What surprises you about the research from our readings? What beliefs, attitudes or opinions does this research appear to confirm or contradict?
What are the implications here for addressing the needs of tweens in our libraries?
I wasn’t really surprised about much of the findings. With the advances in technology, the amount of people who are constantly connected to the media has advanced as well. Even in the last 10yrs, the age that most children own a cell phone is much lower than it use to be. What worries me about these articles and studies is, there is little to no mention of parent monitoring their use. With the amount of inappropriate, violent, demeaning, and trashy material children are losing their sense of reality and connection to the “natural” world. Children spend so much time involved with the media and television that they are mixing what’s real and what fake. However, we do have to grasp that technology and staying connected 24/7 is part of society, so we could either embrace it or fight it. If we embrace it we can connect young adults to the library 24/7 and we can teach them the difference between what’s real and what’s not. Instead of letting them find their way through the mass amounts of media, perhaps we take advantage of this constant connection and steer them in positive ways to use what’s at their fingertips.
There were a few findings that I found interesting. In the study by Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts the looked at ethnicities and the differences between media use; “For example, Hispanic and Black youth average about 13 hours of media exposure daily (13:00 for Hispanics and 12:59 for Blacks), compared to just over 8½ hours (8:36) among Whites. Some of the biggest racerelated differences emerge for television time: Black youth spend nearly six hours daily watching TV and Hispanics spend 5:21, compared to 3:36 for Whites.” I would like to see a more in-depth perspective on this issue, because I don’t feel that this is true for all areas. This all depends on the child’s home environment, socioeconomic status, and support structure. The researchers do mention this “the relationships between media exposure and grades, and between media exposure and personal contentment, withstood controls for other possibly relevant factors such as age, gender, race, parent education, and single vs. two-parent households (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010).”
Social networking has manifested itself into something different for every person and for every age. Teens use Facebook to chat, make weekend plans, share pictures etc. Where as adults use it to find old friends, stay connected with long distances friends, spread news etc. Teens are engulfed in the social aspect of the sites, where as adults use it more to network. I think it is important for tweens and teens to stay connected, however I think there needs to be a class or lessons on safe, appropriate, and mature ways of using social networks. It should be taught in schools and at home, because too many children are misusing the networks and hurting others in the process! School and public libraries are a perfect place to advocate and teacher safe social networking skills and tools. I’m not saying social networking is a negative tool, I think it’s a great tool to stay connected with hundreds of people at a time, however I think there are some guidelines that need to be taught. Looking at social networking as a marketing tool for libraries, I think it would be a great way for librarians to be seen and heard. It also allows librarians to reach a large magnitude of people very quickly and some that may not notice the library otherwise.
Is access still a major concern? Is ability a concern?
Access is no longer a major issue, it is limited in certain areas and for certain demographics, but overall the number of people connected to the internet daily has maximized. Everywhere you look people are on their phones or iPads, being connected is affordable and more convenient than it has ever been. Along with increase of access came and increase in ability. More and more people are using the tools and technology advances that are available and using them to their maximum capability. However, I do feel that the ability of technology users is a generational issue. Young adults are much savvier when it comes to technology access, where as older generations struggle or avoid technology as much as possible. Tweens and teens are growing up in an era where technology and internet is always around them. They are immersed in a world where staying connect no longer means long chats on the phone, it now means instant messages, and emails. These teens are becoming the leaders in technology access and ability.
Although Meyers’s research focuses on the everyday information behavior, what issues does this research raise that may be important for school and public librarians to consider?
As librarians we often focus on developing a library and collection that meets the needs and demands of the information community, however there is a lack of educating the community on how to use it to their advantage. When tweens are searching for information they tend to relay on the people around them to guide them in the right direction. "Adults play important roles in developing information-seeking skills
through modeling and scaffolding behavior." We as information leaders need to start teaching tweens on how to use the library tools and resources appropriate and to their advantage. While doing this we must create a safe and supportive environment where tweens feel they can access when necessary. Meyers states "we found that it is access to other people that often makes or breaks an information search." Because tweens are at an age were they are leaving the comforts of childhood and moving into the world of impendence, they need to have adult figures they trust and are reliable.
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