Library Research: Children & Young People

Children to shape their future online

2008-04-16T16:08:00.000+01:00

Under-fives are being asked to post their opinions on a website to help direct the work of the children's commissioner for England. The relaunched website for the commissioner's office, www.11million.org.uk, includes a section where young children can pick shapes to indicate their views. There are also sections where older children can use more conventional means of communicating their views to the commissioner.11 Million's current work programme includes tackling gun, gang and knife crime, asylum issues, and opposing Mosquito devices that are used to disperse groups of young people. But comments will also influence the subjects the commissioner addresses in the future.The site was redesigned with help from children and young people to make it more accessible to them.

US report emphasises the importance of school library media centres

2008-04-15T14:30:00.000+01:00

According to the 2008 State of America's Libraries report, released each year as part of National Library Week, Americans are acting on their conviction that school library media centers are a key element in delivering the kind of education the next generation needs in order to succeed in a global society. School library media centers are increasingly in the public eye, but even as their value is ever more widely acknowledged, funding for them continues to lag. Studies in 19 states have shown that a strong school library media program helps students learn more and score higher on standardized tests. In Washington state, a year-long grassroots campaign by three mothers culminated in an all-day summit conference and rally in February that helped produce a bill in the legislature to institute state funding for local school libraries.But teenagers are also regular users of public library services. Almost all the nation's public libraries now offer programs tailored to the needs and interests of young adults, and more than half employ at least one full-time staff equivalent in this area, a sharp increase in the past decade.Computer and on-line games have also become part of the mix at many public libraries, and some use gaming to attract new patrons. The full text of the 2008 State of America's Libraries is available at http://www.ala.org/2008State.

Research reveals need to raise mental health awareness

2008-04-14T16:56:00.001+01:00

Young people are not using mental health services because they are worried about the stigma attached, research funded by the Big Lottery has found. The study, carried out by Mind Cymru, looked at young people's experiences of mental health services in rural Wales. Researchers found a lack of promotion of mental health issues in schools, further education colleges, doctors' surgeries and by employers. The young people also said the media gave out negative information about mental health, which could influence their views. To tackle the problems, the study has recommended there should be a national mental health awareness programme, and young people who need to use mental health services should be supported by an advocate.

Parents make greater use of Internet

2008-04-07T16:31:00.002+01:00

Parents are far more likely to use the internet regularly than adults without children, according to research published today, and what they are doing online varies with the age of their offspring.

The research, carried out in a dozen countries by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), reinforces the view that people with children stay at home more than other adults, but also shows that for parents the internet is a source of information and entertainment.

The EIAA's Digital Families report looks at how parents use the internet, sometimes on their own and sometimes with their children beside them at the keyboard. It found that almost three-quarters of adults who live with children log on to the internet every week, compared with 52% of childless adults. Digital parents spend an average of 11.6 hours a week online, up 36% since 2004, according to the EIAA.

People with babies and infants are increasingly visiting websites dealing with health issues. Adults with children aged between five and nine focus on gaming websites, many seeking entertainment that their children can enjoy, while parents of teenagers are spending more time on price comparison websites.

Research into digital media and technology

2008-04-07T10:04:00.000+01:00

The National Youth Agency supported research carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research to explore the changing nature of young people's experiences of information and communication networks mediated through digital media and technology. The main findings of the research are:

Young people have contradictory attitudes towards the Internet eg opportunities to socialise online, but it can be ‘addictive’

Attitudes to privacy and safety are contradictory eg ‘self advertising’ on social networking sites, but concern about strangers looking at their profiles

Attitudes to meeting new people are contradictory eg strong norms against meeting new people, but happy to meet up with ‘friends of friends’

Cyberbullying is not a recognised concern

The report makes a number of recommendations for regulation around this issue but also pushes for an extension of media literacy to include online safety. It specifically mentions the non-formal sector and youth work as a means of supporting young people’s online activity.

Careers advice services require 'massive' overhaul

2008-04-04T09:32:00.002+01:00

Local authorities need to devote more resources to Connexions and ensure the service delivers high-quality, impartial careers advice to young people, an inquiry has found. The Skills Commission's six-month inquiry into information, advice and guidance services in England concluded there should be a "massive" overhaul of outdated careers advice.

The report, Inspiration and Aspiration recommended scrutiny bodies in Parliament and local authorities should review local authority delivery of Connexions and assess whether enough funding is being provided. The commission's report also said the government should make it a legal requirement for schools and colleges to provide careers advice to young people up to the age of 18.

The study discovered concern from teachers' unions about the quality of careers education and guidance in schools. It also found good-quality careers guidance does help young people's progress through the education system.

A separate Skills Commission and Edge study, Mystery Shopping for Careers Advice: Connexions found advice offered in high-street Connexions branches to be inadequate. It found personal advisers did not take young people's visits seriously enough. The best services were through telephone call centres, where users felt they were greeted well, advisers were interested and the answers they received could help them progress.

