Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80

www.elsevier.com/locate/infoproman

Children’s interaction with cross-cultural and multilingualdigital libraries. II. Information seeking, success,

and affective experience

Dania Bilal a,*, Imad Bachir b

a School of Information Sciences, The University of Tennessee, 1345 Circle Park, Knoxville, TN 37919, United Statesb Faculty of Communication and Information Management, The Lebanese University Beirut, Lebanon

Received 4 May 2006; accepted 16 May 2006Available online 27 July 2006

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study that investigated Arabic-speaking children’s interaction with the InternationalChildren’s Digital Library (ICDL) to find Arabic books on four tasks. Children’s information seeking activities was capturedby using HyperCam software. Children’s success was assessed based on a measure the researchers developed. Children’s per-ceptions of and affective experience in using the ICDL was gathered through group interviews. Findings revealed that chil-dren’s information seeking behavior was characterized by browsing using a single function; that is, looking under ‘‘Arabic’’from the Simple interface pull-down menu. Children were more successful on the fully self-generated, open-ended task thanon the assigned and semi-assigned tasks. Children made suggestions for improving the Arabic collection and the design of theICDL. The findings have implications for practitioners, researchers, and system designers.� 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Digital libraries; International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL); Information seeking behavior; Success measure; Affectiveexperience; Cross-culture; Usability

1. Introduction

In a previous study (Bilal & Bachir, 2006), we assessed the cross-cultural usability of the ICDL interfacedesign (e.g., icons, buttons, search and browse features) to Arabic-speaking children based on ‘‘representa-tions and meaning’’ rather than on internationalization and localization. In addition, we examined the utilityof the ICDL navigation controls and the extent they supported the children’s navigation. In the present study,we report the results of children’s information seeking behavior, success, and affective experience in using theICDL.

0306-4573/$ - see front matter � 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.ipm.2006.05.008

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 865 974 3689; fax: +1 865 974 4967.E-mail addresses: dania@utk.edu (D. Bilal), ibachir@ul.edu.lb (I. Bachir).

66 D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80

Very few studies have examined and compared information seeking of various cultural groups in using theWeb or other digital tools (Komlodi & Carlin, 2004) and little research is available on the influence of cultureon the design and use of digital libraries (Komlodi, Caidi, & Wheeler, 2004). At the start of 2000, a rapidexplosion of digital libraries (DLs) took place worldwide. While abundant research on the evaluation anduse of DLs is available (Saracevic, 2005), little work has focused on children’s interaction with these tools.In his recent study, Saracevic (2005), cited eighty studies on the evaluation of DLs, of these one was aboutchildren. The advent of the ICDL in 2002 provided a new venue of research in DLs that is manifested inthe work of Druin (2002, 2005), Hutchinson, Bederson, and Druin (2005), Hutchinson et al. (2004) and Reuterand Druin (2004). Although this body of research provided good understanding of how children search,browse, and select digital books, they only involved children in the United States who use a uniform language(i.e., English). As an international, multicultural, and multilingual digital library, the ICDL is designed foraccess by children worldwide including those who reside in Arabic-speaking countries (i.e., Egypt). To date,we lack knowledge of whether children’s information seeking in DLs is generalizeable across other usergroups, especially culturally diverse children. To better understand how these children (i.e., Arabic-speaking)use the ICDL, we need to obtain a holistic view of their information seeking behavior; that is, their searchingand browsing patterns, success, and affective experience. As Borgman (2000) notes, digital libraries are con-structed, collected, and organized, by (and for) a community of users, and their functional capabilities shouldsupport the information needs and uses of that community. Thus, we argue that the more the ICDL supportsthe information seeking, needs, and success of Arabic-speaking children, the more usable it is for them.

2. The ICDL interfaces

The ICDL has four interfaces Simple, Advanced, Location, and Keyword. A detailed description of eachinterface is provided in part one of this study (Bilal & Bachir, 2006). The default or Simple interface is shownin Fig. 1 and the interface for the Arabic book is illustrated in Fig. 2. The interfaces were used the most byArabic-speaking children.

3. Related literature

Related literature reviewed in this study pertains to children’s information seeking on the Web and chil-dren’s interaction with digital libraries.

3.1. Children’s information seeking on the Web

A growing body of research has developed concerning children’s use of the Web. In a recent study, Enochs-son (2005) explored the different skills necessary for seeking information on the Web by students from pre-

Fig. 1. The ICDL default (main) interface.

Fig. 2. The ICDL Arabic book collection.

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 67

school to ninth grade who attended a Swedish compulsory school. Students identified six skills for successfulinformation seeking. Younger students considered language and knowledge of technology as the two funda-mental skills whereas older students regarded these skills in addition to knowledge of how to formulate searchstrategies, how the search engines work, setting goals (e.g., knowing exactly what to look for), and being crit-ical of the information found. Although this study did not observe how students interacted with the Web, itprovided insights into the students’ preconceptions of what makes a user successful in finding information inthis medium.

In a study of Yahooligans!, a search engine and directory that is specifically designed for children ages 7–12,Bilal investigated the cognitive, affective, and physical behaviors of seventh-grade science children in findinginformation on three tasks. One task was fact-based (Bilal, 2000), one was research-based (Bilal, 2001), andone was fully self-generated (2002).

Children’s interaction with Yahooligans! on the three tasks was captured online using the Lotus ScreenCamsoftware package to collect empirical data about their Web moves, searching, browsing, and navigation pat-terns. Children’s demographic and prior experience in using the Internet and Yahooligans!, domain knowl-edge, topic knowledge, and reading ability were gathered through a structured questionnaire that wasdistributed to the children prior to using Yahooligans! Children’s affective states were elicited through individ-ual exit interviews.

