Net Literacy has been selected to serve as a member of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Digital Inclusion Network to review the Framework for Digitally Inclusive Communities.
The National Broadband Plan (http://www.broadband.gov/plan/) calls on IMLS to “develop guidelines for public access technology” in order to increase the capacity of public libraries and community-based organizations to promote digital literacy and participation in activities that are increasingly online. To that end, IMLS recently entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Washington (UW) Information School and its partner, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to develop a framework that identifies the overarching principles as well as the elements or key characteristics of organizations and communities that foster digital inclusion. The proposed framework is intended to provide communities with a resource for assessing and building the capacity of public libraries and community-based organizations to meet the public’s information needs. Once developed, others will be able to use the framework as a foundation to develop actionable benchmarks, evaluation tools, and performance measures.
Net Literacy will participate on the Digital Inclusion Network team that will plan to roll out the proposed framework by May, through a series of open forums around the country.
