Carol C.
Kuhlthau

Carol Collier Kuhlthau is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University, where she directed the graduate program in school librarianship. She also served as chair of the Department of Library and Information Science and was the founding director of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries.

She is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking research on the Information Search Process, a six-stage model describing the affective, cognitive, and physical dimensions of information seeking. Her work has profoundly influenced information science, librarianship, and education worldwide.

Kuhlthau is the author of seven books, including "Teaching the Library Research Process," "Guided Inquiry: Learning in the Twenty-First Century" (with Leslie K. Maniotes and Ann K. Caspari), and "Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School" (with Leslie K. Maniotes and Ann K. Caspari).

Her seminal book, "Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services," first published in 1993, was released in a 30th anniversary edition in 2025 by Bloomsbury. Identified by the publisher as a classic of the field, the new edition emphasizes the importance of keeping “the human in the loop” amid the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. A new introduction underscores the continuing relevance of the Information Search Process, with contributions from Heidi Julien (University at Buffalo, SUNY), Chirag Shah (University of Washington), and Leslie Maniotes (BVL Consulting), who extend the model’s implications for digital literacy, information practice, responsible AI, and inquiry-based learning.

She has held visiting appointments at universities in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia, Hong Kong, Croatia, Scotland, Italy, and Estonia, reflecting the global influence of her work