010: What Students Do in Libraries

Alison Head, who is spending time with us at the LiL as she simultaneously is a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center — she is the co-diorector of Project Information Literacy at the Univ. of Washington's Information School — spoke with us about a new study she's done with Michael Eisenberg [pdf] about what students are actually doing with their electronic companions when in the library during "crunch time" (two weeks before exams). Are they multitasking? Are they playing games or Facebooking instead of studying? Are they managing their devices, or are their devices managing them? In this interview, Alison explains that answers are of course complex, but that overall, The Kids are managing well...and that this may give some hints about the future of libraries.