Students at an upper secondary school for adults and their information seeking processes and use of library as tools in learning

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate how students at an upper secondary school for adults use school and public library when searching for information for school assignments. The focus in this investigation is on the feelings and experiences of the process of the information seeking and use. The focus is also on the students experiences of school and public libraries and the help they receive from them in learning. The method used is focus groups interviews. Two groups were interviewed. The results of the study show that these students use the school library as a place where they can search the Internet, use computers and work in groups. They often feel that the library staff is not available because there are always too many students asking questions. The experiences from the public library are that it is easier to get help there even if you must wait your turn. The librarians are often so eager to help that some students feel a need to tell them that they will do the search themselves. The results also show that students with an immigrant background find it difficult to find the proper information for their school assignments as it takes longer for them to read through information and decide if the information is useful or not. Sometimes they also have difficulties to follow the teacher, and because of that they can lose their confidence in their school work.Uppsatsnivå: