Children’s Categorization Abilities and the Future of the School Library

Abstract:

This paper examines the information needs and behaviors of children from kindergarten through the sixth grade. It begins with a discussion of the ways this group sets out to fill their information voids, especially in a digital environment. Through this lens, the discussion moves towards children’s behaviors as a result of their cognition, examining the categorization abilities of children. How these notions differ from traditional library categories is important in understanding why children do not often utilize keywords and metadata. In the crux between the traditional library and the new library 2.0, it is important to reflect upon the limited research available describing user-driven tagging and the place it may have in alleviating the tensions children associate with searching using current categories.

1. Introduction/General User Description

a. Cognitive Ability of User
b. Searching Methods
c. Application of Models to the Understanding of User

2. Categorization Skills of User/Literature Review

a. Psychology Literature
b. LIS Literature

• i. Cooper
  ii. Cooper
  iii. Bilal

3. Web 2.0

a. Folksonomies

• i. Definition
  ii. Review of Literature/Application to User

4. Implications for School Librarians

a. User-driven Library Categories
b. Personalized Digital Library