The document outlines the Big6 research skills framework for information literacy, emphasizing the importance of recognizing information needs and effectively locating, evaluating, and using information. It includes detailed strategies for task definition, information seeking, source evaluation, and source location, alongside practical examples and resources. The text also highlights the distinction between types of sources, both primary and secondary, and provides guidelines for selecting credible sources over less reliable ones like Wikipedia.

1. RESEARCH:
MAKING A PLAN AND FINDING
RESOURCES
Ms. Cheby, Teacher Librarian, November

2. Information Literacy
Informatio
n
+ Literacy

3. 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

4. ™
Research: The Big6 Skills
1. Task Definition
2. Info Seeking Strategies
3. Location & Access
4. Use of Information
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
Copyright M. Eisenberg 2010

5. The Big6: Not Linear
Task
Definition
Information
SKILLS,
See king
Strategies
NOT
STEPS
Location
and Access
Information
Use
Synthesis
Evaluation

6. ™
The Big6 Skills
1. Task Definition
2. Info Seeking Strategies
3. Location & Access
4. Use of Information
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation

7. Task Definition
 Define the problem:
 What is the topic I have chosen? (BE
SPECIFIC)
 Write down your topic as a
question that can later be
restated as a thesis.
 i.e. How did the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
resist the injustice horrors of the
Holocaust? Did it lead to the end of the
Holocaust?
 Howmany/what kind of sources
SOURCEI need according to the
do : http://big6.com/pages/free-stuff.php, Accessed 4/19/2012
rubric?

8. Task Definition
 Become a question generator
 See an example here.
 Identify keywords in your questions.
 Generate more keyword options:
 Synonym: means the same
 Hyponym: same meaning, but more specific (to
narrow search)
 Hypernym: same meaning, but more general
(to broaden search)
SOURCE: How To Do Research – World Book Student, Accessed 4/24/2012

9. Task Definition
Construct Web Search
Query
Prioritize keywords
Use “Optimal Query
Checklist”
Combine using Boolean
Terms & Keywords.
SOURCE: How To Do Research – World Book Student, Accessed 4/24/2012

10. Information Seeking Strategies
 Determine all possible sources
 Types of sources
 Primary vs. secondary sources
 Popular vs. Scholarly Sources

11. Information Seeking Strategies
 Determine all possible sources
 Types of sources
 Newspapers
 Scholarly Journals
 Magazines/Periodicals
 Books
 Reference Books
 Websites
 People
 Primary vs. secondary sources
 Popular vs. Scholarly Sources
SOURCE: http://big6.com/pages/free-stuff.php, Accessed 4/19/2012

12. Information Seeking Strategies
 Determine all possible sources
 Types of sources
 Newspapers
 Scholarly Journals
 Magazines/Periodicals
 Books
 Reference Books
 Websites
 People
 Primary vs. secondary sources
 Popular vs. Scholarly Sources
SOURCE: http://big6.com/pages/free-stuff.php, Accessed 4/19/2012

13. Information Seeking Strategies
 Determine all possible sources
 Types of sources
 Primary
 examples: Birth Certificates, Diaries,
Diplomatic Correspondence, Executive
Orders, Legal Records, Letters, News Film
Footage, Government Records,
Literary texts
 secondary sources
 Examples: Historical accounts,
encyclopedia articles, literary criticism
 Popular vs. Scholarly Sources
SOURCE: How to Do Research –World Book Student, accessed 4/27/2012

14. Information Seeking Strategies
 Determine all possible sources
 Types of sources
 Primary vs. secondary sources
 Popular vs. Scholary
Sources
 Scholarly sources:
• evaluated by experts
/"peer reviewed"
• Based on research
• Written for researchers /
students
• Clearly and accurately
lists/sites references
SOURCE: http://big6.com/pages/free-stuff.php, Accessed 4/19/2012

15. Location & Access
 Locate sources
 Library
Catalog
 LAUSD Digital Library
 Ms. Cheby’s Resource Blogs

16. Location & Access
 Locate sources
 Library Catalog
 Books
 Websites
 Databases
 LAUSD Digital Library
 Ms. Cheby’s Resource Blogs

17. Location & Access
 Locate sources
 Library
Catalog
 LAUSD Digital Library
 What is a Database?
 How to use a database?
 Ms. Cheby’s Resource Blogs

18. Location & Access
 Locate sources
 Library
Catalog
 LAUSD Digital Library
 Ms. Cheby’s Resource
Blogs

19. Location & Access
 Find Information within
sources
 SourceCards/Bibliographic
Information
 Record information for
bibliography
 Use MLA Style Guides
 Evidence for assignment

20. Information Seeking Strategies
 Choosing the Best Sources
 Why not Wikipedia?
 CARRDSS
 Academic Sources vs. Popular Sources

21. Information Seeking Strategies
 Choosing the Best Sources
 Why not Wikipedia?
 CARRDSS
 CREDIBILITY / AUTHORITY
 ACCURACY
 RELIABILITY
 RELEVANCE
 DATE
 SOURCES BEHIND THE TEXT
 SCOPE AND PURPOSE
 Academic Sources vs. Popular Sources
Source: Carol H. Rohrbach, language arts coordinator, School District of
Springfield Township, Erdenheim, PA

22. Information Seeking Strategies
 Determine all possible sources
 Types of sources
 Primary vs. secondary sources
 Choosing the Best Sources
 Why not Wikipedia?
 CARRDSS
 Academic Sources vs. Popular
Sources
 You can determine if a source
is
scholarly or popular by looking
at the author, audience,
language use, organization,
and references cited.

23. The Virtual Library
Resource Blog:
http://chebyteacher937.word
press.com/
Verdugo Hills High School
Library and Media Center
http://twitter.com/LibrarianCh
eby