The Job of the Librarian - ISP and research projects

The job of the librarian is to provide access and assistance during an Informational Search Process - whether a patron is looking for a new series (reader's advisory interview) or seeking help on a project (reference interview). There are a variety of methodologies that cover different modes of carrying this assistance out. Suggested places for further reading are:

1. Nancy Pickering Thomas's book Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction : Applying Research to Practice in the 21st Century School Library: Ch 3: Kuhlthau's Information Search Process.The ISP Model. This is a seminal work, and covers working on research themes with all ages from the young to the older patron - it covers the traditional research paper/project, provides an understanding of the process, and explains the librarian's role in where and how to plan activities for intervention to support and scaffold learning how to use the library's resources independently. The stages of the ISP are broken down into manageable steps for the researcher and the librarian, including suggestions of how to assist at each stage. This work is based on Vygotsky's Zones of Proximal Development, so that scaffolding to independent use is the target you are working towards.
   The stages of Kuhlthau's ISP are
   
   • Topic Initiation: assignment
   • Topic Selection: Self-selection of initial topic
   • Topic Exploration: Background (relevant) knowledge and investigation - the most difficult step and the step most often skipped by students who have decided they know "enough" about the topic
   • Focus Formulation: refining the topic to provide focus, create a thesis, form a personal view - time is often not allocated to this stage, but it the most important in terms of satisfaction with learning, engagement with learning, and avoiding plagiarism (under the mistaken belief the teacher wants the views of the authorities, not the student's views)
   • Resource Collection: gathering (pertinent) information
   • Presentation: organizing information into final presentation/writing stage
   
   
   
2.  The Irving Model
   Breaks the ISP into 9 steps, better suited for HS students who have more cognitive self-awareness and analytical skills. Not a beginners questionnaire. Made into 8 Core questions with an evaluation/reflection piece at the end
• Defining Tasks: What is the assignment "What do I need to do?"
• Considering Sources: ID and appraise info sources "Where could I go?"
• Finding Resources: locating individ. resources "How do I get the information?"
• Making Selections: Examine, select and reject sources "Which resources do I use?"
• Effective Use: Skim, Scan, Review resources "How shall I use the resources?
• Making Records: Note-taking what is important. "What shall I make record of?"
• Making Sense: Interp/analysis/evaluation, link to background knowledge "Have I got the information I need?"
• Presenting Work: shaping the presentation, choosing how to communicate the info "How should I present?"
• Evaluation: by teacher, peers, and self - includes reflection at each stage of the process
3.  The REACTS Model - Recall, Explain, Analyze, Challenge, Transform, Synthesize.
   Based on Bloom's Taxonomy which relies on tiered levels of instruction and understanding, based on the level of critical thinking required. The vocabulary used is VERY similar to Bloom's.
1. Recall: Fact-Finding - report, summarize, recall
2. Explain: Asking and Researching - 4 w's explain in your own words
3. Analyze: Examining and Organizing - why/how, cause/effect, compare/contrast
4. Challenge: Evaluating and Deliberating - judge info, determine authority, bias, signif
5. Transform: Integrating and Concluding - draw conclusion, create personal perspective
6. Synthesize: Conceptualizing - create original solutions to problems posed.
4. BIG SIX Model
   Can be broken into the little 12 or melded into the super 3. The most universal of the methodologies, and the basis for most steps, this aligns with Kuhlthau’s 6 steps, and is more useful for a younger audience – these are the most basic steps into research that can be taken. This is the cleanest of the ISP models, and the easiest to differentiate instruction while using. 
   
   
   
   5. ISEARCH Model
   Loosely based on Kuhlthau’s model, which chronicles the importance of the journey, this method is less formal and more narrative than the other research models. Reflections are included in the final product, and are part of the product as a whole. This method is often used in editorial journalism to great effect, but I foresee more problems with topic selection among students who are not good at time management than would occur with the other models. Self-starters would have no problems with this method though. Often a prompt serves younger students better, and allowing self-selection within a context still increases interest and investment among students.
   6. Pathways to Knowledge Model
   Same basic model, pre-research, search, use, produce, but a sort of a halfway point between the I-search model and the other models in that it relies on students being the driving force behind the research and topic selection. This method would be a good start into the I-search methodology, as it relies on the basic steps of the guided research project while allowing more freedom to the students.
   Conclusion
   Each system has its strengths in that they are grounded into the same four basic steps (with evaluation/reflection occurring as part of the end process). The methodology used to the greatest effect, aside from the Big Six Step process, which I feel is the most basic and easily understood approach, is going to depend on the students in the class and their strengths, skills, and ages/levels of maturity/development. Some of these methods are clearly meant for students capable of more self-awareness than the average third grader can possess. That is not a bad thing, in and of itself, and it certainly makes the monitoring of the ISP development process easier on the teacher if a student is capable of this type of reflection, but it should not be expected in the lower grades – it is an unrealistic expectation. At the high school level, however, when students are expected to be college and career ready and begin more independent learning modules, the reflection step is a necessary component of the process and should be evaluated for understanding and completion.
   To present these methodologies to students, I would choose to use a table in order to demonstrate that regardless of how you break the process down into steps, the basic steps do not change.

   Define Search and Topic	Understand what you are looking for, determine where you should start your search, determine that you understand what is being asked in terms of assignment
   Search and Locate sources	Determine where your sources are and start locating them. Pre-research to understand where more searching will be needed and to form your basic understanding of the topic as a broad category. Locate sources in a variety of locations or determine alternate resources.
   Read and Evaluate sources	Read, Understand, Note-take with sources. Interact with the sources. Use the sources to examine the topic. Follow basic scaffolding of Bloom’s Taxonomy to utilize higher levels of critical thinking and examining sources. Analyze information.
   Synthesize conclusions and create product	Take the information and make it your own. Form your own conclusions or personal stances/viewpoints based on the knowledge gleaned from research . Organize the research and create a final product (paper, project, etc). If reflection has not occurred in other steps, include reflection over product here.