Spotlight on 'Generation Y'

21 January 2009

British Library and JISC announce ground-breaking three-year study into the research behaviour of 'Generation Y' scholars

The British Library and JISC have commissioned a major new study into the information seeking and research behaviour of young scholars born between 1982 and 1994 – commonly dubbed 'Generation Y'.

The study will track a number of researchers over a three-year period, analysing their activity and habits in online and physical research environments. The study will also assess their usage of library and information resources, both on and offline. The research subjects will be doctoral students beginning their PhD programme in the academic year 2008/09.

Announced by the British Library's Chief Executive, Dame Lynne Brindley, at last night's 'Digital Britain' panel discussion, held at Portcullis House, Westminster, the study will establish a benchmark for research behaviour against which subsequent generations of scholars can be measured. It builds on last year's ground-breaking research project The Google Generation: Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, which focused on the generation born after 1993 and revealed that information literacy among young people had not improved in line with wider access to technology.

See: www.bl.uk/news/2008/pressrelease20080116.html

The tender for undertaking the study has been awarded to research consultancy Education for Change partnered with The Research Partnership and the report itself will be published in early 2012.

"Our previous joint-study into researcher behaviour overturned the assumption that the 'Google Generation' is the most web-literate", said Dame Lynne.. "By studying the behaviour of 'Generation Y' postgraduate research students we will gain further insights into how we might remodel our unrivalled services to remain relevant to successive generations of scholars."

"This new study is being led by the Library's Higher Education team in collaboration with JISC. Participants for the longitudinal part of the research will be sourced from the team's series of National Postgraduate Training Days which include a range of disciplines. It is part of a series of research initiatives that stem from our interest in understanding the potential of future research trends and behaviour," said Dr Joanna Newman, Head of Higher Education at the British Library.

Charles Hutchings JISC's market research manager said, "This is an exciting opportunity for JISC to work with the British Library on a unique study examining potentially the last of a generation studying PhDs who experienced formal learning and teaching before the internet. This project will have a direct influence in helping to maintain the UK’s higher education institutions at the cutting edge of research and development."

Notes to editors:

For more information please contact Ben Sanderson at the British Library Press Office, ben.sanderson@bl.uk T: +44 (0)20 7412 7111 M: +44 (0)78100 56848 or contact Rebecca O'Brien, JISC Press Office, T: +44 (0)117 331 0657 & M: +44 (0) 7879 880198 , email: r.obrien@jisc.ac.uk

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Further information is available on the Library's website at www.bl.uk.

JISC - supports UK further & higher education and research by providing leadership in the use of Information and Communications Technology in support of learning, teaching, research and administration. JISC receives funding from all the UK further and higher education funding councils. Further information is available at www.jisc.ac.uk