Abstract
When we search for information via the Internet, we tend to combine the knowledge about a search topic that we already have with the new knowledge that we acquire through the search. Therefore, Internet-information retrieval may be considered as a knowledge-structuring process. In this study, the metacognitions that promote the knowledge-structuring process for the Internet-information retrieval, and the instruction for activating these metacognitions were discussed by analyzing the information retrievers' protocol in qualitative terms. The results revealed two metacognitions: the metacognition to employ the searchers' former knowledge and search experience to the information search effectively, and the metacognition to make good use of the information that is acquired from the search. Successful searchers activated these metacognitions; on the other hand, unsuccessful searchers did not activate them, but instead repeated entering the same ineffective keywords. In addition, when the instruction to activate these metacognitions was given to the searchers, some begun to activate the metacognitions. For further study, it is necessary to collect more data and analyze them quantitatively. This should yield an additional instruction for those who did not activate metacognitions from this study's instruction.
