Examines elementary school students' use of an online public access catalog to investigate the interaction between children, technology, curriculum, instruction, and learning. Highlights include patterns of successes and breakdowns; search strategies; instructional approaches and childrens' interests; structure of interaction; search terms; and…

Naturalistic observation and questioning of children grades 1-6 in school library media centers investigated their intentions, purposes, search terms, strategies, successes, and breakdowns in accessing fiction through Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs). Presents a framework of perspectives (individual, social cultural, task, time and timing) to…

Reports on research on retrieval behavior of children using a school library online public access catalog. The impact of user characteristics, school setting, interface usability, and information access features on information retrieval are considered. Overall patterns of children's behavior that influence retrieval and findings about strategies…

Explores the dynamics of information system use to understand the requirements of intelligent information systems. Highlights include the novice/expert distinction and the development of skills from novice to expert; methods for understanding dynamics; and a study of elementary school children's use of an online public access catalog in grades…