Information skills models

23rd March, 2009
Information skills models
Drucker: Executives must be able to identify information problems and be able to locate, use,
synthesise, and evaluate information in relation to those problems.

IL models shows that there are many similarities among them. In fact, there is more agreement than disagreement among the models, as is true of IL research itself. For example, the driving force behind almost all of the models, and many of the findings, is “process”—the understanding that information skills are not isolated incidents, but rather are connected activities that encompass a way of thinking about and using information.
Big6 Skills provide a broadbased,
logical skill set that can be used as the
structure for developing a curriculum or the framework
for a set of distinct problem-solving skills. These
fundamental skills provide students with a comprehensive
set of powerful skills to conquer the information
age.
But the Big6 is more than simple a set of skills—it is also an approach to helping students learn the information problem-solving process. Learning more about the Big6 as a process and as an approach should make it easier and more useful for any instructors and students. For instructors, the Big6 provides a definitive set of skills that students must master in order to be successful in any learning context. Teachers can integrate instructional modules or lessons about the Big6 into subject area content and assignments. For students, the Big6 provides a guide to dealing with assignments and tasks as well as a model to fall back on when they are stuck. The Big6 represents “metacognition”—
an awareness by students of their mental states and processes.