Date Approved

5-22-2002

Embargo Period

5-17-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School and Public Librarianship

Department

Special Educational Services/Instruction

College

College of Education

Advisor

Willett, Holly

Subject(s)

Internet searching; School libraries; Third grade (Education)

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Abstract

The purpose of this naturalistic case study was for 72 third-grade students to effectively use the children's Web directories Yahooligans and Kidsclick to locate specific information on the Internet and then to compare the success rates of the two directories. The researcher taught a three-week unit of instruction on searching children's' Web directories to locate information. Students completed a five-question worksheet in which they were required to do a keyword search on a specified directory to answer each question. Students recorded their answers, the number of Websites visited to locate each answer, and the URL of the Website where the answer was located on the worksheet. Structured field observations were made to obtain an understanding of the behaviors and actions demonstrated by the students during their search sessions. The data collection worksheets were coded to obtain a numerical value that represented or measured the children's performance and then analyzed using SPSS software. Frequencies and percentages measuring success rates in answering questions were tabulated. It was concluded that both Yahooligans and Kidsclick are appropriate Web directories for the average third-grade student, and that Kidsclick should be the first directory children go to for their information needs when using the Internet.

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