Search Engine Use is Up, But . . .

More Americans use search engines daily according the Pew Internet & American Life Project. But one troubling aspect of this report: educational attainment and race are both significantly tied to frequency of search engine use. Academic librarians should examine their assumptions about students and take into account diversity of experience as they plan digital services. Not all of our incoming students fit the “millenial” stereotype, and wrong assumptions could make libraries seem inhospitable to some in our increasingly diverse institutions.

Author: Barbara Fister

I'm an academic librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Like all librarians at our small, liberal arts institution I am involved in reference, collection development, and shared management of the library. My area of specialization is instruction, with research interests also in media literacy, popular literacy, publishing, and assessment.

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