OFCOM report into attitudes, behaviours and use

2008-04-04T09:23:00.001+01:00

Ofcom research shows that almost half of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site. Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites. Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13 (14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that they have a profile on a site. 41% of 8-17 year olds with visible profiles said their profile could be seen by anyone.

Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who have a social networking site profile), while the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile). There is also a difference between socio-economic groups: ABC1s with a social networking profile were more likely to use Facebook than C2DEs, who were more likely to have a profile on MySpace.

Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their child’s use of social networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set such rules. For many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking site usage are an important influencing factor in the child’s use of social networking sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online and giving out personal details.

This report also contains interesting findings about adults' use of social networking sites.

Heat and Bliss top teenage reads

2008-03-28T14:38:00.002Z

A report by the National Year of Reading shows that 45% of teenagers have been told off by an adult for enjoying something that is not deemed to be ‘proper reading’. The report, entitled Read Up, Fed Up is the conclusion to month-long research compiled by National Year of Reading and online teen community, Piczo.

Honor Wilson-Fletcher, Director of the National Year of Reading said: "Young people are web natives - exposed to a wider variety of reading material than any previous generation through the explosion of digital media. It seems not all adults are comfortable with this shift, and are often discouraging teens from taking advantage of this new reading landscape."

The top ten reads cited by teenagers were: 1. Heat magazine 2. Bliss Magazine and song lyrics online 3. Computer game cheats online 4. My own online blog or fan fiction 5. The Harry Potter series 6. Anne Frank’s Diary 7. Film scripts 8. Books by Anthony Horowitz 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 10.BBC Online and books by Louise Rennison
Some of the main findings to come out of the research also show that:

• 62% of teens say that they have liked reading something so much they have passed it on to a friend or family member
• Harry Potter still features in the top 10, it also appears at number 8 least loved read
• Boys are particularly practical in their approach, with 31% saying that they love reading because it helps them get better at their hobbies (eg sports, films or music)

Claims children are being 'rasied online'

2008-03-28T14:33:00.000Z

British children are spending more than 20 hours a week online, most of it at social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, and are in effect being "raised online", according to research from the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Behind the Screen: The Hidden Life of Youth, reinforces the belief of big online brands that social networking sites are the way to get advertisers in front of the lucrative youth market. But the IPPR research, to be published next month, raises concerns about the content that young people can access and the lack of awareness among parents about what their children are doing on the internet.

The report shows that teenagers are digitally promiscuous, switching allegiance from sites as fashions change. The IPPR found that four out of five children aged five to 15 have access to the internet at home, with 40% of 8- to 11-year-olds and 71% of 12- to 15-year-olds saying they browse the web on their own. Contact with some form of online pornography was reported by 57%.

The IPPR wants the regulator Ofcom to take a more active role in the protection of children on the internet, by making recommendations to the government about where there is a need for action, such as tackling violent user-generated content. "The government should consider extending Ofcom's remit to cover internet content."

It also wants sites that are popular with young people, such as MySpace and Bebo, to develop what it terms cross-industry guidelines and become funding members of the Internet Watch Foundation.

The report suggests there is a lot of work to be done in educating parents about what their children are doing online. The IPPR wants the Department for Children, Schools and Families to have overall control of media literacy, with better information and support for parents.

Byron Review

2008-03-28T14:20:00.002Z

Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron Review was published yesterday.

Some of the main points include:

There is a generational digital divide which means that parents do not necessarily feel equipped to help their children – which can lead to fear and a sense of helplessness.

While children are confident with the technology, they are still developing critical evaluation skills and need our help to make wise decisions.

In relation to the internet we need a shared culture of responsibility with families, industry, government and others in the public and third sectors all playing their part to reduce the availability of potentially harmful material, restrict access to it by children and to increase children’s resilience.

It proposes a national strategy for child internet safety which involves better self-regulation and better provision of information and education for children and families.

In relation to video games, there is a need to improve on the systems already in place to help parents restrict children’s access to games which are not suitable for their age.

It proposes to do that by reforming the classification system and pooling the efforts of the games industry, retailers, advertisers, console manufacturers and online gaming providers to raise awareness of what is in games and enable better enforcement.

Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe.

The recommendations relating to Internet safety are based around three strategies:
reducing availability
restricting access
increasing resilience to harmful and inappropriate material online.

Two of the specific recommendations which are likely to have implications for children’s libraries/information services are:

The Government’s forthcoming Children’s Workforce Action Plan includes measures to ensure that people who work with children and young people have appropriate understanding of e-safety and how children and young people can be supported, and protected online.

That all schools and local children’s services use an accredited filtering service.

