Information Literacy / Big6

Big6, and approach to teach information literacy developed by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, has become a widely used approach to teaching, especially in the area of information technology. The benefit of Big6 is that it focuses the learner on steps designed to bring efficiency and effectiveness to the learning process, especially Internet based information gathering. All to often people Google without a plan ending up overwhelmed with information. Big6 provides the process to build-in critical thinking and resulting effectiveness.

Big6 steps (from Big6.com)

1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed

2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine all possible sources
2.2 Select the best sources

3. Location and Access
3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically)
3.2 Find information within sources

4. Use of Information
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
4.2 Extract relevant information

5. Synthesis
5.1 Organize from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information

6.Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the process (efficiency

Here are some resources you might be interested in:
Big6 for the Internet:
http://www.janetsinfo.com/big6info.htm

General Big6 information and useful links:
http://nb.wsd.wednet.edu/big6/big6_resources.htm

A form for students to keep track of the Big6 progress:
http://dewey.chs.chico.k12.ca.us/b6org.html