Findings revealed that 50% succeeded on the fact-based task, 69% partially succeeded on the research-basedtask, and 73% succeeded on the fully self-generated task. Failure to examine the retrieved results and read thecontent of the Web pages retrieved, and a lack of adequate research skills surfaced as problems. In general,children had more difficulty with the research-based task than with the fact-based one, mainly due to seekinga target answer rather than developing understanding of the information found. These findings were congru-ent with the results of a study by Wallace and Kupperman (1997) who observed that despite the prior trainingthey provided to middle school students in using search engines, the students’ success was minimal.

On the fully self-generated task, children were asked to choose a topic of interest to pursue in Yahooligans!Although they were more successful on this task compared to the other two tasks, children experienced dif-ficulty selecting a focus for the topics they chose (i.e., a specific aspect of the topic). In many cases, children’sinitial topics were broad in nature and, therefore, necessitated mediation. During mediation (led by Bilal andthe school librarian), 67% of the children were able to formulate a focus while 33% were undecided on one.Children preferred this task to the other two tasks (fact- and research-based) due to satisfaction with searchresults and to their ability to modify their topics during searching. Children’s self-selection of topics generatedinterest in finding the information sought and resulted in high satisfaction in using Yahooligans!

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Children’s cognitive behavior reflected adequate understanding of term relationships, concept selection,and search formulation. The breakdowns they experienced with keyword searching was attributed to the inad-equate design of Yahooligans!-scanty indexing, misleading titles of hyperlinks, and brief summaries of hyper-links. These problems, combined with the children’s inadequate knowledge of how to use the engine andnavigate its environment effectively and efficiently, contributed to the difficulties children experienced. Thesestudies had implications for system design improvements and for developing effective Web training programs.

In an earlier study, Schacter, Chung, and Dorr (1998) examined the searching behavior of fifth- and sixth-graders in using the Web for one fact-based and one research-based task. They found that children were moresuccessful on the research-based task than on the fact-based task and browsed more than they searched bykeyword on both tasks. Children experienced difficulty with keyword searching due to use of natural language,inappropriate query formulation, and spelling errors. Similar findings were revealed in a study by Large andBeheshti (2000) as they interviewed middle school students after they used Infoseek and Alta Vista to findinformation on assigned tasks. Despite the fact that children were trained in using the engines, especially interms of query formulation and using Boolean logic, they did not find sufficient relevant information and wereoverwhelmed with information overload. Interestingly, children liked the speed of the Web and the uniqueinformation it contains, but found it harder to use than print sources.

In an earlier study, Wallace and Kupperman (1997) observed a group of sixth-graders in using the Web tofind information for a class-related project. Children were not successful in locating the desired information.They had problems using Boolean logic, queried the engines in natural language, frequently repeated searchesthat failed, and sought specific answers to research-based information problems. The authors concluded thatchildren’s lack of adequate research skills contributed to failure in solving research-based tasks, a finding thatwas confirmed by Bilal (2001).

The reviewed work on children’s information seeking on the Web employed varied methodologies,observed children’s interaction with different engines and Web sites, and included children of various gradelevels and gender. Despite these differences, this work revealed similarities and differences in information seek-ing among the children. Children browsed more than searched by keyword, had difficulty formulating ade-quate search strategies, queried search engines in natural language, committed spelling errors, andpossessed naı̈ve Web navigation skills. The differences in information seeking among the children concerneduse of Boolean logic, success in finding information (low vs. high), and perceptions of using the Web (positivevs. negative).

Digital libraries are becoming commonplace in many children’s lives and their rapid explosion worldwidehas turned researchers to the study of children’s use of these new technological tools. Hutchinson et al. (2005)conducted two studies of children’s searching and browsing in two new interfaces they developed for the ICDLcategory browser. One is simultaneous and another is sequential. A group of first, third, and fifth grade chil-dren participated in the study. The simultaneous interface used a single-level category structure with 44 leaf-level categories and required less navigation to select multiple categories. The sequential interface employed atwo-level category and presented the 44 leaves into nine facets, each with 2–12 leaves. Each child used bothinterfaces for searching and browsing to find information on six assigned tasks. Findings showed that childrencreated more Boolean searches in the simultaneous interface than the sequential interface. Significant differ-ences in searching were found by grade level. Older children performed the tasks faster than younger ones,needed less hints, and used the navigation tools on their own more than younger ones did. Overall, this studyrevealed that a flat category structure presented simultaneously is more supportive of children’s searching andbrowsing than a sequential hierarchical category structure, especially for Boolean searching. The study con-cluded with design guidelines to support children’s browsing and searching in the ICDL.

In another study, Reuter and Druin (2004) investigated the searching and book selection behaviors ofninety-six first- through fifth-grade students from the suburbs of Maryland in using the ICDL. Children uti-lized the Basic and Enhanced interfaces of the ICDL (now named Simple and Advanced, respectively) andlogging software captured their searching, browsing, and other online activities. The findings revealed thatfirst- and fifth-graders performed the most queries. The World area (part of the Location interface) was themost popular with younger children as they enjoyed spinning the globe repeatedly and clicking on the conti-nents. The most popular search categories were Genre, Subject, and Color; and preference for these variedbetween boys and girls. Children’s searching and book selection varied by age and gender. Younger children

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 69

preferred simple and more interactive interfaces; whereas, older children favored more sophisticated inter-faces. Children in grades one through five were able to navigate the category structure (to browse) but wereunable to use Boolean logic. This study found that the design of the ICDL was more supportive of older thanyounger children, and that simpler interfaces should be developed to support younger children moreeffectively.

