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Information-Seeking Behavior of Homeschoolers and Their Parents

An Annotated Bibliography

Rebecca Cooper

Info510: Information Resources & Services

Kate McCain, Instructor

June 10, 2009

Information-Seeking Behavior of Homeschoolers and Their Parents

An Annotated Bibliography

Introduction and Scope

The following bibliography covers the information-seeking behavior of homeschooler and their parents. Articles cover a historical perspective of why parents chose to homeschool and how they obtain the information resources they need to educate their children. Many of the articles point to the local public library as the main source of obtain the informational needs to support the resources by using the library book collection, videos, CDs, DVDs, and the Internet. The Internet is used for online courses, connecting to the World Wide Web, connecting and communicating with others homeschool families. The articles were published from 1989 to 2008. Articles reflect the most accurate research of what the user group is looking for to support the informational needs to administer an education to their children. One important aspect that was an issue is the need for socialization. Homeschoolers use of the Internet to bridge the gap for social interaction that they would normally receive in the public educational system.

Definition of User Group

Homeschoolers and their parents were considered eccentric and looked down upon before the 1980s, but with the growth of number of parents choosing homeschooling for their children a new perspective has been developed. The current reasons for homeschooling has changed from just being for religious reason to the safety issue of children in public schools as the result the shooting incident of Columbine High School in 1999 and an increase in school violence across the United States. The quality of education and the increase in lower educational standards has also forced parents to homeschool their children. Homeschooling families typically fall into two basic philosophical groups: the Ideologues and the Pedagogues. Ideologues, followers of Ray Moore’s principles, object to what is being taught in public and private schools. They want to form closer relationships with their children and are typically Christian fundamentalists who teach their children their own beliefs and values using traditional teaching method of religious based curricula involving textbooks and workbooks. Pedagogues, followers of John Holt, are parents who question the quality of education their children would receive in traditional school settings. They seek to nurture and develop their children’s intellects and creativity through more relaxed, natural teaching method. They avoid prepackaged curricula in favor of using books on various subjects as well as their surroundings for learning experiences (Kleist-Tesch, 1998).

Summary of Findings

Despite the increase in the number of homeschoolers in recent years there has been limited research conducted since the 1990s on homeschoolers and their informational needs. Most of the research was initial conduct when homeschool gained in popularity. Nothing new has been added to change the informational needs of homeschoolers and their parents within the last decade to warrant or drive interest to conduct new studies.

The actual statistical numbers of homeschoolers in most studies always use the words “estimated,” “approximately,” and “about” are for two reasons. One reason is that children under the age of eight are not included in school counts, yet an estimated sixty-five percent of homeschoolers fall in to this category. Second reason is that parents who choose homeschooling are not eager to engage in government surveys or enrollments. Many have been fined or found in violation of stringent laws at the local level dependent on their responses (Madden, 1991). This makes it very difficult to conduct accurate studies about homeschoolers informational user needs and what resources they need to conduct instruction of their children.

From what can be discover is that nearly seventy-five percent of homeschoolers are white, eighty percent are two-parent households, household income is about the same as that of public school families, parental levels of education are similar between home and public school families, although homeschool families show a statistically high number of Bachelor’s and graduate degrees, and forty percent of homeschooled students used some form of distance learning instruction (Willingham, 2008). In order for homeschoolers to conduct distance education they must have a computer and be hooked up to the internet. There are a wide variety of Internet sites that serve as excellent learning tools and devoted solely to homeschoolers (Kleist-Tesch, 1998).

Along with distance education and the use of the Internet they also use a variety of different information resources to conduct instructions. This can vary is several different forms from hands-on, field trips, apprenticeship, to specially designed studies. This can take place doing everyday errands, to visit to parks, museums, and the local library. The homeschoolers resources vary from popular learning books, bargain basement tomes on obscure topic, vast National Geographic collections, or special collections on anything from aviation zoology. In addition to books, collections of videos, music and educational CDs, educational DVDs, prepackaged curricula, children’s workbooks, e-books and audio books (Willingham, 2008). Homeschoolers rely heavily on their local public libraries to provide for their informational resource needs.

