Information behavior in early childhood: A scoping review. An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper

Abstract

Information behavior is a longstanding area of scholarly interest in library and information science. This scoping review focused specifically on information behavior in early childhood, defined as birth to 8 years of age. Following a systematic search of five key databases, 36 publications that met the inclusion criteria were identified. Data related to the study participants, research methods and settings, conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and key study findings were extracted from the publications, then collated and summarized. Reviewed publications spanned three decades (1992–2022) and focused predominantly on young children's information seeking and information searching. Children under 5 years of age and/or in preschool or kindergarten were the least studied groups in this corpus. Formal educational settings were the most common research setting. Interviews and task‐centered activities were the most frequently used methods of data collection. Half of the reviewed studies were explicitly informed by information behavior theories and models, while less than a third applied theories of child development and/or learning. This analysis reveals existing trends and gaps in the body of research concerned with young children's information behavior, which have implications for the provision of relevant and appropriate information resources and services for this population.