Norms and behaviour

2008-03-25T16:41:00.003Z

I came across this research becuase it uses the example of being quiet in a library to illustrate social norms, but I think it's interesting in relation to the way all types of behaviour are reinforced - in a library as much as anywhere else. To me, it suggests that how other users are behaving is probably more important than written notice/guides or being told by a member of staff.

Simply thinking about parents or a partner, for example, is enough to remind us how we should behave. These are the findings of research carried out by Janneke Joly who will receive her PhD on 27 March 2008 at the University of Groningen.

It would appear to be self-evident that people's behaviour is influenced by generally accepted social norms, yet this is not the case. Even when people are aware of these norms, they do not always comply with them. Previous research has shown that norms influence behaviour primarily when they are temporarily made more accessible in our memory. It is not something that happens automatically. On the basis of her research, Joly concluded that our awareness of norms is increased in 'humanized contexts'. In other words, we are prompted by others to attach importance to a particular norm at a particular moment. According to Joly, this happens in three ways.

We have all learned that we must be quiet when we are in a library. Joly concludes that this norm will become more important to us when we are surrounded by other people in the library. The norm 'be quiet in the library' thus becomes more important due to the physical presence of others. Joly's research has shown that people strongly associate norms with each other. In general, norm awareness is increased when a humanized context reminds a person of a norm. Therefore, when you are in a library and the (apparent) presence of other people reminds you that you should be quiet, you will be more aware of norms in general. It is likely that, at the same time, you will also consider other norms to be more important. This is a surprising finding that has emerged from all the studies.

Need for better school planning research

2008-03-24T10:27:00.003Z

An article from the Guardian earlier in the week: the director of the British Council for School Environments talks about the the need to take account of the opnions of children and staff and for more evaluation and a better research base when planning new schools with co-located services (eg libraries).

Teachers as Readers

2008-03-24T10:05:00.002Z

There's an article about the Teachers as Readers project in the Spring 08 edition of The School Librarian. It summarises the phase 1 findings. Based on the responses from 1,200 primary teachers, some interesting findings include:

Only three-quarters of teachers said they had read for pleasure during the last month, although a further 20% had done so within the preceeding 3 months
Popular fiction was the most popular choice of reading material for teachers.
6.5% had recently read children's fiction.
Only one-third used libraries as a source of books for their own reading
52% used local libraries for school eg borrowing for classroom use
60% had not taken a class to the local library for more than 6 months and 18% had never done so.
23% of teachers were not able to name any 'good' children's poets
11% were unable to name any picture fiction authors or illustrators
Only 21% of teachers use librarians' recommendations when deciding on books to use in eth classroom.

Bishop calls for books critising Catholicism to be banned

2008-03-17T16:36:00.000Z

The Independent has reported that a Roman Catholic bishop had likened books which criticised the teachings of the Church to works that denied the Holocaust had taken place. The Rt Rev Patrick O’Donoghue, Bishop of Lancaster, told the Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee that books that were critical of the Catholic faith should be banned from school libraries.

Narnia voted top children's book

2008-03-17T16:17:00.000Z

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the best children's book of all time, according to a new survey from Booktrust. The Very Hungry Caterpillar came in second, with Enid Blyton's Famous Five series in third.

Evidence of reading enjoyment and confidence among 9-11 year olds

2008-03-17T16:07:00.002Z

In June 2007 NFER ran a reading survey questionnaire to determine current attitudes to reading. The questionnaire was completed by year 4 and year 6 children (aged about nine and 11 respectively) in a nationally representative sample of 61 schools. This questionnaire was previously run in June 2003.

Encouragingly, the research found that reading enjoyment and confidence have not declined since 2003. The survey showed that only 55% of children preferred watching TV to reading, compared with 62% in a similar survey four years ago. It also found that the decline in popularity of reading has been halted, with nearly 70% of nine-year-olds and 60% of 11-year-olds saying they enjoy reading stories. Comics were reported as being more popular than stories, poems, and information books. However, enjoyment of reading poems declined significantly.

New York Library Association Report Shows Public School Library Books Are Over 20 Years Old on Average

2008-03-17T15:56:00.001Z

The New York Library Association (NYLA) has reported that current state aid is not keeping up with the cost of books causing the unacceptable aging of public school library collections. The average age of books in school libraries ranges from 21 to 25 years old across the six regions of the state surveyed, with the average book year being 1986. Meanwhile, the average price of an elementary school book is $20.82 and $23.38 for secondary school books, while state aid per pupil is only $6.25 – a mere 27-30 percent the average cost of a single new book per student.

Link between certified librarians and English test scores

2008-03-17T15:55:00.000Z

New York state schools with certified librarians have higher average scores on the fourth-grade English language arts test than those who don't, according to initial findings of researchers at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies.

Research by professor Ruth Small and graduate students in the Center for Digital Literacy showed a statistically significant increase — an almost 10-point difference — in the ELA test scores among fourth-grade students whose schools had certified librarians over students in schools without certified librarians.