While the ICDL is an international, multicultural, and multilingual digital library and is in the publicdomain, ARTEMIS is fee-based digital library that is designed for science middle school students, grades6–12. Abbas, Norris, and Soloway (2002) examined a group of six graders’ interaction with ARTEMIS usingtransaction log data of 754 user groups (2–3 students per group) from 32 schools located in the United States.Findings showed that children were more exploratory than directed in their searching and their vocabulary didnot match that employed in ARTEMIS. In addition, both groups of younger and older children experiencedproblems using ARTEMIS especially in terms of mismatched vocabulary with the one employed in the system.

The reviewed literature begins to offer understanding of children’s interaction with digital libraries. How-ever, additional research is needed to gain better understanding of children’s use of these technology tools. Todate, we have no understanding of whether the results of these studies are generalizeable across variouscultural groups of digital library users including Arabic-speaking children.

4. Research questions

In order to obtain a holistic view of Arabic-speaking children’s interaction with the ICDL, this studyaddressed the following questions:

1. What information seeking behavior do Arabic-speaking children exhibit in interacting with the ICDL?2. How successful are Arabic-speaking children in finding Arabic books on the four tasks and how much time

do they spend on completing each task in the ICDL?3. What perceptions and affective states do Arabic-speaking children possess about using the ICDL?

5. Method

This study employed the same method of data collection used in part one, quantitative and qualitative. Thequantitative method provided empirical data about children’s navigation behavior in finding books. Datawere captured via HyperCam, a video logging software that record and replay captured online activities(e.g., browsing, searching, and navigating). The qualitative method elicited children’s perceptions of and affec-tive experience in using the ICDL. This was achieved through group interviews that took place upon the com-pletion of data collection. In addition, individual interviews were conducted prior to children’s use of theICDL to generate a profile of demographic information, prior experiences, and reading habits and prefer-ences. The data gathered from these interviews are reported in part I of this study.

5.1. Participants

This study used a convenient sample since random sampling is not possible due to voluntary participation.Children were recruited by the children’s librarian at Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Bib. Alex.) where the studytook place. The librarian contacted the parents of 15 children via telephone and informed them about the pur-pose of the study. The librarian obtained the parents’ initial permission for their children’s participation.Upon the researchers’ request, one group of five parents and their children came to the library on December24, 2004, and another group participated on December 25, 2004. After reading the consent forms and agreeingto participate, the resulting sample consisted of four male and six female children, ages 6–10. One child wassix-years old, three were seven-years old, two were eight, two were nine, one child was nine and a half andanother one was ten years old. The sample is justifiable according to the quantitative and qualitative natureof this research which generates much data to be coded and analyzed.

70 D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80

5.2. Setting

The study took place in Bib. Alex. Children’s Library. The empirical data were gathered at Bib. Alex. Infor-mation and Computer Technology Laboratory (ICTL) since the computers in the Library did not meet thehardware requirements of HyperCam software. Group interviews were also held at the ICTL.

5.3. Procedures

The design of the study was planned in October 2004. The director, head librarian, and the technology teamat Bib. Alex. were contacted via email and their consent to use Bib. Alex. for data collection was obtained.Parental and child consent forms in both English and Arabic languages were developed to meet the Institu-tional Review Board (IRB) requirements for conducting this study. The Arabic language was used throughoutdata collection since it is the native language of the participants. Usability materials (e.g., a checklist of tasks, aprocedures list, and ICDL tasks) were created to guide the researchers in data collection.

Data were gathered on December 24 and 25, 2004. On December 23, 2004, the researchers met with Bib.Alex. head librarian, children’s librarian, staff at the children’s library, the technology specialist and computerengineer and discussed the details of the study including hardware needs. The technology specialist and com-puter engineer tested HyperCam and identified an appropriate computer laboratory for installing the softwareand collecting the empirical data. HyperCam software was installed on five computers located in Bib. Alex.ICTL.

On December 24, a group of five children used the ICDL. Each child was interviewed individually and laterescorted to the ICTL to use the ICDL. Meanwhile, one of the technology specialist ensured that HyperCamwas working properly on each of the designated computers and that the ICDL website (http://www.icdl-books.org) was ready for use. The same method was repeated with the second group of children who usedthe ICDL on December 25.

Children were briefly introduced to how to use the ICDL and were given four written tasks in the Arabiclanguage to perform. These were read and explained to them by the researchers to ensure understanding (seeAppendix 1 for the English version of the tasks). Upon completion of the tasks, children took a short breakand were later interviewed in the ICTL as a group to elicit their perceptions of and affective experience withthe ICDL. The interviews were audio-recorded and children’s responses were transcribed on paper by one ofthe researchers to ensure no data loss.

5.4. ICDL sessions

Two ICDL sessions were held in the ICTL, one on December 24 and another on December 25. Each sessionincluded a brief demonstration of how to use the ICDL various search and browse features and was followedwith explanation of the tasks to perform in the ICDL. HyperCam screen-captured children’s interaction withthe ICDL on the four tasks (searching, browsing, navigating, selecting, and reading Arabic books). Uponcompletion, each captured ICDL session (one per child) was saved on the computer used and later transferredelectronically to a designated file server in Bib. Alex. All transferred ICDL sessions were later burned ontoCDs by the technology specialist and given to the researchers. Each CD was tested to ensure that the captureddata replayed successfully from initiation to completion and that no data were lost.

