Making Sense of an Information World: The Everyday‐Life Information Behavior of Preteens

TLDR

Tweens are a sandwiched population with distinct behaviors, circumstances, and needs, yet little research has examined their information‑seeking, especially outside school. The study aims to understand the situations, sources, and social contexts that drive tweens’ everyday information seeking, and to develop empirically grounded tools for professionals to mediate these complex information worlds. The authors used the “Tween Day” method—scenario‑based focus groups and interviews with 34 tweens across three settings—guided by Dervin, Fisher, and Chatman frameworks to gather data. The study proposes a professional service framework with five descriptive principles to guide mediation of tweens’ everyday information seeking and use.

Abstract

This article presents an empirically‐grounded framework for mediating the everyday‐life information worlds of youth aged 9–13. "Tweens" are a sandwiched population with behaviors, circumstances, and needs distinct from children and young adults. Little research has addressed their information‐seeking, especially regarding nonschool contexts. Thus, empirically‐based conceptual tools are needed to help professionals in mediating the complex information worlds of tweens. Guided by multiple frameworks (Dervin's sense‐making, Fisher's information grounds, and Chatman's normative behavior), data were collected using the "Tween Day" technique, involving scenario‐based focus groups and interviews with thirty‐four youth in three distinct settings. The study aimed at understanding the situations for which tweens seek everyday information; which sources they use, and why; what social settings foster information‐sharing, and how; and what factors (especially affective) promote or hinder information‐seeking. Using these findings, the proposed professional service framework contains five descriptive principles for mediating everyday‐life information‐seeking and information use by tweens.