In rural areas the library is the only source for homeschoolers to obtain their informational needs. Out in the middle of farm or ranching country where it is miles from a zoo or museum the only what homeschoolers can obtain information on the topic of study is to visit the local library and request information via of the Internet, books, videos, or using the Inter Library Loan. Homeschooling families also consist of more than one child that is being homeschooled. Many homeschooling households only have one computer so they use the local library to enable more than one family member access the internet at one time to complete their homework assignments. It used to be that a set of encyclopedias was enough for satisfy ones educational needs, but with the introduction of the World Wide Web that is not longer adequate to fulfill the scope of investigation in completing a research project. With all of the information that is easy accessible and available to students these days the informational needs of homeschoolers is vast and local libraries are able to support and provide for them.

To better serve the homeschoolers informational needs it has been presented in several articles for libraries to educate their staff about homeschoolers needs and what the library has to offer to support these needs. Libraries need to have several different forms of media that address all subject areas that are normally address by the public school system and go beyond those requirements. Several of the articles provided in this bibliography are from librarians but they also homeschooler their children and they stress the need for librarians to pursue the homeschooler population and ask what the informational needs are in order to support and provide for their informational needs and resources. Anyone who has observed homeschoolers will notice a high level of sharing, networking, collaboration and cooperative learning (Lines, 1996).

Bibliography

Avner, J. (1989). Home schoolers: A forgotten clientele. School Library Journal, 35, 29-33.

Abstract: Article discusses the reason parents choose homeschooling and provides a historical perspective. The focus is on reading, self exploration and how homeschoolers use the public library to supplement the curriculum. The article further states that public libraries have a responsibility to all of its patrons to include home schooled students.

Annotations: The author is a doctoral student at the school of Library and Information Science, University of Pittsburgh. This article was referenced in by several different articles written by Denise Masters, James and Suzanne LaRue, Susan B. Madden, and Jane M. Kleiest-Tesh also listed in this bibliography. The article is points to the growth of the homeschooling movement and demands librarian’s attention to their user and informational needs. This article is useful in the ways libraries examine the ways in which they can support parents and children who are homeschooled.

Database: LISA

Method(s) of Searching Footnote Chasing/Author searching

Search Strategy: I read several other articles in research for the bibliography

and this article kept coming up in the reference list. LISA database listed the author and the article and was linked by SFX to EBSCOhost Professional Development Collection for the full text article

Brostrum, D. (1997). No place like the library: Making homeschoolers feel at home. School

Library Journal, 43, 106-109.

Abstract: Discusses the increase number of children being homeschooled, their use of the public libraries and how libraries can better serve their information needs. The article suggests that homeschoolers can volunteer to run special programs at the library. Presents ways of serving homeschoolers, services they need from their local libraries, and items typically found in a homeschool packet.

Annotations: The author is Head of Adult and Administrative Services at the Waukesha, WI Public Library and author of the book, A Guide to Homeschooling for Librarians. This article was referenced in an article written by Jane Kleist-Tesh and his book is referenced in several other articles. The author gives a list of comments of what homeschoolers want from their local libraries. The article also provides web sites, books and articles for suggested reading for homeschoolers.

Database: EBSCOhost

Method(s) of Searching Footnote Chasing/Author searching

Search Strategy: Brosturm’s book and article were mentioned in several other

different articles that I read and had to find the article to add to the bibliography. Looking in EBSCOhost provide the full text article.

Geist, P., Smith, P. & McCook, K. (1994). Florida librarians respond to home education.

University of South Florida School of Library & Information Science research group.

Abstract: Home schooling has increased on the last decade and Florida has the highest population. University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science conducted a survey to understand the needs of home schoolers. Responses to the survey indicate questions about home schooling, curriculum, and request for materials are the frequently asked of librarians.

