ExPLORE – Information Literacy Model Ali Mundie School Librarian Woodfarm HS April 2013

ExPLORE – Information Literacy Model Mnemonic Mnemonic Skills Based Skills Based Platform for development of skills Platform for development of skills Transferable across curricular areas Transferable across curricular areas Common Language Common Language Literacy responsibility of all

ExPLORE Information Plan Locate Organise Represent Evaluate ex-

Why? Consistency Consistency Cutting down work load Cutting down work load Improving literacy skills across the board Improving literacy skills across the board

Step 1 Plan - what information do you need? What is your subject? How can you turn this subject into a suitable question? So what do you need to find out about? What other words, phrases and ideas can you think of that are linked to this subject? Brainstorm - Make a list or draw a mind mapBrainstorm Discover the most important words – these will be your keywords. What do you know about this subject already? Ask yourself some questions. This will allow you to decide on the key questions you need to answer?

Brainstorming Brainstorming is a way of coming up with loads of ideas in a short amount of time. If you are in a group then everyone shouts out their ideas and they are all written down. If you are brainstorming on your own, then it is best to create a Mind Map…Mind Map It can be done alone or in groups. The aim is to come up with ideas or solutions, and to explore different possibilities. Make sure you shout out every idea that pops into your head no matter how silly it seems!

Mind Mapping A Mind Map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word, idea or question. You can create mind maps online: You can use it to organise your thoughts from your brainstorming session.

Step 2 – Locate -identify useful resources What resources will you use to help you find information about your subject and answer your key questions? You will find many helpful resources in the Current Awareness CollectionCurrent Awareness Collection Make a note of all the resources you use in your bibliography.bibliography. Non-Fiction Books Newspapers & Journals Reference Books The Internet TV, Radio & DVDs

Current Awareness Collection Resources: Essential ArticlesFact FilePros & ConsWhat do you think?Issues In The NewsJust the FactsMoral Dilemmas Useful Websites: (debatabase) (NewsUK) & (Britannica) (issues key facts)

Writing a Bibliography A bibliography lists all the resources you have used in the course of your research. Every time you look at or use a book, article or website make a note of it so that when you come to the end of your essay you are able to write a bibliography. You can use the bibliography organiser to do this. A Bibliography is a VERY important part of your essay. There are different ways of writing a bibliography. It may seem complicated at first, but if you follow the rules it will become easier.

Step 3 – Organise - relevant information Examine all the resources you have gathered. The information which answers your questions is relevant. Keep this. Look again at your questions and use information- seeking & recording skills such as: skimming scanning notemaking Discard everything that is not relevant. Sort the relevant information to answer your questions. to find and record information

Skimming Skimming involves reading very fast to find only the main ideas of a piece of information. When you read a newspaper, you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you're skimming the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of information to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see quickly if a piece of information may be of interest and is relevant to your research.

Scanning Scanning is a technique you often use when looking up a name in the telephone book or a word in a dictionary. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page until you see what you are looking for. You are searching for keywords or ideas. Scanning is also used when you first find a resource to determine whether it will answer your questions. In most cases, you already know what you're looking for, so you're concentrating on finding a particular answer. Once you've scanned the document, you might go back and skim it.

Notemaking How to make notes: Only write down the important information Don’t worry about writing in sentences. Use telegraphic sentences. Use bullet points, abbreviations, symbols and colours. Write information in your own words. Notemaking helps you… Save time – you won’t write down information you don’t need Produce original work – you haven’t copied and have used your own words. This is very important so as to avoid Plagiarism!

Step 4 – Represent - relevant information After you have kept only what is relevant - Present your information! It will take the form of a report or essay. Remember to include your Bibliography at the end. It is always good to include up-to-date statistics to back up your information/arguments. You must always cite the source of these statistics. Also, an interesting quote can add flavour to your writing.

Step 5 – Evaluate - what you have done Think about the process you went through to find your information. Are there things you would definitely do next time? Are there things you would never do again? What could you do next time to make your enquiry even better? Ask Yourself:

Remember! exPLORE = Plan Locate Organise Represent Evaluate ex-