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IMLS previews informationliteracy.gov hub and tools for museums and libraries
Summary
IMLS officials demonstrated informationliteracy.gov, a new interagency resource hub for information, health, financial and digital literacy; the site features a searchable resource database, editable lesson plans, public‑domain outreach materials and monthly updates.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services on a training webinar introduced informationliteracy.gov, a new interagency portal intended to help museums, libraries and community leaders teach and adapt information‑literacy programming.
Katherine Moss, chief of staff at IMLS, led a site walkthrough and said the portal is directed at museum and library professionals but is usable by other community leaders. She described four focus areas—information literacy, health literacy, financial literacy and digital literacy—and a ledger of more than 100 resources including lesson plans, training modules and community spotlights.
Moss said the site’s resource database can be filtered by literacy type and language and includes a description that flags when a linked resource requires a free account or modest fee. "We have a resource database that lists all of the resources available on the site," she said, noting visitors can search by keyword and filter results.
IMLS uses five inclusion criteria to evaluate materials before listing them: trustworthy source, relevance to the work, objective evidence, tailoring to the intended audience and accessibility. Moss said every resource on the site satisfies at least three of those five criteria.
The site includes editable lesson plans and worksheets available in Word format and templates for outreach, including public‑domain social graphics and marketing email templates that users may adapt. Moss said those community engagement materials are provided in the public domain with IMLS branding and an informationliteracy.gov link so organizations may edit and reuse them without additional citation requirements.
Moss walked through the Journey to Information Literacy guidance, a practical four‑step framework — know your community, design and approach, develop partnerships and find funding, and evaluate and sustain efforts — intended to help institutions tailor programming to local needs.
She said the site is being updated monthly and noted plans to make the site content available in Spanish at the click of a button. Recordings of the webinar will be posted on IMLS’s YouTube channel and on informationliteracy.gov; the team plans to add short (about 30‑second) explainer videos highlighting parts of the site.
For questions and resource suggestions, Moss provided a contact address: infolit@imls.gov. She urged attendees to share feedback on what additional resources or translations they need.