Annotations: The report was written and compiled by members of the University of South Florida, School of Library and Information Science for Florida libraries. The report contains extensive list of curriculum journals, a bibliography of one hundred and five books and articles, information on eight journals dedicated to home schoolers and reference list of seventy-three home schooling associations. This report provides an in-depth survey addressing the informational needs of home schoolers

.

Database: ERIC

Method(s) of Searching Keyword and Descriptor: Keyword=Information Needs and

DE=Home Schooling

Search Strategy: Using the descriptor for home school and using information needs

as a keyword returned targeted articles for the bibliography. Full

text of the article was provided

Halverstadt, J. (1995). Catering to students: A public library services alternative schools. School

Library Journal, 41, 16-18.

Abstract: Article describes the growth of charter schools and homeschoolers in the Douglas County, Colorado. Without the use of public school libraries, students use the local public library to supplement their curriculum. Students use the library’s collection, internet, and attend programs that the library has to offer. With the increase number of students using the library, the library has instituted year round reading programs and children services.

Annotations: The author is a cataloger at the Douglas Public Library District in Castle Rock, Co. This article was referenced in several different articles by Jane Kleist-Tesh and David Brostum. The article is useful in it explains how the Douglas Public Library District has responded to the library need of homeschoolers. The author points to how homeschoolers benefited from internet use and the gopher program that was set up by and IBM employee for their use.

Database: EBSCOhost

Method(s) of Searching Footnote Chasing-AU=Halvestadt and TI=Catering to students

Search Strategy: This article was referenced in several different articles so I

searched for it in EBSCOhost and found the full text article

Kaplan, P. (2001). Reaching out to homeschooling families: Services and programs. Illinois

Libraries, 83, 44-46.

Abstract: Article is aimed at libraries to provide low cost and easy to implement ideas for services targeting homeschoolers. Author suggests a contact person who is knowledgeable of homeschoolers information needs and reference desk needs a homeschooling notebook or binder. Binder should contain contact information on local, state, and national organizations, a file of free homeschooling catalogs, and library services. Library should implement orientations programs to get the word out by the use of annotated bibliographies, news programs, electronic resources, and offer book discussions.

Annotations: The author is a Public Services Coordinator of the Lake Villa District Library in Illinois. This article is useful in that it talks about the use that homeschoolers make of the public libraries and offers suggestions for library services that target homeschoolers. It offers low cost easily implemented ideas for targeting homeschoolers user and informational needs.

Database: ERIC

Method(s) of Searching Descriptors (from Thesaurus)=”Home Schooling” and “Library

Services”

Search Strategy: Used advanced search option and looked up in the thesaurus and

selected “Home Schooling” and Library Services” I used the Inter Library Loan at Holloman AFB library to retrieve the full text article.

Kleist-Tesh, J. (1998). Homeschoolers and the public library. Journal of Youth Services in

Libraries, 11, 231-241.

Abstract: Provides a historical perspective of the homeschoolers movement and discuss parent’s choice to home school their children. The article provides a general profile of homeschoolers of being mostly from middle class and more religious than the general population. Parents are choice of teaching styles vary from the structured to unstructured with an increase emphasis on computers and computer resources as learning tools. Studies indicate that almost all homeschoolers use the public library several times a month.

Annotations: The author is a reference librarian in the children’s department of the Orange County Library System in Orlando, Florida. This article was also referenced in an article written by Kathleen Rutkowski. This article is useful in providing the general profile of homeschoolers, the role public libraries and librarians meet the informational needs of the homeschoolers. The article gives suggestions to initiating dialogue between library staff and homeschoolers to better understand the specific needs of this unique group and alert homeschoolers to the services and materials the library has to offer.

