Reflection

I found this to be a very useful exercise in my inquiry process, if only because it offers a set structure.  That structure offers a logical place to look when I might get stumped, instead of searching blindly about for an answer that is unlikely to satisfy fully.  For smaller areas of inquiry, it would be cumbersome to write out the search process in its entirety each time; however, for large searches, keeping track of the process is an important part of success.  It reminds me of the extensive journal that I kept while writing my undergraduate thesis; each time a new source or idea occurred to me, I wrote it down.  That way, I could pursue the current avenue of searching while still remaining confident that I wouldn't miss anything else in the future.  Anytime that I exhausted the current source material that I was working with, I could find a new direction to pursue, and over time, those directions became more and more tailored to my specific topic for research.

I believe this would be a very useful exercise for any student that is learning how to best seek out information.  Development of information literacy skills often appears to be a secondary educational goal, rather than one that is valued by all educators.  Keeping track of the process through a blog format would also be accessible to most students today, as technology has an increasingly important part of the everyday lives of students and people in general.  The format of the blog also allows an easy way to share experiences among one another.  This peer learning experience will be much richer than a solo experience could be.  

I've often found that being asked to articulate my thought process helps me to clarify it and create a better process the next time.  Without being asked to reflect on why certain decisions were made, a student can make the same errors again and again, without knowing where it is that they go awry.  If, for instance, the student is required to list out a selection of possible sources before beginning the actual search process, they are more likely to think of a wide range of possibilities, and an educator has the opportunity to intervene and suggest new and different routes of inquiry that the student may not have considered.  The same can be said for peers; often peers have valuable insights to share, and this kind of exercise lends itself well to a collaborative learning environment.  

Articulating the process also helps to decrease the amount of uncertainty in the research process, as was pointed out by Sandy Guild.  It allows for backtracking a bit, rather than following a strictly linear model, which is far more comfortable for most students.  By talking about how you arrived at a particular choice, you can more easily find alternate avenues and make different research choices.  

Sources: 

Guild, Sandy (2003). Modeling Recursion in Research Process Instruction. In Curriculum Connections through the Library, edited by Barbara Stripling and Sandra Hughes-Hassell. Libraries Unlimited, 141-155.

Part 6 - Evaluation

When evaluating, it is most important to define the set of goals that I was trying to accomplish, especially since those goals may have changed slightly over the course of the project.  In this exercise, I was attempting to plan a trip that was at a convenient and pleasant time, affordable, and included numerous attractions that I would find interesting (often locations with high historical and cultural significance).

After all my information gathering, I am confident of the time of year I would choose to travel, the sites that I would most likely use to ensure a low-cost trip, and, most importantly, the places I would most like to visit.  It helped me prioritize which locations were most important to me, especially to see them mapped out.  If a location was far away from most of the others, it was something that I placed at a lower priority, since the travel time that would be needed to get there would not have a high enough return on the time invested.

The process may have been a bit more roundabout than I would have liked, but this was my first attempt at planning a trip of this magnatude.  The next time the situation arises, I'll have reliable sources that I've used before (both online and in print) that I'll be able to use more effectively the second time.  Even if the trip is dramatically diffferent in location or goal, those same resources will continue to prove to be valuable.

Finally, at the conclusion of this process, I feel very confident in my choices; there is very little that I am still unsure of in regards to the trip.  There's certainly the sense of satisfaction described by Kuhlthau at the successful conclusion of this type of inquiry.  I have clear steps to take from this point forward, and am able to take decisive action toward acheiving my goal of a successful trip.

Part 5 - Synthesis

Once I had gathered information from a variety of sources, the most important priority I had was to see where there might be both reinforced information and inconsistencies in that information.  For example, both Fodors.com and LonelyPlanet.com recommended the exact same window of time for planning a successful trip, so it is likely that the information there is reliable and that it can be trusted.  However, while searching through sites like TripAdvisor.com that were driven by user reviews, there is often conflicting information, and it requires a bit of extra legwork to determine what the overall message is that should be taken away from that page.