5.5. ICDL tasks

Conducting a usability study in an international user interface requires involvement of real users whowill perform real tasks in the interface being tested (Neilsen, 1996). Therefore, we developed four tasks forthe children to perform: 1. How many books does the ICDL have in the Arabic language; 2. Find a book inthe Arabic language named Dima and open the first page of the book; 3. Find a book about animals in the Arabic

language and write the name of the book on your sheet; and 4. Find any book in Arabic and read as many pages as

you can (Appendix 1). To ensure confidentially, each child was assigned a number (from 1 to 10) that was usedthroughout data collection.

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 71

The selected tasks varied in terms of nature (closed vs. open-ended), type (simple vs. complex) and admin-istration (assigned vs. semi-assigned vs. fully self-generated). This task variety was based on the task taxonomydeveloped by Bilal (2002) and was driven by prior research which showed that a user information seeking andsuccess can be influenced by the way tasks are structured (Bilal, 2000, 2001, 2002; Bystrom & Jarvelin, 1995;Gross, 1997; Hirsh, 1997; Marchionini, 1995; Vakkari, 1999). Accordingly, the four tasks children performedin the ICDL varied in structure. Tasks one and two were fully assigned, closed and simple; task three wassemi-assigned, closed and simple, and task four was fully self-generated and open-ended. We believe that taskvariety would trigger Arabic-speaking children’s interest in performing them.

5.6. Group interviews

Children were interviewed in groups of five at the conclusion of data collection. One group was interviewedon Friday, December 24 and another on Saturday, December 25 using a group questionnaire instrument theresearchers developed. Interviews were conducted in the Arabic language (see Appendix 2 for the English ver-sion of this instrument).

6. Data analysis

Children’s information seeking behavior (searching and browsing) on each task was coded based on thesearch and browse features supported in the ICDL; that is, keyword searching, browsing using the Simpleinterface option, browsing using the Advanced interface option, browsing using the Location interface option;and using additional search/browse features such as color, theme, and the like. Children’s information seekingactivities on each task was coded using Excel software. For example, an Excel sheet for a child’s coded ICDLactivities on task one included: the child’s assigned number, number of clicks on a specific interface (e.g., Sim-ple), starting time, ending time, total time, answer to the task, and other observational notes (e.g., skippingtasks, idle time, and other problems).

6.1. Success measure

Arabic-speaking children’s success on each of the four tasks was judged as follows. On task 1, Find the num-

ber of Arabic books in the ICDL and write down the number on the task sheet, success was judged based on tran-scribing the number 26 (the total number of Arabic books in the ICDL at the time of the study) on the tasksheet. On task two, Find a book titled Dima and open the first page of the book, success was assessed basedon a child’s clicking on the book titled Dima and opening the first page. On task three, Find a book about animals

and write down the title of the book on the task sheet, success was judged by both matching the book title the childchose from the ICDL with the title of the book the child wrote on the task sheet. Since task four (Find an Arabicbook that you like and read as many pages as you can) was open-ended and did not require transcribing a booktitle on the task sheet, we replayed each child’s captured ICDL session on this task and judged success based onwhether the child selected a book on a topic of interest and read it. There was no limit as to the number of pagesthe children were required to read and they were not timed to complete this task.

6.2. Group interviews

Group interviews that captured children’s perceptions of the ICDL and affective experience were analyzedqualitatively based on extracting the recurring responses to each of the questions asked, and quantitatively bygenerating descriptive statistics.

6.3. Time

The time a child took to complete each task was totaled and the average time taken by all children on eachtask was calculated. Similarly, the average time taken by all children on all four tasks (mean value) was gene-rated based on descriptive statistics.

72 D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80

7. Results

The results of this study are reported within the context of the four research questions posed.

7.1. What information seeking behavior do Arabic-speaking children exhibit in interacting with the ICDL?

Information seeking behavior can be manifested through searching and browsing for information. Arabic-children’s information seeking behavior was examined in terms of searching and browsing to find Arabicbooks on the four tasks in the ICDL. Searching is performed through the Keyword option and browsing isachieved through the Simple, Advanced, or Location options. The Simple interface allows finding books bylanguage whereas the Advanced interface provides browsing by subject categories. The Location option sup-ports visual browsing by pointing the mouse to the globe and clicking on a geographic area of interest. Chil-dren used the Simple option and clicked on ‘‘Arabic’’ from the language pull-down menu 26 times (Table 1).Only one younger child clicked on the Location option once, pointed to the globe, did not make any selection,and returned to the Simple option to find books. No child utilized the Advanced or Keyword option. Whileolder children recognized the purpose of the Keyword option (see part one of this study), they did not use itsince it support searching by Arabic keywords.

In addition to these search and browse options, the ICDL employs iconic visual searching by categoriessuch as animal characters, picture books, colors, themes, and book size. Only one younger child clicked onPicture Books but moved quickly to the Simple option. While children’s avoidance of keyword searchingwas due to lack of system support for Arabic keywords, the fact that they did not browse by subject categoriesmay be due to the language of the interface (i.e., English) which was a barrier to understanding the represen-tations of these categories. Another reason may be that these categories were not represented by icons tounderstand their meanings.

7.2. How successful are Arabic-speaking children in finding Arabic books on the four tasks, and how much time

do they spend on completing each task in the ICDL?