The research, which is being funded by the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Studies, included survey responses from 1,612 schools proportionately representing urban, suburban and rural schools statewide.

The researchers are now analyzing more in-depth information gathered from surveys and focus groups involving school library media specialists, students, principals and teachers from 48 elementary, middle-level and high schools across the state.

Apologies

2008-02-13T18:38:00.002Z

I'm unlikely to have regular Internet for the next month, so might not be able to post news on the blog. Sorry - I'll to a big catch up session when things are back to normal in March.

European research into online risks

2008-02-13T09:41:00.000Z

EU Kids Online has revealed evidence that more children across Europe are being exposed to risks online and are increasingly distressed by them.

EU Kids Online is the first systematic European comparison of research findings from 21 countries on children and young people’s experience of the Internet and online technologies.

Social networking spread across Europe last year. In Norway, for example, 93% of 12-17 year olds use social networking sites. And even in countries where the internet arrived more recently, social networking is popular – more than two thirds of high school students in Estonia, for instance.

Despite the many benefits of social networking, there is also evidence of risk to teenagers’ privacy and well-being. Many young people are giving out their personal information online. In the Czech Republic, most online teenagers have given out personal information to a stranger – 91% email address, 79% their picture, 72% phone number. In Ireland, 28% of 9-16 year olds give out names, 27% emails in
2006 rising to 79% (of 10-20 year olds), 49% date of birth, 12% mobile number and 8% home address last year. In Poland, 64% gave an online contact their phone number, 42% gave their address, 44% gave their photo.

In the Czech Republic, an online survey found that 65% 12-17 year olds have met online contacts offline – a figure considerably above the 1 in 12 more commonly found in European countries. Poland, however, stands out as a high risk country for teens online across a range of risks, with 56% of teenage girls online being subject to unwanted sexual conversation, and 52% 12-17 year olds being invited to meet an online contact offline – of those, 44% went to meeting and few told an adult.

Moreover, the evidence shows that children and young people are not just experiencing online risks but also they are distressed by them:
• 17% in Belgium (9-12 year olds) felt threatened online
• 19% in Estonia (6-14 year olds) were disturbed by a stranger online
• 44% girls and 30% boys in Germany (12-19 year olds) had unpleasant experiences in chat rooms
• 16% in Iceland had received emails/messages which made them worried or frightened

Jacqueline Wilson still top children's author

2008-02-08T12:14:00.000Z

According to PLR figures just released the most Borrowed Children’s Authors for 2006-07 were:
1. Jacqueline Wilson
2. Daisy Meadows
3. Mick Inkpen
4. Janet & Allan Ahlberg
5. Francesca Simon
6. Roald Dahl
7. Enid Blyton
8. Ian Whybrow
9. Eric Hill
10. Julia Donaldson
11. Lucy Cousins
12. Lucy Daniels
13. Rose Impey
14. Nick Butterworth
15. Terry Deary
16. Martin Waddell
17. Fiona Watt
18. Vivian French
19. Lauren Child
20. Anthony Horowitz

However, in the combined adult and children's figures, James Patterson has taken the top spot this year. Overall, chidlren's/educational titles represent about 30% of all books borrowed.

Home Access to Technology consultation

2008-02-08T08:54:00.000Z

This consultation seeks views on the proposed Home Access programme that aims to ensure that every family with 5-19 year old learners in England has access to learning where and when they need it through access to ICT resources and support at home.

The intended outcome for Home Access is to steadily increase the number of families who have, are committed to, and will benefit from home access to learning. The programme will help to ensure that every family in England will have access to a computer (or similar device), an internet connection, and all the support that they need both now and in the future.

What implications does this have for libraries and their core offer?

If you'd like to take part in the consultation, it is available from the DCSF website and the deadline for responses is 2 April 2008.

Poor resources and unreliability limit teachers’ ICT use

2008-02-08T08:49:00.000Z

New technology is changing the way teachers teach and is helping to raise attainment, but teachers feel that they need more support, according to research from the National Foundation for Educational Research. Findings from its new Teacher Voice survey also found that a third of respondents lack resources and cite poor reliability as a barrier to the use of ICT in schools. The first Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, completed by a panel of about 1,000 teachers, also found that 80 per cent thought using ICT in lessons made a difference to the way they taught, 67 per cent said they had the ICT skills to exploit the technology available to them, and 62 per cent thought ICT helped to raise pupil attainment. But 35 per cent said that poor reliability discouraged them from using ICT in lessons.

US Reading Is Fundamental's (RIF) Book Distribution programme under threat

2008-02-07T17:26:00.000Z

This isn't strictly research, but in the United States, Reading Is Fundamental's (RIF) work has been supported by research over a number of years. The programme has been running since 1975 but Bush's proposed budget calls for the elimination of Inexpensive Book Distribution program which distributes 16 million books annually in the US.

