Outline

 Part One 

A.    Application of definition to Young Adults

B.    Discrimination between Young Adults’ information
     needs and information desires

A.    As Library Users and Information Seekers

B.  Typical Information Seeking Behavior

Part Two

V.  Citation Diagram
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VI.  Keywords
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 VII.  VII.  Footnotes 
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VIII.  References
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VII

Part One

“No, you can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want And if you try sometime you just might find   You get what you need.” -Rolling Stones

Donald O. Case addresses the importance of distinguishing between “need” and desire” in Looking for Information (p.65).  Regarding the information seeking behaviors of teenagers, the boundary between needs and wants is sometimes muddled, and a clear understanding between the two is crucial to providing adequate library services.  Teens are often motivated by a “need” for information that turns out to really be a desire to learn about something, such as how to sign up for a free instant messaging account. 

Case continued to relate the differences between need and desire with his reiteration of Andrew Green’s description of what a need really is (p. 65):
            a. A need must be instrumental in creating motivation.
            b. They differ from wants in the way they can be “contestable.”
            c. Needs develop out of necessity and can carry moral weight.
            d. There can be an unawareness of the need, the scope and style of the information sought.

I recently assisted a young adult who expressed her “need for information” regarding sexually transmitted diseases.  She had heard of STDs in school and a friend of hers allegedly had symptoms of something that was described.  Was this truly a need? 

·                     Clearly, the patron was motivated to find more information

·                     Her friend was “in serious trouble,” according the young adult who approached me.  The information sought was something she felt she had to have in order to help her friend. 

·                     She was motivated to help her friend through a situation that was potentially threatening in social and physical health ways (likely without parental knowledge).

·                     She had been introduced to the concept of STDs at school and had no idea where else to go for accurate and current information.  She was unaware of its scope.³

Based upon Green’s criteria, it seems obvious that this young adult did indeed have a need for information. 

It is worth mentioning at this point that a true need for information does not discredit patrons who access library services for other reasons, such as in the above case (or for example, to register for and use an instant messaging account).  The focus of this paper examines the differences between needs and desires, and is not for using this as a justification for weighing the importance of one patron service over another.

A recent study by Axel Aubrun and Joe Grady (2000) describe how adults sometimes “toggle” between the harsh judgments of teens and some empathy for what they are going through.  Interestingly, adults are susceptible to some of these negative labels based upon what they hear others’ saying and how the media portrays this generation, but when they remember what it was like when they were teens or they know of some teens personally, they seem to have more tolerance.

[Y]ou don't know what you're going to encounter when you come upon a teenager.  (Aubrun and Grady, 2000)

A.  In most studies Young Adults are generally described as

·           Sociable (like to be with peers)

·           Visual (Teens have a strong preference for visual imagery over print, as described by numerous studies

·           “Exhibit strong personal preferences” (Kuhlthau and Agosto, 2002)

·           Computer literate; technologically adept

·           Ages 12 – 18 years old

·           Are not usually motivated about homework; would rather look up information regarding a personal issue

·           Want brief, quick answers (not information overload):     

B.  Typical information seeking behavior includes:

·         Time when information is sought.  Most young adults are in a school setting (this report does not focus on home-schoolers as a separate group).  They look for information after school, on weekends and sometimes on holidays/vacation/off days.   As Virginia Walter relates, “On a typical day in a typical midsized public library, up to 60 percent of its users will be under the age of eighteen.” 

·         Desire to find quick, accurate information.  Students needing information about a subject for a school assignment are usually not very motivated about the content and wish to “just get it over with.” 

·         Attraction to visual aids (computer use, web sites, pictures, photos).

·         Working on information seeking with peers.  Many young adults would rather find the information with and through a friend’s help, and avoid having to approach an adult.

