ALA, Center for Library and Information Innovation receive grant

This fall, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded ALA and the Center for Library and Information Innovation (CLII) of the University of Maryland’s iSchool a National Leadership grant.

The grant, which totaled $581,609, is for the launch of a three-year pilot project to create a Web site that will enable the government and libraries to more effectively communicate about government information.

This project is an important step toward growing and creating stronger collaborations between the government and libraries to ensure that the public is receiving the best possible service. This year, one of ACRL’s top legislative priorities is to make possible more economical and feasible maintenance of government information and the provision of the best service possible to library patrons based on a variety of formats as needed. This project, which officially began at the start of this month, supports that goal.

Other project partners include the University of Illinois-Chicago and the Information Institute at Florida State University. Also participating in this project is Government Information Online (GIO).

Developed jointly by ALA and CLII, this Web resource may include service and resource content, tutorials, best practice approaches to government-library collaborations, embedded expert government information digital reference, guidance on the provision of e-government services, the ability to share and exchange practices, and tools to facilitate local customization of e-government service provision and resources in libraries.

Jessica McGilvray, assistant director of ALA’s Office of Government Relations, is serving as ALA’s lead staffer on this project. She says she anticipates a host of possibilities to unfold as the groups delve into the project.

This Web resource will facilitate the ability of libraries to:

• provide essential e-government services to their residents and communities;
• work with agencies to develop collaborations to facilitate services to individuals; and
• develop a range of collective support tools, templates, and training materials that help libraries of all types engage in e-government services rather than each library working on its own.

Building on the work of the ALA’s Committee on Legislation’s (COL) Ad-Hoc Subcommittee on E-government Services and others, the project explores government-library collaborations to deliver e-government services to users.

The project’s initial focus is on immigration and taxation as the two content areas to develop the resource, and has support from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Government Printing Office, five state library agencies (Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas), and several public and academic libraries.

CLII Director John Carlo Bertot says the project will enhance libraries’ abilities to address needs as they arise.

“The broad coalition of libraries, librarians, government agencies, and researchers working on this project will offer a unique opportunity to explore collaborations that allow agencies and libraries to meet the e-government needs of people in their communities,” Bertot said.

For more information, please see the Center for Library and Information Innovation Web site at clii.umd.edu.