Mohsen Esmali - Department of Information and Science, Payame Noor University. {pnu}. p.o.box.۳۷۱۸۵۳-۱۱. Qom. Iran

In research project presented that in-depth in situ interviews were conducted with future college students (N=۱۱). During the interviews, the informants gave a guided tour of their personal space of information, and demonstrated how they used different digital tools to organize it. We identify three dimensions of personal information management (PIM) competence, based on the analysis of the way our informants describe their PIM practices by referring to and articulating (۱) the constraints and affordances of the tools and devices they use, (۲) the activities these tools and devices support, (۳) the costs and benefits of these practices for these activities, and (۴) their tastes and preferences towards them. As a result, the Seven Ages of Research model was developed which categorizes a researcher’s learning life into a series of discrete stages. The article explores learning needs relevant to each age in the learning life and links them to the development of information literacy. The authors explore the polarization that exists between what researchers think research is about and what they believe the library can offer them, and suggest that information literacy needs to be seen as involving a change in understanding of, and attitude to, the world of information, as well as the nature of those information needs, Finally, they explore the librarian’s role in an e-environment which has changed the way researchers work and identify some of the challenges facing LIS professionals in the future in supporting researchers throughout their learning lives.

Information Literacy,Information Management,Information Science and Knowledge, Personal Information Management