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 () 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.