Database: DIALOG file 438 Library Lit & Info

Method(s) of Searching s home()school?/de or home()school?/ab or home()school?/ti and

s librar?/de or library?/ab or library?/ti

Search Strategy: I started using DIALOG first as it was the first database we had

learned and started with the word home()school? in the abstract, descriptor, and title field and the selected library? and also used abstract, descriptor, and title fields and “and “ them together to retrieve fifty-eight results. I found the full text article in LISA using the author and title search.

LaRue, J & LaRue, S. (1991). Is anybody home? Home schooling and the library. Wilson

Library Bulletin, 66, 32-37 and 136-137.

Abstract: This article contains interviews with parents asking if they were teachers, how much time they spend on home schooling, and socialization. The discussion of the amount of hours put into homeschooling compared to the amount of hours other children spend in public school. More hours are spent by public school children compared to homeschooled students. The article states that parents using prepackaged instruction use the public library for a fourth of the curriculum. This is a reason for public libraries to get involved in the homeschooling community.

Annotations: The authors are librarians, researchers and writers. This article was referenced in articles written by Denise Masters, Jane Kleist-Tesch, and Paula Geist. This article is useful in providing suggested library services to meet homeschooler needs, such as, community involvement with outreach programs, tours, workshops, and collection development ideas. The article includes thirty-eight different references for further reading.

Database: DIALOG file 438 Library Lit & Info

Method(s) of Searching s home()school?/de or home()school?/ab or home()school?/ti and

s librar?/de or library?/ab or library?/ti

Search Strategy: I started using DIALOG first as it was the first database we had

learned and started with the word home()school? in the abstract, descriptor, and title field and the selected library? and also used abstract, descriptor, and title fields and “and “ them together to retrieve fifty-eight results. I found the full text article in LISA using the author and title search.

Lines, P. (1996). Home schooling comes of age. Educational Leadership, V, 63-67.

Abstract: Homeschooling is legal in most states and dispels the stereotype of who home-schoolers are. The article states that home-schoolers have turned to the electronic world for educational material and networking with fellow home-schoolers. The article talks about the increase in public opinion and partnering with public schools to help home-schoolers achieve their informational needs.

Annotations: The author is a senior research analyst with the National Institute on Governance, Policy, Finance and Management. This article was also referenced in several different articles by Andrew Latham’s Home Schooling article and in ERIC Public Library Services for Home Schooling. ERIC Digest. This article is useful in providing the importance for studying how children learn in informal environments. It also states that with the increase in the number of children being home schooled the more resources they have access to, to include those at public schools.

Database: DIALOG file 1 ERIC

Method(s) of Searching Footnote chasing using author and descriptors searching: s

au=Lines, Patricia M. and s home()school?/de

Search Strategy: I looked up the article in DIALOG because it was mentioned in

several other article that I had found and wanted to add it of the bibliography. I found the article in the ERIC file in DIALOG which led me to look for it in ERIC. ERIC did not provide a full text of the article so I used the Inter Library Loan at Holloman AFB library to retrieve the full text article.

Madden, S. (1991). Learning at Home: Public library service to homeschoolers. School Library

Journal, 37, 23-25.

Abstract: This article states that the statistics of how many homeschoolers there are is unclear as too many parents are not willing to participate in surveys because they may be fined or violating local laws. Based upon a survey conducted at a local level in the state of Washington, ninety-three percent of homeschoolers use the local library and fifty-four percent on a weekly basis. The article address library concerns to include censorship, negative staff attitudes, technology demands, and administrative limits.

Annotations: The author is a Literacy & Young Adult Service Coordinator at King County Library System in Seattle, Washington, and one of the Founding Mothers of Washington Coalitions Against Censorship. This article is based upon a presentation she gave at the Public Library Association Conference in San Diego, March 1991. The article list librarian concerns and suggested solutions to services to homeschoolers. A list of library test ideas is provided to help homeschoolers meet their library and informational needs.