An important element of assessing the utility of the ICDL to Arabic-children is their success in finding theinformation sought. Children’s success on the four tasks was judged based on the success measure describedearlier.

As seen in Table 2, eight out of ten children (80%) gave the correct answer to task one (How many books

does the ICDL have in the Arabic language?). One child did not transcribe the answer on the task sheet andanother gave an incorrect answer (37 instead of 26). Although the number of Arabic books is automaticallydisplayed when clicking on ‘‘Arabic’’ from the pull-down menu in the Simple option not all children noticed it.Based on the researchers’ observational notes, 40% who gave a correct answer counted the number of booksbased on the Arabic book thumbnails displayed on each screen, and another 40% provided the number ofbooks based on the total number shown in the Simple option.

Task two (Find a book titled Dima and open the first page of the book) was completed successfully by 80% ofthe children. The children who did not succeed did not click on or bring up the screen for the book Dima and

Table 1Arabic-speaking children’s ICDL searching and browsing

Searching/browsing Number ofchildren (n = 10)

Numberof clicks

Simple option 10 26Advanced option 0 0Location option 1 1Keyword option 0 0By Arabic language 9 23By Picture Books 1 1

Table 2Arabic-speaking children’s success in performing ICDL tasks

ICDL tasks Number and percent ofchildren performing task(n = 10)

Success (numberof children) (n = 10)

Success (percentof children) (n = 10)

Task 1 10 100% 8 80%Task 2 8 80% 8 100%Task 3 9 90% 9 100%Task 4 10 100% 10 100%

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 73

moved directly from task one to task three. This behavior may be attributed to either lack of focus or misun-derstanding of how to complete the task.

Contrary to tasks one and two, 90% of the children completed task three successfully (Find an Arabic book

about animals and write down the title of the book on the task sheet). Five children (50%) opted for the bookBlack Ear Blond Ear, two (20%) selected Bakkar at the Zoo, one child (10%) chose Bakkar Left School andanother child (10%) selected Dok Dok Laughs (Table 3).

Children’s high success and reading engagement was observed on task four (Find one book in Arabic that

you like and read as many pages as you can). Eight children (80%) read one book each in its entirety and twochildren (20%) read two books each. Evidently, these two children exceeded the expectations of the task, indi-cating that they are avid and fast readers.

Children selected these books on task four: Bakkar at the Zoo, Bakkar and the Little Bird, Bakkar at the

Library, Bakkar Loves School, Bakkar Visits the Dentist, and Dima (Table 3). It is obvious that the Bakkarseries is very popular among Arabic-speaking children. In fact, preference for this series was advocated bythe children when asked about their reading preferences and habits during the individual interviews that wereconducted prior to using the ICDL (Table 4). This finding validates children’s articulation of their preferencesand provides further reliability of the collected data during the interviews.

Table 3Arabic-speaking children’s book selection on tasks three and four

Book selection (task 3) Percentageof children (%)

Book selection (task 4) Percentageof children (%)

Black Ear Blond Ear 50 Bakkar at the Zoo 10Bakkar at the Zoo 20 Bakkar and the Little Bird 20Bakkar Left School 10 Bakkar at the Library 10Dok Dok Laughs 10 Bakkar at School 10

Bakkar Visits the Dentist 40Dima 10

Table 4Arabic-speaking children’s book reading habits and preferences

Child number Number ofbooks read/week

Kind ofbooks read

Language ofbooks read

1 Don’t recall Space; Bakkar Arabic2 3 The three friends; turtles Arabic3 3–4 Literature; animals (birds) Arabic4 5 Bakkar; Mickey; animals Arabic5 2 Adventures; prophets Arabic6 3 Bakkar; tarzan Arabic7 5 Bakkar; Tom and Jerry (Arabic) Arabic8 1 Lions; tigers Arabic9 3 English language; sounds of animals Arabic and English10 3–4 Barbie series Arabic and French

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During the group interviews, children were asked about their success in completing the four tasks. All chil-dren (100%) were positive that they completed the tasks successfully. However, their perceived success did notmatch their actual outcome on the tasks. Children’s positive perception of success is encouraging because itdelineates self-confidence. However, the two children whose perception of success did not match their actualoutcome may need additional guidance in using the ICDL.

7.2.1. Time to complete tasks

The time children took to complete each task varied. All children (100%) performed task one, and thetime taken to complete it ranged from two minutes and thirty-three seconds to nine minutes, (2 m:33 sto 9 m) (m = minutes, s = seconds), averaging four minutes and fifty-seven seconds (mean = 4 m:57 s).The youngest child who was six-years old took the longest time to complete this task (9 m), followed bythe child who was seven-years old who took seven minutes and twenty nine seconds (7 m:29 s). Only eightchildren (80%) performed task two and the time they took ranged from forty-three seconds to two minutesand thirty-nine seconds (43 s to 2 m:39 s) averaging one minute and thirty-four seconds (mean = 1 m:34 s).Two children (20%) did not perform this task, one was six-years old (the youngest) and another was nine-years old.

Most children (90%) performed task three and took from one minute fifty-one seconds to eight minutes andfifty-five seconds to complete (1 m:51 s to 8 m:55 s), averaging four minutes and six seconds (mean =4 m:06 s). The child who was nine-years old skipped this task.

Unlike tasks two and three, all children (100%) performed task four successfully. They took from two min-utes and two seconds to fourteen minutes and fifty five seconds (2 m:02 s to 14 m:55 s), averaging nine minutesand fifteen seconds (mean = 9 m:15 s) to complete. The fact that this task took the longest time is not surpris-ing, since it was open-ended and required selecting a book on a topic of interest and reading as many pages aspossible. Children read one book each in its entirety for this task. It is noteworthy that children were not lim-ited to a specific time to complete any of the tasks.

