THE "BIG6" APPROACH

There are various strategies that teachers and information technology specialists can follow to facilitate students learning information literacy skills. The Big6 is a well-known and widely-used method for solving "information problems". Students who use the Big6 method will have all the pieces they need when it comes time to pull any school research project together.

With this approach, a series of six steps are followed, each of which can be sub-divided into two secondary steps. These are the six steps:

STEP 1: TASK DEFINITION

Define the information problem

Identify information needed to solve the problem

STEP 2: INFORMATION SEEKING STRATEGIES

Determine the range of possible resources

Evaluate and select the best resources

STEP 3: LOCATION AND ACCESS OF INFORMATION

Locate Resources

Find information within resources

STEP 4: USE OF INFORMATION

Engage (hear, read, view) information in a source

Present information

STEP 5: SYNTHESIS

Organize the information from multiple sources

Present information

STEP 6: EVALUATION

Judge the information problem-solving process (efficiency)

Judge the product (effectiveness)

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Big6 Approach

The official Big6 web site, which provides overview and in-depth information about the process, is aimed at educators, and anyone else interested in helping students to learn and use essential information and technology skills.

Big6 Skills and Information Literacy Standards

Use Mike Eisenberg's and Bob Berkowitz' Big6 Skills™ and the national Information Literacy Standards developed by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  and Association for Educational and Communications Technology  (AECT) to organize an introduction to research on the Internet.

 

 

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STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6 HOME