Teens and Social Media

2008-02-07T17:25:00.001Z

This recent report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57% of online teens in 2004.
Interestingly, girls dominate most elements of content creation. Some 35% of all teenage girls blog, compared with 20% of boys, and 54% of girls post photos online compared with 40% of boys. Boys, however, do dominate one area - posting of video content online. Nearly half (47%) of online teens have posted photos where others can see them, and 89% of those teens who post photos say that people comment on the images at least "some of the time." However, many teen content creators do not simply plaster their creative endeavors on the Web for anyone to view; many teens limit access to content that they share.

There is a subset of teens who are what the report calls super-communicators – those who have a host of technology options for dealing with family and friends; they represent about 28% of the entire teen population and they are more likely to be older girls.

Differences in social networking attitudes highlighted

2008-02-07T17:23:00.000Z

In research carried out by the Reading Agency has found 65 per cent of young people had their own page on a social networking site yet 67 per cent of libraries and schools don’t allow social networking sites and 80 per cent don’t have a website for young people.

New Scottish information literacy research project

2008-02-01T15:12:00.000Z

The Scottish Information Literacy Project has been funding by Learning and Teaching Scotland to undertake a project entitled: Adding value to LTS Information Literacy Online Service: Exemplars of good practice.

The Project will work with three partners, North Lanarkshire Council, Education Resource Service; Information and Learning Resources, City of Edinburgh Council and North Ayrshire Education Resources Service to identify exemplars of good practice in information searching in schools which will be matched against the National Information Literacy Framework standards being developed.

The exemplars and the framework will provide school teachers with an identified standard of information literacy skills at the identified levels and contribute to the development of information literacy and media literacy skills among school pupils.

Reading for pleasure 'hot' literacy topic for 2008

2008-01-31T17:06:00.000Z

During December 2007, 35 professionals from research, policy, practice and the media were interviewed by the National Literacy Trust about a range of literacy issues. Interviewees were asked to indicate whether a certain topic was “hot” (i.e. currently a topic of debate and research) or “not hot” (i.e. not currently receiving a lot of attention). In addition, interviewees were asked whether these topics should or should not be a focus of research and debate in 2008. (A similar survey has been conducted in the U.S. since 1967.)

Reading for pleasure is one of the topics that respondents believed should be “extremely hot” in 2008. Other topics that should be “very hot” in 2008 include adolescent literacy, the National Year of Reading, English as a second language, family literacy, social inclusion, informational texts (wider aspects of reading), reading motivation, early years, community-wide approaches, and parental involvement.

For more information see http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/What%27s_hot_2008.pdf?dm_i=210471013

Video games may get age ratings following Byron review research

2008-01-27T14:08:00.000Z

Scotland on Sunday reports that video games will get movie-style age ratingsafter more than 400 children and 350 adults responded to an inquiry headed by television psychologist Dr Tanya Byron into the potential dangers to young people of the internet and video games. The article says that the review, due to be published in March, has found that people want clearer information about the content of video games.

Teens ‘under false sense of security’ online

2008-01-24T18:57:00.000Z

Research carried out by the teenage social networking site Piczo (www.piczo.com) amongst 2,000 UK teenager has shown that nine out of 10 teens feel safer online today than they did a year ago. Teenagers are placing increasing amounts of trust in the sites they use and the connections they make on social networks. However, the research also showed that almost a quarter of respondents have been bullied online in the past but that only 36 per cent of those surveyed would report an incident such as cyber-bullying.

Childwise survey shows a rise in TV and Internet

2008-01-20T13:08:00.000Z

The annual survey of 5-16 year olds from the market research agency Childwise indicates a revival in television-watching among children after three years of decline. The report, based on interviews with 1,147 children in 60 schools around England, Scotland and Wales, found television viewing now averages 2.6 hours a day, though one in 10 say they watch more than four hours daily.

Internet use is also continuing to grow. 85% of five to 16-year-olds access the net, and over a third (including a quarter of five to six-year-olds) own a computer or laptop of their own. On average, they go online just over four times a week, spending two hours each time. Almost three quarters (72%) of children have visited a social networking site, and over half have set up their own profile - sometimes lying about their age to sidestep minimum age safeguards. Children as young as eight are now signing up.

All this means British children spend an average of five hours and 20 minutes in front of a screen a day, up from four hours and 40 minutes five years ago.

The rise may have come at the expense of reading books for pleasure, which according to the survey continues to decline as a regular pastime. While four out of five children read books in their own time, only a quarter do so daily and 53% at least once a week.

Furthermore, anecdotal evidence indicated that children now multitask, keeping one eye on the television as they flick through magazines or use the computer. Boys asked by the company to choose between programmes on different channels frequently refused, saying they would "watch both".