When I analyzed all the information together, I determined that a fall trip would be best for me.  I also determined that Wells Cathedral would be a great destination for a couple days, especially because it is so accessible and affordable via mass transit from London.  There are also several locations nearby that would be worth visiting if time allows, including Stonehenge and the Bishop's Palace.  The Cathedral itself offers a variety of experiences, from tours to religious services, that would be great opportunities to explore the site.

A similar process to this one could be completed for nearly every potential site that I would like to visit over the course of the vacation, starting with determining if the location is a worthwhile time investment, then determining the logistics of arriving there and what to do while visiting.  All the while, the information that I've collected gets gathered into a resource folder that exists in paper format on my desk, with additional electronic materials organized in a folder in my web browser.  This will suffice for the project; these materials don't need to be presented in a formalized manner, since no one but myself will be viewing the information.  

Steps 3 and 4 - Location and Access & Use of Information

Steps 3 and 4 of the Big6 process are Location and Access, and Use of Information.  These steps essentially call for finding and using information.  I found that I completed these steps almost simultaneously, as finding a source leads directly to reading through it to mine it for information.  While some might compile a large stack of books and other information sources all at once and then engage with them to actually extract information, I find that I immediately open up a source as soon I have my hands on it.  It is difficult for me to separate the fact-finding operations of step 3 from the more analysis-oriented actions in step 4.

For purposes of this blog, I'll focus on the leg of the trip where I'll visit Wells Cathedral, in Somerset, England, assuming I'll be traveling there from London.  I consulted the following sources while planning this leg of the trip:

• Wells Cathedral website for visitors.  This site offers a wealth of information, including hours that it is open, seasons that certain portions of the site are open (such as the library, which is only open seasonally in the summer), travel option to and from the site, parking options, and service times.  
• TripAdvisor.com.  This site includes reviews from people that have previously visited the cathedral, and reviews are overwhelmingly positive.  The only negative reviews were largely due to scheduling conflicts and early closings.  It also recommends nearby locations that might also be of interest during the visit.  
• Fodors.com.  This site includes a wide range of information on travel arrangements to and from western England.  Whether by train, bus, air, or car, the site has extensive information on the various options.  For my trip planning purposes, train travel is the most practical and convenient method of travel.  It also includes information on times of the year that travel might be ideal; anytime between Easter and June, or in September through October would be the best choices.  Since most businesses are seasonally open from Easter through October, but the height of tourist season is July and August, a spring or fall trip would be best for me.  
• LonelyPlanet.com.  This site, similar to Fodors.com, offers general information on traveling throughout England.  It offers some unique travel information, as well as some helpful hints about local cultural norms.  
• I also consulted a wide variety of travel guide books that were available at my local library.  These books often have similar types of information as to what can be found online, but are far more detailed.  Books can be on the larger topic of England or Great Britain, or were occasionally more narrowly focused by region.  

As I conducted more and more research, the project seemed less overwhelming.  As Kuhlthau predicted, a greater understanding of the topic at hand led to less trepidation and more confidence in planning.  For instance, a better understanding of the ebb and flow of the tourist season made me confident that July-August was not an ideal time for me to travel, since I dislike large crowds.  Without knowledge of the climate and tourism trends, I would not have been so confident in my desire to book my trip for the fall, toward the end of September.

I also became very aware the these middle steps of the research process are often overlapping; I found that I completed steps 3 and 4 almost simultaneously, while step 5 was close behind.  Often, I ventured into step 5 in one area of research while jumping back to step 3 in another.  This demonstrates even more clearly that the model, while seemingly linear, is not intended to be linear at all.  The brain is constantly making connections between bits of information, making the lines between these middle steps blur together.  This supports the instructional model described by Sandy Graves; nonlinear thought paths are the norm for nearly every student, and forcing a linear model onto the learning process can be difficult.  The flexibility to treat this simple model as a nonlinear one made it much easier to engage with the process.  