Database: Library Literature & Informational Science Full Text

Method(s) of Searching Subject=Home Schooling

Search Strategy: I tried using a narrower search and only retrieved a few documents.

Leaving the search just to the subject field on my topic I was able to retrieve more results to include this article in full text.

Masters, D. (1996). Public library services for home schooling. ERIC Digest. 1-7.

Abstract: A survey was conducted on Ohio home school parents on the amount of time and services they use at the public library. The article talks about the University of South Florida study for the need to compile information on home school needs and use of library services. Discusses the challenges associated with providing library services to home schoolers to include censorship, limit subject material, negative staff attitudes, time/energy demands, technology demands, and administrative limits.

Annotations: Article was produced by ERIC Clearing House on Information and Technology, Syracuse University and provides a good list of references and suggested readings about homeschoolers use of public libraries. The article presents a list of services provided by local public libraries for homeschoolers and points out that the public libraries are the only educational resources available to homeschoolers to meet their informational needs.

Database: ERIC

Method(s) of Searching Descriptors (from Thesaurus)=”Home Schooling” and “Library

Services”

Search Strategy: Used advanced search option and looked up in the thesaurus and

selected “Home Schooling” and Library Services” Full text of this article was provided

Marquam, T. & Parker, V. (2008). Fable and fact: Serving the homeschool population in public

libraries. Indiana Libraries, 27, 12-18.

Abstract: Article address five questions: Why should libraries serve homeschoolers? Who are homeschoolers? Is homeschooling legal? What do homeschoolers want? How can libraries provide special service to homeschoolers without breaking the budget? Article provides extensive answers to all of these questions

Annotations: The author is a children’s librarian at Westfield Washington Public Library for over seven years and is a homeschooling mother. This article states that homeschoolers use their public library as their primary source of material. Homeschoolers seek information about local support groups, books about homeschooling from recognized leading authors, curriculum support, and teacher resources. The article also lists educational philosophy and examples of some common sources used which can be very useful to homeschooling parents.

Database: Library Literature & Informational Science Full Text

Method(s) of Searching Subject=Home Schooling

Search Strategy: I tried using a narrower search and only retrieved a few documents.

Leaving the search just to the subject field on my topic I was able to retrieve more results to include this article in full text.

Riegle-Coursey, A. (2004). Serving the home schooling family: What librarians need to know.

Ohio Libraries, 17, 20-22.

Abstract: The article address a survey asking home schoolers three questions about why they choose to home school, public library resources and services are most beneficial, and what would they tell a librarians if they had the chance. The results were the reason for home schooling was for educational purposes and they benefited from the libraries technology resources, access to the internet, and interlibrary loan services.

Annotations: The author is the Director of New Madison Public Library and provides the phone number and email address. This article was centered on the home schoolers needs and how they used library resources. What was interesting about this article was the homeschoolers were asked “what message they would like to send to librarians” and their response was to be tolerant and patient with home schoolers.

Database:

Method(s) of Searching: Footnote Chasing-author=riegle and title=home schooling

Search Strategy: The lesson on web resources led me to check out this website to

see if I could find this article in full text. This author was cited in an master’s thesis paper but I was unable to find a full text article in any of the databases.

Rutkowski, K. (1998). Homeschool pioneers on the web. Multimedia Schools, 5, 76-80.

Abstract: The reason homeschooling families’ use of the World Wide Web is to tap into the global knowledge repositories, to contact experts, and to other students. The World Wide Web keeps homeschoolers from being isolated communicating with other homeschooling families around the world. Several homeschooling websites are mentioned and evaluated in detail such as, The Home Schooling Daily, The Caron Family Home School Homepage, and Voices of the Web and states that these links are valuable to homeschoolers.

Annotations: The author is an Education Consultant at Herndon Virginia and the article lists her phone number and email address in case you wish to contact her. This article gives an in-depth evaluation of three web pages and list eleven useful websites for homeschoolers to use to meet their informational needs.