Information literacy & the 'Google generation'

2008-01-18T07:57:00.000Z

A new study questions whether the ‘Google Generation' – youngsters born or brought up in the Internet age – is the most web-literate. The first ever virtual longitudinal study carried out by the CIBER research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an apparent ease and familiarity with computers, they rely heavily on search engines, view rather than read and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information that they find on the web.

The study, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future profiled the users of BL learning, a British Library web-based information package aimed at schoolchildren and teachers, and a specialist online information service for academics run by the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee).

Both the older and the younger cohorts in the study exhibited erratic information browsing behaviour, visiting only a few pages and spending little time reading their contents. This behaviour could be due to the complex and unintuitive design of libraries' information systems and poor information-seeking skills, the study suggests.

Young people's ability to search for and evaluate information on the web has not improved with the widening access to technology, the study says. Young people tend to use search engines such as Google and Yahoo as their first, and often only, port of call in searching for information. They have a poor understanding of their information needs and find it difficult to develop effective search strategies. They also spend little time evaluating information for relevance, accuracy or authority, it says.

The study calls for libraries to respond urgently to the changing needs of researchers and other users. It argues that going virtual is critical and learning what researchers want and need crucial if libraries are not to become obsolete. It also points to the need for educational research into the information behaviour of young people and training programmes on information literacy skills in schools.

Cutting edge technology wasted in schools

2008-01-11T13:04:00.000Z

State schools spent £1 billion on cutting-edge information technology last year but 80 per cent of them are failing to make full use of it, according to Becta which says that many teachers are intimidated by the equipment and struggle to cope, and that children have a better understanding of how it works. Andrew Pinder, its chairman, said: “We are achieving nothing like the impact that we should from this technology. We spend more than other countries but not enough schools are using technology effectively.” Only a fifth of schools were making the most of the equipment. Up to 40 per cent used it well in some areas, but not across the board, he said. He said some schools were buying the wrong software, and support was often amateurish. Perhaps this is an opportunity not just information professionals, not just in schools but elsewhere too, to help teachers to find ways to exploit technology in an educational setting?

New enquiry into harmful content on the Internet and in video games

2008-01-07T16:19:00.001Z

DCMS has announced an inquiry into the potential risks from harmful material on the Internet and in video games, with the following terms of reference:

The benefits and opportunities offered to consumers, including children and young people, and the economy by technologies such as the Internet, video games and mobile phones.

The potential risks to consumers, including children and young people, from exposure to harmful content on the Internet or in video games.

The Committee is particularly interested in the potential risks posed by:
· “Cyber bullying”;
· user generated content, including content that glorifies guns and gang violence;
· the availability of personal information on social networking sites;
· content that incites racial hatred, extremism or terrorism; and
· content that exhibits extreme pornography or violence.

After the bell - Out of school hours activities for children and young people

2008-01-07T16:10:00.000Z

After the bell from New Philanthropy Capital argues that the chance to take part in out of school hours activities should not be restricted to children whose parents or schools can afford to pay for them. Activities like homework clubs, sports teams and volunteering opportunities all raise the aspirations of young people and help them to build vital skills.

Public support for age-ranging of books

2007-12-31T13:40:00.000Z

Research from the Publishers Association has found that 86% of adults thought it was a good idea, with 40% saying they would buy more books if they were age-ranged. Of children who were asked to select a favourite from a selection of books, 85% chose books aimed at their age group, irrespective of whether an age range was included on the book jacket.

Need to rethink definition of reading

2007-12-21T09:12:00.000Z

The Government could achieve greater success in persuading young children to read more if they rethought their definition of what constitutes reading, according to new research. The National Literacy Trust research found that many children who defined themselves as non-readers actually read as much as self-defined readers, just not the kinds of materials that are traditionally associated with reading. But their survey of 29 primary and secondary schools in England revealed that self-defined non-readers perceived readers as clever, geeky and boring.

With the exception of magazines, self-defined non-readers believed that readers enjoyed materials that they themselves did not read, such as fiction books, factual books, poetry and newspapers. Only a small percentage of non-readers believed that readers enjoyed websites, emails and blogs/networking sites. This perception of ‘reader appropriate’ materials was reflected in the types of texts they believed adults in their school were encouraging them to read. When asked who in their family encourages them to read, a concerning 56.3% of non-readers said no one does, compared with just 12.4% of readers.

Concerns about sex education

2007-12-15T10:08:00.000Z

The Times (4th Dec 2007) published a letter from leading children’s organisations, sexual health experts and eight members of the Commons Health Select Committee, who called on the Government to make relationship teaching a statutory part of the national curriculum. Researchers had questioned over 20,000 teenagers in England about sex education,and more than half had rated the teaching in school as poor, very poor or merely average. Only a quarter said that it was good. Nearly half of those surveyed by the UK Youth Parliament said that they had never been taught about the effects of teenage pregnancy and would not know where to find their local sexual health clinic. More than half (55 per cent) of all 12 to 15-year-olds, and 57 per cent of girls between the ages of 16 to 17 had not been taught how to use a condom, despite the Government’s recommendations that this should be taught in all schools.

