The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret the cognition of a graduate student during information retrieval using the World Wide Web. The participant was a doctoral student in psychology with little experience using the Internet, and even less experience with the World Wide Web. The student performed an open search of her dissertation topic (child temperament), followed by a pre-arranged task requiring her to answer several questions about the Civil War using only the Web to obtain information. Three qualitative sources of data were collected involving student cognition: observation, think aloud protocols, and an in-depth interview. A core category derived from the qualitative analysis indicated that the student's thoughts and perceptions centered on information overload. A systematic approach outlined two major dimensions of this core category: knowledge and personal characteristics. Within these dimensions, several subcategories were identified. The results are interpreted within a theory of information processing. Implications for continuing this line of research are provided. (Contains 2 tables and 13 references.) (Author/SLD)