The importance of word and world knowledge for the successful strategic processing of multiple texts online

This article is based on part of a case study looking into how sixth form students search for goal related information online for an open‐ended task. Qualitative data was gathered through think‐aloud protocols; analysis was informed by Afflerbach and Cho's ( 2009 ) Hypertext reading strategies. From the perspective of multiple documents literacy and the Documents Model of reading comprehension, this case study suggests that language competence and general knowledge play a significant role in the successful construction of meaning from multiple texts in an online environment.