Step 2 - Information Seeking Strategies

The second step in the Big6 model is called Information Seeking Strategies, or, according to Wolf, Brush, Thomas and Saye (2003), "requires students first to identify all the possible sources of information, and then to evaluate each source to determine which are best for them to use."  In seeking information on my cathedral tour trip, there are any number of possible sources.  Those that I brainstormed immediately include: 

• Official websites of the various sites I will visit
• Tourism websites, often administered by government entities
• Travel books, many of which will contain detailed information on the sites I will visit, as well as travel arrangements between those locations
• Mapping applications, such as Google Maps, and train travel sites
• Travel-related websites, such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, Trippy, Oyster, and others
• Personal sources, such as friends and family
• Professional sources, such as a travel agent or service that offers cathedral tours
• US travel information sources, including the State Department
• Books with information on history and culture of the areas I will visit

These options are included in order of priority; it would be most expedient to visit the official information offered by each site first, and then to work from there.  From personal expereince, I know that the sites administered by the location itself are often the most accurate information that you can find; their continued success as a tourist location depends on providing accurate information.  Then, services that offer information on the travel between those location would be prioritized; getting from one to the other might be the most difficult part of planning the trip.  

Those sources that are primarily made up of social media sources are important for a getting a general idea of a location, but are less reliable in terms of an accurate representation of the experience, so they are prioritized lower.  The same is true of friends and family; I've often discovered that they have a different agenda than I do when traveling, which means their recommendations aren't quite as on point as I'd hope.  Professional sources might be convenient, but are usually costly, so they are lower on the list; if I am unable to utilize the cost-free sources available, they would be a valuable option, but keeping practical considerations like budget in mind is important.  Finallly, the US travel sources on applying for a passport would be the final step in the process; I don't want to apply for my passport until I know for certain that the trip will actually happen and I have a well-developed plan in place.  

Books that expand further on the history and culture of the locations I will visit are unlikely to have travel advice; they are sources that would be far more useful after the trip has been planned and I am looking for information in preparation for the actual trip.  

During this phase of planning, I'm still feeling a bit apprehensive, especially as I've basically made a list of things that I don't know.  However, I'm also feeling a bit more confident as I've created a game plan of things I'll be researching and I can see how those pieces might fit together into a cohesive whole.  

Sources: 

Wolf, Sara, Brush, Thomas, & Saye, John (2003). The Big Six Information Skills As a Metacognitive Scaffold: A Case Study. SLMR, 6.

Step 1 - Task Definition

Ever since taking an undergraduate course on the architecture of Gothic cathedrals, I've been dreaming of taking a European tour to see them.  I'll be using the Big6 method of information inquiry to explore this topic.  I chose this model because, according to our course readings, it is the most popular model, and also allows for non-linear thinking.  

According to the Big6 model, there are six steps in the information inquiry process, each of which is subdivided into two smaller steps.  For step one, Task Definition, the two substeps are: 1) Define the information problem, and 2) Identify information needed.  Because I've already had some coursework in the subject, I'm already reasonably clear on which cathedrals I'd like to visit; however, it may be that budgetary and time constraints will limit that list.  Therefore, my information problem is not learning about the cathedrals themselves, but about planning travel arrangements to see them.  

To determine the best plan for visiting my most desired cathedrals, I need information in quite a few areas.  Some of these areas are: 

• Which sites will I ultimately choose to visit? 
• What time of year might be best for me to visit, given my preferences for mild weather and less bustling sites? 
• What transportation options are available for travel between sites? 
• What paperwork might be necessary for me to travel overseas? 
• What travel etiquette will I need to observe? 
• Are there any other concerns that I have not considered? 

As this Eisenberg and Berkowitz state numerous times throughout the Big6 materials, this is not intended to be a solely linear model.  For that reason, it is completely possible that there might be more concerns that I have not yet considered that would cause me to revisit this first stage.  The acknowledgement that there are many things that I might not yet know causes me to feel a bit apprehenisive, especially given the large scope of information I will need to learn.  However, I'm equal parts nervous and excited to begin planning the trip in earnest.  This, according to Kuhlthau (1985), is completely normal in the first several stage of information inquiry.  It's also completely normal to have only vague ideas of my information needs; these ideas will sharpen as I learn more information.  

Sources: 

Kuhlthau, Carol C. (1985). A process approach to library skills instruction. School Library Media Quarterly, 4(1), 31-44.

Lamb, Annette.  (2015).  Information Inquiry and Instructional Analysis.  Accessed February 13, 2015.  http://eduscapes.com/instruction/5.htm#b.

Eisenberg, Michael and Robert Berkwitz.  1990. Information problem solving: The Big Six skills approach to library & information skills instruction. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.