Section Nine

9.4 Agosto, D.E., Hughes-Hassell, S. (2005). Toward a Model of the Everyday Life Information Needs of Urban Teenagers, Part 1:Theoretical Model. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(10), 1394-1403.

Something I find respectable about research articles is personally addressing the limitations of their study. I take that to be an admission that they are not the ultimate voice in terms of the group or item being researched. Not only do these authors acknowledge the barriers preventing their study from being more generalizable, but they describe them and engage the reader to attempt transferability. The authors of this article also located the limitations at the end, rather than the beginning, of the methodology. This allows the reader to more easily tackle all of the data with a grain of salt, as it is one of the last things read in this article.

This body of research is helpful for the library community to garner a more holistic understanding of our teenage patrons. And while I personally find teenagers to be too obnoxious to work with, I recognize that the elementary students I will be teaching will develop into teenagers. By understanding the needs of what they are to be, I can create strategic lesson plans to lead them to become better information seekers when they reach that age. The authors assert that librarians need to think of the teenager as a whole person, not just someone with curriculum needs to be met and I wholly agree with this sentiment. It is not enough for librarians to instruct students on finding reference answers, but guide them to take charge of their entire searching needs.

Beyond assisting teenagers in such a way that they can solve their everyday life information needs, it is helpful for librarians to understand the world of teenagers. Outside of storm and stress and the negative connotations associated with teenagers, research like this reminds us of what teenagers are interacting with on a daily basis. Currently, I am still close enough in age with high schoolers that I can assess these needs based on my own memory, but that will not always be the case. Data provided by the authors suggests an easy way for librarians to remember what teenagers are going through, once they can no longer remember for themselves. And especially as new technology and situations influence teenagers, it is good to have these concepts readily available to those who could not even fathom these new scenarios.