Database: DIALOG File 1 ERIC

Method(s) of Searching Descriptor Searching s home()school?/de and s

world()wide()web/de

Search Strategy: I used the ERIC file in DIALOG trying to find topics that meet

homeshoolers needs on the world wide web and came up with this article. I used the Inter Library Loan at Holloman AFB library to retrieve the full text article.

Scheps, S. (1999). Homeschoolers in the library. School Library Journal, 45, 38-39.

Abstract: This article states that homeschooling is legal in all fifty states and Canada. Parents are choosing homeschooling for non-religious reasons. The homeschooling movement is better organized and creating their own curriculum. The new curriculum relies on libraries and the services they offer. The internet is used to unite homeschooler across the country. Homeschoolers are looking for certain areas of interest such as nature, math, history and art when they visit the local libraries.

Annotations: The author is a children’s services supervisor for the Shaker Heights, Ohio, public library and the author of The Librarian’s Guide to Homeschooling Resources (ALA,1999). This article was mention in references by several other articles. This article is useful for the examples of books and series that are grouped by subject listing materials that would be beneficial to homeschoolers.

Database: LISA

Method(s) of Searching Descriptors Searching: DE=home schooling and DE=User needs

Search Strategy: LISA was a recommended database to use so I used advance

search method and looked up home schooling and user needs to see if they were in the thesaurus and selected them for the search. This article was one that came up on the list which linked me through SFX to EBSCOhost Education Research Complete for full text of the article.

Slattery, A. (2005). In a class of their own. School Library Journal,51, 44-46.

Abstract: This article discusses the Johnsburg, Il, public library Homeschool Resource Center (HRC), which is known to have offered the most extensive public library homeschooling programs in the nation. The article comments on that parents of homeschoolers know that the librarians are a tremendous resources and look to public libraries and librarians for support in understanding their informational needs.

Annotations: The author is a librarian for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Library of Education and also has homeschooled her teenage daughter and saw the different side of library services from a homeschoolers perspective. This article contains a link to the Johnsburg Library that is recognized as the best in catering to homeschooled students and sets the example of other libraries to follow in meeting their needs.

Database: DIALOG file 438 Library Lit & Info

Method(s) of Searching s home()school?/de or home()school?/ab or home()school?/ti and

s librar?/de or library?/ab or library?/ti

Search Strategy: I started using DIALOG first as it was the first database we had

learned and started with the word home()school? in the abstract, descriptor, and title field and the selected library? and also used abstract, descriptor, and title fields and “and “ them together to retrieve fifty-eight results. I found the full text article in LISA using the author and title search.

Willingham, T. (2008). Libraries and homeschoolers: Our shared common ground. Knowledge

Quest, 37, 58-63.

Abstract: This article discusses how homeschooling can take place in several different settings, from a museum, to nature parks, to the local library. The road to knowledge can contain a lot of resources from books, audio books, videos, music, to educational CDs and DVDs. Besides using the computer and internet services, homeschoolers also use distance learning programs, television and video learning resources.

Annotations: The author is the Vice President of Learning is for Everyone, a non-profit educational resource organization, as well as leader of a stat home school support group call LIFE of Florida. This article gives insight to homeschoolers use of the library and other resources they use to create their curriculums. Websites are provided to link to other useful resource needs.

Database: Library Literature & Informational Science Full Text

Method(s) of Searching Subject=Home Schooling

Search Strategy: I tried using a narrower search and only retrieved a few documents.

Leaving the search just to the subject field on my topic I was able to retrieve more results to include this article in full text.

Recommended Resources

The following is a list of recommended resources for homeschoolers and their parents who are seeking information about homeschooling. This list of resources contains helpful websites, books, articles, and journals that parents can review to help in their informational needs covering a wide range of topics from online education, lesson plans, curriculum, list of electronic and non-electronic resources, to information on the theory of homeschooling and historical perspective.

