Tech Report HCIL-2003-39

Druin, A. (October 2003)
What Children Can Teach Us: Developing Digital Libraries for Children with Children
A revised version of this paper will be published in Library Quarterly
HCIL-2003-39, CS-TR-4679

Abstract At the University of Maryland, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from information studies, computer science, education, art, and psychology work together with seven children (ages 7-11) to design new digital libraries for children. Working with children has led to new approaches to collection development, cataloging (metadata standards), and the creation of new technologies for information access and use. This paper presents a discussion of the interdisciplinary research landscape that contributes to our understanding of digital libraries for children; examines a case study on the development of the International Children's Digital Library; and discusses the implications from this research as they relate to new technology design methods with children and new directions for future digital libraries.