A new study (Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future – PDF format; 1.67MB, 35 pages) challenges the common assumption that the ‘Google Generation’ – (defined as those born after 1993 and explore the world of a cohort of young people with little or no recollection of life before the web.) is the most web-literate.
The broad aims of the study are to gather and assess the available evidence to establish:
• whether or not, as a result of the digital transition and the vast range of information resources being digitally created, young people, the `Google generation’, are searching for and researching content in new ways and whether this is likely to shape their future behaviour as mature researchers?
• whether or not new ways of researching content will prove to be any different from the ways that existing researchers and scholars carry out their work?
• to inform and stimulate discussion about the future of libraries in the internet era
A news release : Pioneering research shows ‘Google Generation’ is a myth from The British Library has a nice summary of this report’s finding.