The US' National Broadband Plan released in March 2010 presented a vision of pervasive and affordable broadband that will provide every American an equal opportunity to engage in the educational, economic and social life of the nation. One of the recommendations of the plan called on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to develop guidelines for public access technology based on populations served and organisation size. The recommendation had also stated that IMLS should work with organisations to develop guidelines and review them annually to reflect changing technology and practices. In response, IMLS has issued a request for proposals for a cooperator to develop a framework of the principles, elements, or characteristics of organisations and communities that foster digital inclusion.
The guidelines are projected to help libraries and community-based organisations assess their needs for public access workstations, portable devices and bandwidth. The framework is seen as the first step in the development of final guidelines that will be used as the basis for benchmarks, evaluation tools or performance measures.
The ultimate purpose of this work is to provide resource allocators, policy makers and community leaders with the tools they need to build the capacity of public libraries and community-based organisations to meet the public's information needs. IMLS reportedly encourages coordination among these stakeholders so they leverage existing infrastructure and make strategic investments to achieve digitally-inclusive communities.
Deadline for proposals is August 30, 2010, with the anticipated award amount of $150,000. The award will be for a maximum of six months from date of award. The estimated award date is October 15, 2010, with a start date of November 1, 2010, contingent upon fiscal year 2011 funding.
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