than a true search engine,
browsing tends to be a stronger feature than keyword
searching. The placement of the Search box above the
subject hierarchies in the search interface encourages keyword searching and makes it a priority to browsing, a design
that can be misleading to children. System developers need
to redesign keyword searching and enhance its capabilities,
as well as provide a spell-checking technique to minimize
childrens breakdowns in using the engine.
Childrens keyword searching included both single and
concrete concepts, which are typical of their cognitive developmental level, as identified by Bjorklund (2002) and
Piaget and Inhelder (1969). Although children were more
successful in finding relevant information for the fully selfgenerated task, 33% were unable to decide on a specific
focus to pursue or on the information to use from the results
they retrieved about their topic. One child who needed
information about poetry and later decided on poems by
Walt Whitman, for example, was undecided as to which
poem to select from the results he/she found. Similarly,
another child who sought information about Spice Girls
was uncertain as to the information to use and print about
the group. It is unclear why these children had a focus
formulation problem throughout the search process rather
than at task initiation. One possible explanation could be
due to childrens participation in an experiment rather than
a more natural information seeking incident. In their ASK
study, Belkin, Brooks, and Oddy (1982) found that in the
initial stage of information seeking, a user may not be able
to specify precisely what information he/she needs. Indeed,
a number of children experienced this problem when they
were asked to identify an aspect of the topic to pursue
during mediation. In fact, children may have expressed
general topics of interest because they were participating in
the experimental study, but they may not have actually had

1180

a specific information need at that time. The uncertainty

these children experienced during the search process may be
due to their inadequate level of topic knowledge. This
knowledge was not assessed in this study because the topics
that the children chose were not known in advance. The fact
that few children shifted focus and modified topics during
searching makes topic knowledge assessment an uneasy
task to undertake.
In giving children a choice to generate their own tasks
fully, one should factor in additional time to mediate the
tasks individually, monitor childrens activities closely to
diagnose and solve the problems they encounter, as well as
guide them at every stage of the search process.
Thirteen percent of the children used natural language
queries on the fully self-generated task. Although use of
natural language is typical of these childrens cognitive
developmental level, children should be exposed to effective Web training to equip them with the knowledge and
skills needed to use various Web search engines and the
browsers they embed.
Physical Behavior
Similar to their behavior on the two fully assigned tasks,
children activated the browsers Back command exclusively
to navigate among the Web pages they retrieved. No child
used shortcuts (e.g., History list, Go list), indicating unfamiliarity with these navigation commands. Children backtracked more on the fully self-generated task (mean ! 7.4)
than the research-oriented task (mean ! 6.07), but less often
than the fact-based task (mean ! 12.2). Children performed
the fully self-generated task on the second day of the research experiment and after they had completed the factbased task. It seems that they gained some skill in maneuvering within the Web environment. This finding is congruent with the results of prior research, which show that,
regardless of age, use the Back command is common among
Web users (Catledge & Pitkow, 1995; Large & Beheshti,
2000; Tauscher & Greenberg, 1997; Wang, Hawk, &
Tenopir, 2000). Consequently, backtracking by the children
in this study is considered typical of Web users behavior;
however, it raises the issue of efficiency in navigating the
Web, a problem that information professionals should address in their Web training programs.
Most children looped searches and hyperlinks. Because
the Web, by nature, creates disorientation and cognitive
overload on users, children are prone to loop hyperlinks and
searches when they use the Web due to memory recall
(Bjorklund, 2000; Siegler, 1998). One method to assist
children with memory recall is to teach them how to use a
browsers History list and the Go list. Keeping a list of the
sites they visit is another way to enhance childrens recall.
Children took more time to complete the fully selfgenerated task (mean ! 14.35 minutes) than the researchoriented task (mean ! 10.42 minutes), but an equivalent
time to perform the fact-based task (mean ! 15.78 minutes). Although most of the topics that children selected for

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNovember 2002

their fully self-generated task were research-oriented, they

took longer to complete it than they did to accomplish the
assigned research-oriented task. Due to topic variety and
flexibility in changing aspects of topics and in modifying
topics during the search process, it is believed that fully
self-generated tasks may take longer to complete than fully
assigned tasks, especially when these tasks are researchoriented. Therefore, adequate time should be given to the
children when they perform fully self-generated tasks.

Task Preference
Most children (47%) preferred the fully self-generated
task to the two assigned tasks they had performed in the
previous studies (Bilal, 2000, 2001). The fact that childrens
satisfaction with the results was more important to them
than choosing their own topics is not surprising. Prior research of children and adults use of the Web revealed that
user satisfaction with search results provided them with a
sense of achievement (Bilal & Kirby, 2001; Kuhlthau,
1993). Although only 27% articulated reasons for their
preference of the fully self-generated tasks in the present
study, this finding should be used as a base for further
research in this area of study.
In sum, the findings of this study revealed these important characteristics about childrens information seeking
behavior and success in finding information in Yahooligans!
for a fully self-generated task.
(1) Children were more successful when they browsed than
when they searched by keyword.
(2) Children generated topics that were research-oriented
and broad in nature. Sixty-seven percent were able to
formulate a focus and select a specific aspect of interest
during topic mediation, while 33% remained undecided
about the aspect to choose.
(3) Children who searched under their initial broad topics
remained undecided about the information to select
from the results they retrieved.
(4) Most children opted to search under broader terms they
extracted from their initial topics rather than the more
specific terms included in their mediated topics.
(5) Thirteen percent used natural language queries, and
another 13% misspelled terms repeatedly.
(6) Thirty-three percent made exploratory moves in the
Netscape browser to locate the information they needed.
No child used the Help features in Yahooligans! or the
browser.
(7) Children backtracked and looped searches and hyperlinks, but not as often as they did for the two assigned
tasks they had performed in the previous studies.
(8) Children need adequate training in using Web search
engines, in navigating in a Web browsers space, as
well as in negotiating information problems and formulating a clear focus about topics of interest.
(9) Overall, children had less difficulty with the fully selfgenerated task than with the two assigned tasks.