7.3. What perceptions and affective states do Arabic-speaking children possess about the ICDL?

We elicited Arabic-speaking children’s perceptions of and affective experience in using the ICDL. The aimof this data collection was to obtain information for constructing a holistic and rich picture of the children’sperceptions and affective experience (Kuhlthau, 2004; Nahl, 2004) and to draw the researchers into the worldof the participants. Affect has recently emerged as a new paradigm that complements the cognitive paradigmin information seeking (Bilal, 2005). Using group interviews for exploring children’s perceptions and affectiveexperience can be effective for identifying areas of consensus and differences among them (Shenton & Dixon,2003). Children’s affective states covered experience, likes, dislikes, and feeling about using the ICDL. In addi-tion, it included suggestions for improving its design.

7.3.1. ICDL experience, likes, and dislikes

There was a consensus among the children regarding their positive experience in using the ICDL, as onechild said: ‘‘It was beautiful and I saw beautiful things’’; and another child corroborated: ‘‘It was a new expe-rience. It gives great stories’’. All children said they liked the ICDL for being educational, having great booksin Arabic, and for gaining a new experience in reading books online. Five children (50%) noted: ‘‘It was beau-tiful, we benefited by reading books and seeing beautiful things. . . it was easy, we read, got used to it. . . TheICDL has great stories’’. Indeed, using the ICDL was a new experience for 90% of the children and since theywere habitual readers, they appreciated being able to read Arabic books online.

Despite children’s positive affects about the ICDL, they disliked the fact that the ICDL Arabic collectionwas also available at Bib. Alex. children’s library. Most children (80%) had already read books from thiscollection at the library, and therefore, they expected to find new books to read in the ICDL. Apparently,children were not aware that these books reflect the titles held at the children’s library.

In addition, children commented on the small size of the Arabic collection (26 books) and requested alarger collection similar to that in the English language. Compared to many collections, the ICDL Arabic

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 75

collection is indeed small. Staff at Bib. Alex. should digitize additional books to contribute to the ICDL so thatthey support and reinforce children’s reading habits and preferences.

Most children (90%) believed that the ICDL was easy to use and one child (10%) noted that it was not‘‘frightening’’. Apparently, the child had a negative preconception about the ICDL before interacting withit, but after using it he/she was positive about using it.

7.3.2. Feelings about using the ICDL

Children experienced different feelings before and after using the ICDL. Two children (20%) felt that itwould be difficult to use, but after using it they found it to be easy. One child (10%) was uncertain as tohis/her ability to use the ICDL, but afterwards the child was confident, as he/she said: ‘‘I felt scared becauseI was not sure I could use it . . .but afterwards, I was astonished because I was able to use it successfully . . . myexperience was pleasant’’.

Other children (30%) were optimistic, happy, and confident before using it, as one child said: ‘‘I had feelingsthat I would have a beautiful experience and I was happy. After using the ICDL, I felt the same because thelibrary was easy and neat’’. Another child stated: ‘‘I was astonished because I was able to use [the ICDL] andwas happy because I had a new experience’’. Two children (20%) liked the fact that they used the computer toread books, which was a new experience for them. The rest of the children (20%) did not comment on theirfeelings before or after using the ICDL, except that they liked it. Overall, children enjoyed interacting with theICDL and asked whether they could access it from home and school. Many of them were looking forward tousing it again.

7.3.3. Children’s suggestions for improving the ICDL

We asked two questions about improving the ICDL, one was ‘‘What do you think the ICDL should do foryou’’? and another was ‘‘What should the ICDL improve for you’’? Since the answers to these two questionsoverlapped, we combined the answers wherever is possible. Most children (70%) commented again on thesmall Arabic collection and recommended the addition of new and more books. Three children (30%) sug-gested the addition of an audio option to listen to books while reading them, and one child (10%) did notlike this option. Three children (30%) suggested the inclusion of an English–Arabic dictionary to look upthe English text and find the Arabic translation. Five children (50%) desired space to draw and color bookcharacters, as one child noted: ‘‘I have to be able to color books’’, and another one expected the ICDL toteach children ‘‘how to read, use the computer, draw, and color books’’. Interestingly, one child said thatthe ICDL ‘‘should be kept clean’’. This child believed that the ICDL was part of Bib. Alex. and since the latterwas always clean the ICDL should be protected by keeping it clean.

In addition, all children expressed that the ICDL would have been easier had it been in Arabic. They appre-ciated exposure to the brief ICDL demonstration because it made it easy to use. The fact that an Arabic ver-sion of the ICDL has recently become available may support this need.

In brief, children’s suggestions were grouped into three categories: Collection, language, and capabilities(Table 5). In terms of collection, children suggested increase of the Arabic book collection and include booksthat are different from those owned by Bib. Alex. With regard to language, having an Arabic language

Table 5Arabic-speaking children’s suggestions for improving the ICDL

Features Suggestions

Collection Increase Arabic book collection.Include books not owned by Library

Language Provide interface in Arabic language

Capabilities Allow keyword searching in ArabicProvide an audio optionGive space for drawing and coloring booksProvide a bilingual dictionary

76 D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80

interface of the ICDL was a high priority for the children. As for capabilities, children expressed a variety ofneeds, including keyword searching in Arabic, an audio option, a space to draw and color books, and a bilin-gual dictionary. System designers should consider these suggestions to provide interfaces that support chil-dren’s information seeking and needs.