(2009). Retrieved on June 6, 2009 from

This website provides information to homeschooling families about resources and links to other useful websites on topics covering homeschooling, online education, homeschool curriculum, lesson plans, high school diplomas, and distance learning.

Jon’s homeschooling resources page (2004). Retrieved on June 6, 2009 from



This website is created by a neutral party providing a source of neutral, non-commercial homeschooling information. The website provides a comprehensive list of electronic and non-electronic resources, books, vendors of homeschooling supplies, and links to other homeschooling website that may prove useful to anyone wishing to find information about homeschooling.

Klipsch, P. (1995). An educated collection for homeschoolers. Library Journal, 120, 47-50.

This article contains forty-three resources that the homeschoolers can use for their informational needs. The article contains information on theory and research, directories and resources guides, periodicals and newsletters, media selection tools, resource list and information from other homeschoolers on their own personal experiences.

McDemott, I. (2003) Web resources for home-schooling, Searcher, 11, 27-31.

This article provides thirty-seven websites covering a wide range of topics that parents of homeschoolers can look into about general home-schooling, sites with religious or ethnic orientations, resources for exceptional children, homeschool methods and philosophies, curriculum resources, to support and motivation.

Moore, S. & Moore, D. (1990). Do-it-yourself books for parents. The Reading Teacher, 44,62-

63.

This article provides an in-depth book reviews on six books that cover the Homeschooling for Excellence, The Three R’s at Home, Home School: Taking the First Step, Story of Bill, Books for Children to Read Alone: A Guide for Parents and Librarians, Pre-K through Grade 3, and The New York Times Parents Guide to the Best Books for Children.

Ruthkowski, K. (1998). Voices of the web. Multimedia Schools, 3, 76-79.

This article presents information on homeschooling websites and an in-depth review of two websites, the Caron Family’s Homeschool Hompage, and Kaleidascapes. The article also contains an extensive list of twelve websites that may be useful for homeschoolers to list a few: HomeSchooler Information Network, Learn @ Home, and Homeschool Support on the Internet.

Conclusion and Personal Statement

I learned that the number of children being homescooled has been steadily increasing from year to year. Homeschooling has now become an excepted form of education for children and is no longer looked down upon by other parents of non-homeschooled children or teachers. With the growing expectance there is better cooperation and sharing of educational materials between homeschooling parents and public schools. Homeschoolers have a large variety of informational needs from the use of a computer to link to the Internet to access online courses, to books, videos, audio tapes, DVDs, and CDs. In order to obtain their informational needs they rely heavily on the local libraries to provide them with the materials they need to supplement the curriculum. As such libraries and librarians play a key role in the educational and informational needs of homeschoolers and their parents.

Searching for information on homeschoolers and their parents’ informational needs was not an easy task. It was very hard to find articles that strictly address their informational needs. Most of the articles address the historical perspective of homeschoolers, their informational needs, and what libraries or librarians need or should do to help support them. I found a couple of unpublished Master Thesis papers that contained potential articles that would be beneficial to add to the bibliography, so some of my search strategy was footnote chasing and trying to obtain full text articles. It was very difficult to find recent articles on the subject due to the fact that much of the research and studies were conducted in the 1990s when homeschooling started become popular. Now that homeschooling is accepted by society, there is little interest to pursue the topic in further detail.

This assignment helped me to understand the importance of search strategies and using the advance search features that the database and web resource have available. Knowing how each of the databases are setup and how to apply the use of descriptors, title, or abstract to search in order to narrow down retrieval results to just the information that I was looking for was very beneficial. As we were going through the course the assignment help apply what we learned. It allowed be an opportunity to use all of the different databases and websites to see if there was more information out there that I could have over looked if I only used one or two databases to compile the resources. I was always searching trying to find some new article or resource that would be beneficial to the assignment. This assignment helped me improve my search capabilities and knowledge about all of the different resources are available to use and pass on to potential fellow researchers.

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