ABSTRACT
This chapter explores informal citizen inquiry through the activity Geocaching. It focuses on a PhD study of Geocaching conducted in 2007. The study collected data from 659 Geocaching community members to reveal how they were using new technologies to create location-based learning opportunities for each other. The chapter describes the historical antecedents of Geocaching and citizen inquiry with a focus on citizen-led informal learning and knowledge. Geocaching is a worldwide phenomenon that has triggered mass participation in both the creation of and contribution to inquiries. Geocaching is essentially a form of GPS-guided treasure hunt in which participants hide Geocaches and provide their GPS coordinates to others via the web so that they can find the Geocaches using GPS devices to guide them to the general location. The web survey, posted on the Geocaching forum, Groundspeak, was the main method for data collection, and generated 659 responses.