·         A desire to own it and make it their territory.  Here, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can exemplify some of this tendency for the teen to have a “place” that satisfies lower level needs, such as a safe, functional, and modern Young Adult department.  A welcoming attitude by librarians, respecting the teens’ unique social needs and accepting of their differentiating behaviors, will give them a sense of belonging that can only help to build self-esteem and encourage further library use.

·         A desire to make it fun, as long as that is not an additional chore.  Ease of use is crucial.  Disinterest happens fast.

The major problem facing libraries, and similar information systems, is how to proceed from “things as they are now” to “things as they may be.” Taylor, 1967

 

A.  Overview of ROL Content

In his book Childhood and Society, Erik Erikson (1963) presented a theory of psychological development that he called the “eight ages of man.”  Stages Four through Six exemplify the changes that can (and must) take place in order for person to move through childhood into adulthood.  During this middle ground, the teen years are incredibly charged with the processes of physical, emotional, spiritual and mental learning. 

Stages Four through Six:  Motivations and Differentiating
According to Erikson, during the pre-adolescent stage, the process of development must include a desire to learn and explore (Stage Four:  Industry vs. Inferiority).  When a pre-teen feels inferior, finds no pleasure in learning, and begins rolling around in role confusion, life can be chaotic.  This is the crucial time for an exploration of a personal meaning of existence (Stage Five:  Identity vs. Role Confusion), and to set the standards for intimate relationships (Stage Six:  Intimacy vs. Isolation).   Consciously or unconsciously, the emergence of adolescence thrusts this user group into a quest for belonging, in school, at home, at the mall, and in their local library – anywhere they have interaction with adults and peers.

As library patrons, teens present a unique challenge.  Their developmental processes often address the need for services that are opposite of other user groups.  For example, some library customers may prefer a quiet atmosphere for their afternoon visit.  Three o’clock chimes in, and groups of teens come bounding in, asking to sign up for the computers and plopping their heavy backpacks down on tables and chairs.  Some young adults break out the books and form study groups in which they must talk to work on homework together.  Some log on instant messaging, chat and music videos and discuss what’s happening with their neighbors.

Without a place to meet their social needs, the teens would quickly be put into a position of breaking the rules.  Easily put on the defensive, they find themselves at odds with the librarians (who are trying to keep the other patrons placated) and other disapproving adults.  In fact, teens meet so much disapproval from adults in their lives that by the time they need information, they are apt to use the reference librarian as a last resort.⁴   According to MacRae, the “crux of the problem [is] adults’ poisonous attitude toward youth.”⁵   

This has had a great effect on how teens actively seek information.  Couple that with public librarians’ often general lack of support toward teens as an important user group.  Mark Winston and Kimberly Lione Paone (2001) state quite clearly:

Despite the face that the teenage population in public libraries is so large and in need of support, young adult services are seemingly not afforded the same amount of attention, or allocation of budget resources, as adult, or even children services.

Unfortunately in this light teens are usually viewed as troublesome latch-key kids, and librarians end up referring to themselves as babysitters and social workers.  This is not a winning situation for either group.

Equally unfortunate is the effortless judgment made on the value or importance of what a teen is doing when using library services, especially when accessing the online computers.  If librarians “rate” clear research over instant messaging, this could be a problem.  The demand for computers in public libraries is high, and limiting a patron’s use by qualifying what he or she will be working on is wrong for two reasons.

First, librarians have no clear understanding of the importance of what a teen is doing online.  A young adult who looks like “all they’re doing is chatting,” may be discussing something extremely important with the person on the other end, such as a potential suicide or the death or a parent.  Teens are like any person – they must process through hardships, and many teens find chat rooms, instant messaging and email/text messaging the most comfortable and viable ways of doing this.

They are coming. We had better be ready. Abram & Luther

 

Second, teens born between 1982 and 2002 have truly been “Born with the Chip.”⁶  Stephen Abram and Judy Luther further discuss the unknown challenges libraries will be posed with from this upcoming generation.  These are the patrons who have never known life without computers and the internet. 