Towards a Better Life report

2007-12-14T16:15:00.000Z

This National Information Forum report funded by The City Bridge Trust, considers whether young people leaving care are getting the information they need. It follows a survey of randomly chosen young people, some having left care, others about to do so. Care leavers have previously been found to account for about 30% of rough sleepers and around 40% of young people in custody. Recent government figures show that, despite some improvement, around 37% of care leavers, by their 19th birthday, are still not in education, employment or training.

The survey sought to bring out:
· what problems the interviewees faced in getting information
· the extent to which they were able to get information relevant to their needs
· their awareness of services both locally and nationally.

It found that, in practice, information provision is essentially reactive rather than proactive. The young people interviewed had access to information, notably from their personal advisors and the Connexions service, but they were able to get the right answers only if they had the initiative to ask and know the right questions. Beyond absolute basics, the young people in the sample had only a very limited knowledge of support services and opportunities, particularly at local level. Only one of six named organisations specialising in the care sector was known to more than half the interviewees, and in one case the score went down to 7%. Some 22% had never heard of any of them. Only 50% had heard of NHS Direct.

To obtain a copy, contact the National Information info@nif.org.uk, tel: 020 7402 6681, fax: 020 7402 1259.

Reading and TV habits among US children

2007-12-03T10:32:00.000Z

Parents are taking a more active role in the lives of their children than they did 10 years ago, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. A Child’s Day: 2004 examines the well-being of children younger than 18 and provides an updated look into how they spend their days. Based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), the report addresses children’s living arrangements, family characteristics, time spent in child care, academic experience, extracurricular activities and more.

According to this latest look into the lives of children, about 68 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds had limits on their television viewing, an increase from 54 percent in 1994. More children 6 to 11 found they, too, were living with restrictions on television: 71 percent in 2004 compared with 60 percent 10 years earlier.

Children aged 1 to 2 were read to an average of 7.8 times in the previous week of the survey, while 3 to 5 year olds were read to an average of 6.8 times in the previous week. About half of all children 1 to 5 are read to seven or more times a week; 53 percent for 1- to 2-year-olds, and 51 percent for 3- to 5-year olds.
See http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/010850.html for more information

2007-11-30T19:54:00.000Z

A study by Cambridge University has found that children are working harder than ever with little to show for their efforts. They spend less and less time outdoors and engaging in unsupervised sport leading to what the study has coined the ‘scholarisation’ of childhood. The researchers said that many children’s homes were becoming classrooms and others were being looked after in after-school centres while their parents worked long hours. They warned that drives to increase parent involvement in their child’s education – a focus of the 10-year children’s plan – could backfire. The study says that parents feel pressure to read to their children and help with their homework but many are intimidated by academia, while others feel guilty for failing to meet their children’s expectations. It added that wraparound care was increasing pressures on children and schools find it ever more difficult to talk to parents as family structures shift.

England’s reading ranking drops

2007-11-30T19:48:00.000Z

In an international league table of children's literacy levels, England has fallen from third to19th. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), involved children aged about 10 in 40 countries. Analysis of the results said children were spending more time on computers and related technology and were reading less for fun. In 2001, England ranked third in the same study. Out of the other schools taking part in the study, only Morocco and Romania have fallen more rapidly than England. Headteachers said that the government’s literacy strategies were to blame for taking the ‘buzz’ out of reading and putting children off. The study, based around questionnaires and reading, writing and comprehension tests taken by 215,000 children worldwide, found that children have less confidence in these areas than in 2001. They also have the biggest computer game habit with 37% of children spending more than three hours a day on playing games. The analysts from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said that it was lower achievement among the better readers that had contributed most to England’s overall fall, rather than the small increase in the proportion of weaker readers.

Ofsted survey highlights gaps in information for young people

2007-11-23T11:56:00.000Z

The OFSTED TellUs2 survey (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/assets/Internet_Content/CSID/files/National_Summary.pdf) was a survey of children and young people across England, asking their views about their local area, and including questions which covered the five Every Child Matters outcomes. The survey was carried out in Spring 2007. A sample of schools was selected within each local authority, representing the different types of schools in each area.

37% of chidlren and young people said they needed more or better information advice about sex and relationships. 31% wanted better information about drugs; 27% wanted better information about alcohol and 26% more information about smoking. The percentages who wanted more/better information about eating healthy food was 20%. Only 63% said the information they get about sex and relationships was good enough. The percentage who thought information about drugs was good enough was 69%.

Only 36% said they knew enough about activities to do in their area; 22% said they wanted a lot more information.

