Multimedia technology and the changing nature of research in the school library

Multimedia technology provides new methods for the presentation of information from which people may gain knowledge. As simultaneous access to large amounts of information in a variety of formats presents new challenges to students who use multimedia resources for research and learning, school library media specialists must help students develop the information skills required to meet these challenges. This article presents an exploration of the ways in which students use a multimedia resource to achieve a research task, the similarities to and differences with using a print-based resource and their implications for school library instructional programs and services.