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Education found that “99% of public schools in the United States had access to the internet, compared to 35% in 1994.”  The same report went on to add that the ratio of students to computers also increased to 4.6-to-1 (up from 12.1 in 1998).  It is likely teens will expect a continuation of technological resources and an upgrading of library services to meet the needs that will arise from this rapidly changing field.⁷    As Debra Lau Whelan states so clearly in the March 2004 issue of the School Library Journal:

[T]his generation views technology as not only a part of life, but a way of life. 

A young adult librarian, consultant, and author of many books and articles, Patrick Jones has studied many teens in library settings, examining information seeking behavior and how libraries can adapt to the technological demands of this group.  In many of his writings, he concludes that adequate services for young adult library patrons can be updated; that the “elements of success for a YA area are the same in cyberspace as in physical space:  load it up with high-interest materials; make it attractive; involve YAs in the process, and most of all, make it distinct from other parts of the site by clearly defining its audience and giving it an identifiable appearance, content, and scope” (Jones, 1997). 

On their website, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission state:

Realistically, each library will face its own unique set of obstacles in regard to services, programs, resources, and staffing levels for young adults.⁸

This seems to hold true for many public libraries across the nation.  Finding a suitable space for young adults to mingle away from patrons who oppose the noise level factor, providing a mini-café’ for those teens who habitually sneak in an after-noon snack, allowing almost-unlimited access to computers and the internet and other technological services (e-books, for example), are ways in which libraries can encourage research and information seeking from young adults.  If libraries do not address these issues, young adults will continue to shy away from the reference desk, and perhaps the library altogether, in preference of a cyber world and their peer group’s assistance.

Some public libraries, however, are recognizing the information needs of young adults as a user group.  Understanding the behavioral challenges of this population is important.  What is equally promising, however, is the persistent research needs of young adults.  Because of school assignments, through career counseling and by seeking college information, young adults are sometimes asking not just for answers, but usually quick and brief answers. 

Although it plays a “pivotal role,” the internet is primarily used for email and surfing the web for fun or listening to music.  Looking for information on the internet is something teens are not highly skilled at (Hughes-Hassell and Miller, 2003), nor do they find it worth their time and trouble (Agosto, 2002).  As mentioned previously, information literate is not the same as computer literate.  Teens continuously rely upon adults, whether they acknowledge it or not, for direction.  Librarians assisting teens must accept their roles as professional guides through the dot-coms to the real sources of information, both in the stacks and in the cyber world.  It is the library’s responsibility to recognize the unique information and research needs of this fast-growing user group and to welcome the further programming and technological adaptations that will inevitably need to be made in order to accommodate the young adult’s styles of information seeking.

B.  Footprints:  Where the Information was Found

Much of the information was found through Hagerty Library’s e-resources for distance education students.  ProQuest, ERIC, OCLC First Search, LexisNexis and LISA were the primary databases. 

Dialog proved extremely useful and interesting in its scope.  Accessing ERIC from Dialog was somewhat different from Hagerty; the database’s search features are specialized and seemed to retrieve more information than through Hagerty.

Google and AltaVista were the two primary search engines used.  They both offer advanced search features, but were not as effective in retrieving scholarly journals as the above-mentioned sources.  However, search engines such as Google sometimes lead the searcher down a surprise path.  Once in a while, a gem appears.  For the purpose of this report, one such gem included IFLANET’s Section of Libraries for Children and Young Adults (retrieved through Google’s free text searching).  By the time this report was being finalized, Google offered a Beta version of Google Scholar.  This was a feature that will be explored for future use.

Some studies were discovered in books.  These were found in similar methods as searching for journal articles with one exception:  While familiarizing myself with the University of Delaware’s academic library, the Morris Library, I successfully browsed the stacks for more information and resources.

It is important to note that I also approached a few librarians regarding the information needs of young adults.  The Cecil County Public Library’s Young Adult Services Librarian was of especially tremendous assistance.