The percentage who thought the information and help they get to plan for their future was good enough was 36%. 9% didn’t even know what information there was. When asked what would do most to make their life better, more help to plan their future was the second most popular answer (17%).

Teachers are underusing library expertise

2007-11-23T11:39:00.000Z

Library and Information Update have reported on research from the UK Literacy Association (UKLA) which has found that only 52% of the primary teachers who took part in their survey into reading made use of a library for work. In 1998, research by the Teacher Training Agency found that really effective teachers of reading knew a lot about reading skills, such as phonics, and had extensive knowledge of children’s literature.

The Teachers as Readers team at the UKLA said that it was essential that primary schools have a close relationship with libraries if teachers are to acquire such knowledge. The team accepted that some data will have been influenced by factors such as access to libraries, but the overall results showed a general lack of links between teachers and local library services. Teachers with fewer years in the classroom were less likely to use library services.

Under-sevens ‘too young to learn to read’

2007-11-23T11:36:00.000Z

The Guardian (22 November 2007) reported on a statement by Lilian Katz, a professor of education at Illinois University, who says that teaching children at five to read and write can dent their interest in books later on. She says that children should not begin formal learning until they are seven, with boys being particularly vulnerable when rushed into reading too soon and that moves in England to introduce more structured learning for three- and four-year-olds could store up problems in the long term.

Poll says just one in five young people finds Connexions useful

2007-11-10T09:03:00.000Z

Only a fifth of young people find the government's Connexions service helpful, and almost half have never used it according to a recent poll.

A survey of more than 300 young people, carried out by youth charity YouthNet, found only one in five 16- to 25-year-olds found Connexions helpful. In fact, Connexions was the source young people looking for careers advice were least likely to have used, with nearly half (47 per cent) never having tried the service.

The survey also revealed that four out of 10 young adults feel they have enough help to make career-related decisions. The internet was cited as young people's top choice for careers advice, with four out of five young people going online for help.

However, according to a study of the telephone and online Connexions Direct service, in the vast majority of cases (79 per cent), young people find the advice provided useful. The Department for Children, Schools and Families study got 1,500 young people totest out the service, which complements the face-to-face service of local Connexions partners.

http://www.thesite.org/community/beheard/surveyresults/workandstudy

Booktrust report on school libraries

2007-11-03T11:18:00.000Z

Booktrust commissioned a survey of head teachers in state primary schools and librarians in state secondary schools in England. The results make bleak reading:
61% of primary schools, and 92% of secondary schools reported a total library spend per pupil below recommended levels

6% of primary schools did not allow books to be loaned from their library collections. Of those schools which allow loans and record the number made, 22% make an average of just 2 loans per pupil per term or less; 26% average between 2 and 4 loans per pupil per term; 25% average between 4 and 8 loans per pupil per term, and 27% average more than that.

On average in secondary schools, only 4 loans per pupil were made, just over one book borrowed per term per pupil.

One-third of respondents reported that the person who ran the primary school library did not have specialist knowledge of children’s literature. In secondary schools, 22% of respondents had no specialist knowledge of children’s literature.

Just 44% of primary school libraries were open during break times and 55% during lunch times. 17% of primary school respondents stated that their library was only open during lesson times. 93% of secondary school libraries are open during break times.

A significant number of schools stated that the library was used for non-reading related activity such as time out space (26% primary, 47% secondary). Other uses to which the library was put included exams, meetings and a resting place for unwell children.

85% of secondary schools reported that expenditure on the library in 2006-07 was around the same or lower than the previous year. The figure for primary schools is 81%.

Read the report at http://www.booktrusted.co.uk/schoollibraries/index.php4

Sex & Relationships Education: Are You Getting It?

2007-11-03T11:14:00.000Z

Sex & Relationships Education: Are You Getting It?

A survey by the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) of over 20,000 young people highlights that more than 50% have never been taught about teenage pregnancy in school and wouldn’t know where to find their local sexual health clinic.
40% of the young people responding rate the quality of their SRE as either poor or very poor
61% of boys and 70% of girls over the age of 17 reported not having received any information about personal relationships at school.

Recommendations include making SRE a statutory entitlement of personal, social and health education (PSHE); delivery of SRE by trained teachers; more about relationships and teenage pregnancy; and better access to confidential sexual health services.

Primary kids ‘would rather be away from their parents’

2007-11-03T11:13:00.000Z

Primary school children spend more time on their own or playing with friends than they do with their parents, according to research commissioned by Booktime, a programme which was set up to encourage parents to spend more time reading aloud to their children. The survey of more than 1,800 parents found that even mealtimes are made as short as possible so that children can go back to watching television or playing with toys. It claimed that children aged four to nine year spend seven hours, 46 minutes a week watching television, which is more than twice as long as they spend sharing a book with an adult. They spend 43 minutes a day on mealtimes.