8. Discussion

This study examined Arabic-speaking children’s information seeking, success, and affective experience inusing the ICDL. The results are discussed within the context of the research questions posed.

Question 1: What information seeking behavior do Arabic-speaking children exhibit in interacting with the

ICDL?

Arabic-speaking children interacted with the ICDL to find Arabic books on four tasks. Prior to using theICDL, children were given a brief demonstration of the ICDL various search and browse features. Childrenrelied on the Simple interface and browsed under ‘‘Arabic’’ from the pull-down menu to find books. While in aprior study, Reuter and Druin (2004) reported a high number of keyword searching by children, this studyshowed that the Keyword search option was avoided, especially because it did not support searching or retrie-val by Arabic keywords. In addition, children did not utilize the Advanced interface option to browse by sub-ject categories, although they were introduced to this feature during the demonstration. Lack of browsing bycategories may be due either to the language of the interface (i.e., English) that required understanding of themeaning of each subject category, or to the fact that these categories were not represented by icons to facilitatethis understanding.

Only one child attempted the Location search, pointed the mouse to the globe, but immediately returned tothe Simple interface to find books. The fact that the Location search requires knowledge of geography, espe-cially the part of the world where a region or country is located, may have been difficult for this child. To findArabic books using the Location option, for example, the child needs to spin the globe, point to Asia, and thenclick on Middle East. This action results in a display of books not only in Arabic, but also in many other lan-guages such as Persian, Hebrew, and Pilipino. The multilayered visual browsing for finding a specific regionfrom the Location option along with the display of books in languages that include Arabic and non-Arabicmay be confusing to children who lack both knowledge of world geography and the command of the Englishlanguage. Listing Pilipino books under the Middle East can be misleading, since the Philippines is not locatedin that region.

The infrequent use of the Location option by Arabic-speaking children was incongruent with the findings ofReuter and Druin (2004) who observed that the World area (part of the Location option) was more popularwith younger than older children, and that all children used the World Area slightly more often than the cate-gories area (part of the Advanced option). These contradictory results may be due to prior knowledge ofWorld geography, understanding the interface representations of the World Area, and English language skills.The differences in backgrounds and cultures between the children who participated in these two studies mayhave also contributed to these incongruent findings.

Question 2: How successful are Arabic-speaking children in finding Arabic books on the four tasks, and how

much time do they spend on completing each task in the ICDL?

Children’s success on the four tasks varied. While all children completed task four successfully (find any

book in Arabic and read as many pages as you can), not all of them did so on the other three tasks. Thetwo children who failed task one did so for different reasons. One child provided the wrong answer (37 insteadof 26 books), and another did not transcribe the answer on the task sheet. Based on the researchers’ observa-tional notes, the first child counted each of the Arabic book thumbnails on every returned screen. It is possiblethat the child got disoriented or lost within the various screens of thumbnails, which resulted in miscounting

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 77

the books. The second child may have not paid attention to the task requirement. The fact that this child alsoskipped task two indicates lack of focus in completing these tasks.

Arabic-speaking children were more successful in finding information on the fully self-generated task (taskfour) than on the other tasks (assigned and semi-assigned). On this task, children were asked to find any bookin Arabic to read. The fact that children were given the opportunity to find and read books on topics of inter-est to them may have contributed to the high success on this task. In addition, since two children selected andread two books instead of one book each further ascertains children’s liking of this task. This finding is con-gruent with prior Web research (Bilal, 2002; Hirsh, 1997) that found children to be more successful and sat-isfied with search results when they selected topics of interest to them. As Bilal (2002) notes, free topic selectionprovides children with a sense of achievement, authority, and independence; factors that are motivating forachieving success.

Question 3: What perceptions and affective states do Arabic-speaking children possess about the ICDL?

As was mentioned earlier, Arabic-speaking children were interviewed in a group of five upon completion ofthe ICDL tasks to obtain their perceptions about their experience, elicit their affective states, and gather theirfeedback about improving the design of the ICDL.

Children had positive perceptions of the ICDL and enjoyed using it. However, the differences in children’sfeelings before and after interacting with the ICDL (negative vs. positive) can be contributed to many factors:ease of use, interest in navigating book illustrations, effective navigation support (as was found in part I of thisstudy), and exposure to new experience of reading Arabic books online. In addition, children’s introduction tohow to use the ICDL prior to interacting with it subsidized their anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Moreover, thepresence of the researchers throughout data collection and the assistance they provided, as needed, providedaffective support and minimized negative feelings.

9. Implications

The findings of this study have implications for practitioners who interact with these children, for research-ers who are interested in exploring children’s use of the ICDL, and for system designers.

Practitioners should provide effective training in using the ICDL, especially since Bib. Alex. is the leadinglibrary in Arabic-speaking countries that contribute books to the ICDL project. This study revealed that onlyone Arabic-speaking child was familiar with the ICDL, and that this child was introduced to it through his/hermother who was a staff member at Bib. Alex children’s library. Bib. Alex. staff should promote use of theICDL to motivate children and reinforce their reading habits. The fact that children requested a larger Arabicbook collection delineates a need for digitizing additional books to contribute to the ICDL. In addition, Bib.Alex. staff should promote book digitization throughout the Arab world and collaborate with other librariesin that region to provide a strong Arabic book collection that is supportive of children’s reading needs. As theInternet becomes widely used at home, Arabic-speaking children will be able to read book from remote loca-tions and at their own convenience.

