The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) is in the process of developing a digital literacy portfolio. During ALA's Midwinter Meeting in January, OITP staff began meeting with a range of ALA member groups to learn more about current efforts and to help inform the portfolio development.
One outcome of the Midwinter meetings is that OITP's Advisory Committee is supporting an OITP task force that would delve into digital literacy issues and include representatives from interested ALA units. A formal proposal to the Advisory Committee is forthcoming, after which time OITP will connect with other ALA units to establish task force membership.
OITP is also in communication with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), one of the US government agencies working on digital literacy issues as an outgrowth of recommendations made in the National Broadband Plan. The Digital Literacy Portal is one of the initiatives under way at NTIA.
NTIA has issued a request for organisations - including libraries - that are engaged in digital literacy projects to submit content to be considered for inclusion in its Digital Literacy Portal. OITP will be coordinating with NTIA staff in the collection of library content for the portal. NTIA staffers are reportedly working diligently to make sure that content on the portal is collected from a wide range of community-based organisations, including libraries.
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