The report, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, dated 11 January 2008, was commissioned by the British Library.
The findings confirm what OCLC found in June 2002 in its OCLC White Paper on the Information Habits of College Students about the "Google Generation" (those born after 1993). Students think of libraries as places for books and are not familiar with, nor competent in the use of, library digital resources.
Students start their search on the Web, but the amount of time spent viewing e-books and e-journal articles (four and eight minutes, respectively) indicates they are not evaluating or even reading what they find. As the report states: "It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense." (p. 10)
Each finding in the study is accompanied by a confidence level rating. For example, in the section on myths related to the Google Generation we find this myth:
They prefer quick information in the form of easily digested chunks, rather than full-text.
Our verdict: This is a myth. CIBER deep log studies show that, from undergraduates to professors, people exhibit a strong tendency towards shallow, horizontal, "flicking" behaviour in digital libraries. Power browsing and viewing appear to be the norm for all. The popularity of abstacts among older researchers rather gives the game away. Society is dumbing down.
Confidence level: high. (p. 19)
N.B. The Library does still have books (both in print and electronic formats). However, they cannot be read in four, or even eight, minutes.
