Carol Kuhlthau

Introduced in 1991, Kuhlthau's model of the Information Search Process (ISP) describes feelings, thoughts and actions in six stages of information seeking. The model of the ISP introduced the holistic experience of information seeking from the individual’s perspective, stressed the important role of affect in information seeking and proposed an uncertainty principle as a conceptual framework for library and information service. Kuhlthau’s work is among the most highly cited of library and information science faculty and one of the conceptualizations most often used by information science researchers. The ISP model represents a watershed in the development of new strategies for the delivery of K-16 library and information skills.

She was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S., Kuhlthau graduated from Kean University in 1959, completing a master's degree in Librarianship in 1974 at Rutgers University, and a doctorate in Education in 1983. She was on the faculty of the Rutgers University Department Library and Information Science for more than 20 years and Professor Emeritus since 2006.

Kuhlthau received her B.S. from Kean University in 1959, Master's in Library Science (MLS) from Rutgers University in 1974 and her Doctorate in Education in 1983, also from Rutgers University. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "The Library Research Process: Case Studies and Interventions with High School Seniors in Advanced Placement English Classes Using Kelly's Theory of Constructs." She held several teaching and library positions before joining the Rutgers faculty in 1985 where for twenty years she directed the school library specialization in the Masters in Library and Information Science degree program that is ranked first in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. During her tenure at Rutgers she was promoted to Professor II and chaired the Library and Information Science Department and retired as Professor Emerita in 2006. She was the founding Director of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) at Rutgers where she continues as senior advisor. Her book Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services is a classic text in library and information science in the United States and abroad. Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century (2007) 2nd Ed (2015), written with Leslie Maniotes and Ann Caspari, recommends learning environments where students gain deep understanding and also information literacy grounded in the Information Search Process. Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School (2012) written with Leslie Maniotes, PhD and Ann Caspari is a full description of the instructional design framework called Guided Inquiry Design a complete approach to inquiry based learning from a learning perspective.

Carol Collier Kuhlthau (born December 2, 1937) is a retired American educator, researcher, and international speaker on learning in school libraries, information literacy, and information seeking behavior.