Today's students exhibit generational differences in the way they search for information. Observations of first-year students revealed a proclivity for simple keyword or phrases searches with frequent misspellings and incorrect logic. Although no students had strong mental models of search mechanisms, those with stronger models did construct more…

Discussion of library instruction for teaching the use of computer-based searching techniques focuses on a study conducted at Evergreen State College to determine novice and experienced users' information seeking habits, and to create a multicultural teaching model for researchers that acknowledges the users' conceptual frameworks. (15 references)…