To date, research that investigated children’s use of the ICDL has considered their thoughts and actionsand precluded affect, despite the fact that the ICDL was developed based on both children’s cognitive abilitiesand affective preferences for books (e.g., sad, happy). To obtain a holistic view of children’s interaction withthe ICDL, both cognition and affect should be examined, in addition to actions (Kuhlthau, 2004; Nahl, 2004).

This study showed that many children experienced anxiety, uncertainty, and fear before using the ICDL.However, the affective support the researchers provided minimized children’s negative feelings. Therefore,researchers who involve children of similar backgrounds and/or experiences should develop effective strategiesto assist children to cope with negative emotions or feelings in order to sustain an environment that is sup-portive of children’s information seeking.

Eliciting children’s recommendations for improving the ICDL generated design features that system design-ers should take into account as they introduce new interfaces or modify existing ones. Children requested anArabic version of the ICDL that supports keyword searching in Arabic. It is hoped that the recently added

78 D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80

Arabic version of the ICDL should meet this need. In addition, children suggested addition of an audio optionto listen to books while reading them, and inclusion of bilingual dictionaries (e.g., English–Arabic) to translatethe meaning of the ICDL representations. Moreover, they desired a drawing and coloring feature. Systemdesigners should assess the feasibility of providing space for children to draw and color book characters.Drawing is a vehicle for children to express feelings, thoughts, and perceptions. What children draw is influ-enced by their stage of development, social environment, and cultural influences (Malchiodi, 1998). Thus, sys-tem designers can gain knowledge not only about children’s needs and wishes, but also about their culturalpreferences so that they design interfaces that meet their needs (Bilal, 2003).

10. Conclusions

This study revealed that contrary to children’s use of the ICDL in the United States (Reuter & Druin,2004), Arabic-speaking children’s information seeking behavior in the ICDL was characterized by browsingusing a single function; that is, clicking on ‘‘Arabic’’ from the pull-down menu of the Simple interface to findArabic books. Despite the fact that they were introduced to how to use the ICDL, children did not browse bysubject categories, and only one child activated the Location option but did use it. In addition, children didnot search by keyword since this feature did not support Arabic keywords. Additional research is needed tocontribute to our understanding of the differences and similarities in information seeking behavior betweenchildren in the United States and children of diverse cultures, including the Arabic culture.

Children’s success on the four tasks was assessed based on a measure the researchers developed. In thisstudy, children’s success on specific tasks was evaluated according to both viewing a child’s captured ICDLsessions and examining the child’s transcribed answers on the task sheets. Using a ‘‘definite’’ measure for judg-ing success is recommended in future research, especially in studies that employ both quantitative and qual-itative inquiry methods for data collection.

The tasks children performed varied in terms of nature (closed vs. open-ended), type (simple vs. complex)and administration (assigned, semi-assigned, and fully self-generated). The structure of these tasks was basedon the task taxonomy developed by Bilal (2002). Children were more successful on the fully self-generated taskthat was open-ended than on the assigned and semi-assigned tasks; thus, confirming prior research by Bilal(2002) and Hirsh (1997). Future studies should incorporate a variety of these tasks to trigger children’s interestand motivate them to perform them successfully.

This study explored children’s thoughts, actions, and affective states in using the ICDL. Using this triadprovided a holistic view of children’s information seeking behavior in the ICDL. Researchers are encouragedto consider this triad in future research, especially since the ‘‘affective paradigm’’ in information seeking hasrecently emerged to supplement the cognitive paradigm (Bilal, 2005).

This study revealed that Arabic-speaking children seek information in the ICDL differently from childrenof other cultures (i.e., United States), and that they have unique system design needs. As children’s use of theICDL grows worldwide and as versions of its interfaces become available in various languages, additionalresearch will be needed to contribute to our understanding of the influence of culture on children’s infor-mation seeking in the ICDL. Results from such research endeavors will provide insights into the interfacesthat system designers should develop and make customizable for children of various cultures andbackgrounds.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a research grant from the University of Tennessee Faculty DevelopmentResearch Awards. The authors wish to thank the University for supporting this research. Our special grati-tude is extended to the director, head librarian, librarians, and the technology team at Bibliotheca Alexandrinawho facilitated use of this library for data collection. We are very thankful to the children who took part indata collection and to the parents who gave them permission to participate in this project. We wish toacknowledge the graduate student at the School of Information Sciences who assisted in coding the datafor this study.

D. Bilal, I. Bachir / Information Processing and Management 43 (2007) 65–80 79

Appendix 1. Finding Arabic books in the international children’s digital library (ICDL)

Write your number here: _________________

Please answer the following questions in using the ICDL.

Question 1: How many books does the ICDL have in the Arabic language?Answer: ___________________________________________________________

Question 2: Find a book in the Arabic language named Dima and open the first page of the book.

Question 3: Find a book in the Arabic language about AnimalsWrite the name of the book: __________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Question 4: Find any book in the Arabic language and read as many pages as you can.

Raise your hand when you finish.

Thank you for your collaboration on this study.

Appendix 2. Group questionnaire

1. Tell me about your experience with using the ICDL.2. What did you like about the ICDL?3. What did not you like about the ICDL?4. How easy was the ICDL to find books in the Arabic language?5. What do you think the ICDL should do for you?6. What improvements do you recommend for the ICDL?

Feelings

1. How did you feel when you started using the ICDL?2. How did you feel after you finished using the ICDL?

Success

1. How successful were you in finding Arabic books on the four tasks?

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