abstract

This paper considers the changing cognitive demands of the web as a representative of emerging pervasive and virtually instantaneous global information access environments. Because information retrieval time on the web approaches that of human memory the appropriate knowledge strategies for seeking and remembering information begin to change. There is strong existing theoretical work on search itself; however, the complete knowledge acquisition cycle ends in memorisation ready for future needs including meta-knowledge of where and how to find information. We present preliminary results in this area but argue that this requires new empirical work and cognitive models.

keywords

knowledge strategies, cognitive models, world-wide web, internet, searching, memory