Conclusions
The fact that children were more successful in finding
information for the fully self-generated task and had less
difficulty with it compared to the two fully assigned tasks
should not entirely confirm that fully self-generated tasks
are better suited for Web use than fully assigned tasks. As
mentioned earlier, few children, including successful ones,
experienced uncertainty and had decision-making problems
about the information to select from the results they retrieved about their topics of interest. Thus, childrens success should not be judged solely on finding the desired
information. The process children adopt in seeking information, the meaning or sense making they derive from
the information they find, the way they use the information
are important factors in evaluating the information-seeking
process.
When children are given a choice to generate their own
tasks fully, they should be guided and supported affectively
from the time they initiate their topics to the time they
complete them. Most children chose topics that were broad
in nature and, therefore, necessitated mediation to identify
the true information need. Topic mediation is essential to
assist children in formulating a clear focus to pursue. In
addition, children should be trained in identifying their
information need so that they develop a focus and become
certain about aspects of topics to pursue. As children use of
the Web increases at schools and homes, they need to
acquire an adequate level of knowledge of the Information
Search Process (ISP) described by Kuhlthau (1993), for
example, to become more skilled in initiating and completing tasks successfully. Information seeking skills are vital
for these children especially as they use the Web outside
class context where mediation is not provided.
Children browsed more than searched by keyword on the
three tasks. The breakdowns children experienced with
keyword searching was mainly due to Yahooligans! poor
structure of keyword searching. Although Yahooligans! is
designed for children ages 712, it does not support their
information seeking effectively. This is because Yahooligans! is considered a directory rather than a search engine.
However, placing the Search box above the subject hierarchies in the search interface encourages keyword searching
and gives it a priority to browsing. The fact that the engine
lacks a spell-checking technique, has inadequate guidance
under its Help file, and does not provide a corrective feedback method, make its use difficult not only by children, but
also by adults (Bilal & Kirby, 2002). System designers
should reevaluate this engine to support childrens information seeking.
The need for Web training should not be underestimated.
Information professionals should capitalize on childrens
motivation in using the Web by developing formal Web
training programs that incorporate use of models of the
information-seeking process, such as the Big6 Skills (Eisenberg & Berkowitz, 1990). The affective aspect of information seeking should be incorporated into teaching informa-

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1181

APPENDIX 1.

Childrens fully self-generated topics.a

I want information about Ebola virus

What can dogs do to help out other people
Information about veterinarians as a career
What is the main threat to panda bears survival
I want to find information on large oil reserves
I want information about pc cd-rom games
I want to find information about chat rooms
I want to find information about computer games
I want to find information about poetry
Information on endangered species
Information on Michael Jordan
Information about movies
Information about packers
Information about looney tunes
Summer olympic games
I want to find information on music and movies
I want to find information on the spice girls
I want to find ice skating and acting
I want to find a topic on baseball and gymnastics
I want information about psychology
Information about law
Information about music
a

Topics before mediation.

tion literacy skills. Kuhlthaus model of the ISP (1993),

which combines the cognitive, physical, and affective behaviors of information seeking can be integrated with the
Big6 Skills model, for example, to derive a holistic model
on which to build effective information literacy skills programs for children.
As children use the Web as the major source for their
school projects (Pew Research Center, 2001), there is a need
to learn more about these young peoples informationseeking behavior and success. The Web is a complex,
unstructured information retrieval system that not only children, but also adults have a difficult time constructing a
meaningful mental model of [it] (Jacobson, 1995, p. 71).
Questions that bear further study are: What methodologies
are best suited to examine childrens information-seeking
behavior and success on the Web? What type of tasks do
children prefer to perform on the Web, and how do these
tasks influence their information-seeking behavior and success? How does the interface design of Web search engines
affect childrens information-seeking behavior and success?
How does childrens information seeking on the Web lead
to meaningful learning?
The taxonomy of tasks presented in this study describes
the differences among various types of tasks. It is recommended for use by other researchers as they perform research in these areas of study.
Acknowledgments
This research is supported by a grant from the Office of
Research, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The
author wishes to thank the educational advisor of the county
who gave permission to use the Middle School as the site

1182

for this study. Thanks are also extended to the children and
the school librarian. The cooperation and support of the
School Principal and Assistant Principal are highly appreciated. Thanks to Peiling Wang, Bill Robinson, and Doug
Raber, Associate Professors, School of Information Sciences at
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, for their comments and suggestions.
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