© M. Eisenberg 2004 Permission is granted to use Big6 for educational, non-profit instruction provided that Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz are duly recognized as Big6 co-authors. Permission is not granted for commercial use. This means you may not charge a fee for anything that has the Big6 or Big6 Skills printed on it. The Big6 is copyright © (1987) Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. For more on Big6, visit:

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Introducing Information Problem-Solving

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Survey of Valued Skills Fall Problem Solving Information Use Speaking Independent Work Technology Group Work Writing Reading

© M. Eisenberg 2004 IPS Example Assignment

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Information Age- Problems Information overload Information quality Student lack of information & technology skills Technology out of context

© M. Eisenberg 2004 More new information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000. (Source: Large, P., The Micro Revolution, Revisited, 1984) Information Overload (1980s)

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Today, a daily New York Times has more printed information in it than a person would come across in an entire lifetime in the 17th Century. David Lewis Introduction to Dying for Information, Information Overload (1990s)

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Information Overload (2000s) While the internet may offer more than 110 billion sites, finding relevant data at the right time has turned into the modern-day quest for the Holy Grail. Brynko, Barbara. "The power of the semantic web. " Information Today (May 2010): 10(1). The power of the semantic web.Information Today

© M. Eisenberg 2004 The Solution? Speed things up? Pack in more and more content? Add more technology?

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Alternative Solution To become discriminating users of information. To learn to use essential information & technology skills in context. To become a master information problem-solver.

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Quality More than of teens said within the last year that they used the Internet as their major resource when doing a big project for school… Lester, Will, High School Students Love Net For Research, Syracuse Post Standard, 8/21/01 (from AP)

© M. Eisenberg 2004 In a study of 500 sites used by Colorado high school students to do research, only 27% of the sites were judged to be reliable for academic research! Colhoun, Alexander. "But - - I Found It on the Internet!" Christian Science Monitor. 25 April 2000: 16. Ebersol, Samuel, Uses and Gratifications of the Web among Students, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 6(1): September 2000, Quality

© M. Eisenberg 2004 The Solution Discourage Web use? Filtering?

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Alternate Solution: Information Literacy Helping students to be discriminating users of information Helping students learn to use essential information & technology skills in context The Big6

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Information Literacy To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. American Library Association, 1989

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Big6 Stages for solving information problems school, life, work »Handout Flow from beginning to end Beginning- what needs to be done Middle- gathering and using information End- creating and evaluating the product

© M. Eisenberg Task Definition 2. Info Seeking Strategies 3. Location & Access 4. Use of Information 5. Synthesis 6. Evaluation Information Problem Solving: The Big6 Skills

© M. Eisenberg 2004 The Big Information Problem-Solving Process 1.Task Definition: 1.1 Define the problem. 1.2 Identify the 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. 3.2 Find information within sources. 4.Use of Information : 4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view). 4.2 Extract relevant information. 5.Synthesis : 5.1 Organize information from multiple sources. 5.2 Present Information. 6.Evaluation : 6.1 Judge the result (effectiveness). 6.2 Judge the process (efficiency).

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Summary-Solutions Process as well as content Information and technology literacy Context-not an add-on! within the process technology in a Big6 context tied to existing curriculum instruction, and assignmen t

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Themes of the Big6 1.The Big6 can be applied in all subjects, with students of all ages, and across all grade levels (k-20). 2.The Big6 is adaptable and flexible; it can be applied to any informational situation. 3.Technology skills take on meaning within the Big6 process. 4.Using the Big6 is not always a linear, step-by-step process. 5.The Big6 process is necessary and sufficient for solving problems and completing tasks. 6.The Big6 is an ideal approach for integrating information literacy learning with all subject are curricula at all grade levels.

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Explaining the Big6 Essential information skills A model of the problem-solving process Simple…but not really Widely applicable Easy to implement Powerful

© M. Eisenberg 2004

Task Definition 1.1Define the problem 1.2 Identify the information needed

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Information Seeking Strategies 2.1 Determine all possible sources 2.2 Select the best sources

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Location & Access 3.1 Locate sources 3.2 Find information within sources

© M. Eisenberg 2004

Use of Information 4.1 Engage (read, hear, view) 4.2 Extract relevant, quality information

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Synthesis 5.1 Organize 5.2 Present

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Evaluation 6.1 Judge the result 6.2 Judge the process

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Implementation Foundation: the information problem- solving process (the Big6) Context: real needs in real situations school, life, work assignments: papers, reports, projects Approach: Coordinationcooperationcollaboration Teachers, administrators, library media specialists, parents, community members

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Implementation Partnership: School and classroom wide Classroom teachers Library and information specialists Library Technology teachers Administrative and curriculum coordinators Parents

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Big6 Activities

© M. Eisenberg Evaluations

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Sample Big6 Lesson Teaching Synthesis - Organization of Information Picture Exercise

© M. Eisenberg 2004 Ways to Organize By categories By time - chronologically As story - narrative As a web Progression (continuum) Alphabetically Any combinations of the above