History of LINCS

The National Literacy Act of 1991 charged the National Institute for Literacy with the task of pulling together a rich but fragmented field and improving communication and information exchange nationwide. NIFL responded by taking a calculated leap into the future, onto the World Wide Web. In early 1994, NIFL formed eight working groups from throughout the literacy community to develop standards for creating a national system. One of these - the Vision Work Group - developed a vision statement that became the primary guideline for developing the system. In August 1994, NIFL selected the newly emerging and then little-known WWW as the tool for developing a pilot site for literacy on the Internet. This site became the first and central contact point for nationwide information exchange about literacy, and we called it LINCS (Literacy Information aNd Communication System).

In October 1995, NIFL provided funding to create three LINCS regional hubs: Western/Pacific LINCS (including 18 states and territories) with the California State Literacy Resource Center and OTAN collaborating as the lead site; Midwest LINCS (including 12 states) with the Ohio State Literacy Resource Center as the lead site; and Southern LINCS (including 14 states), with the Texas and Tennessee State Literacy Resource centers in the South. In October 1996, the NIFL funded Eastern LINCS (serving 10 northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) with the New England State Literacy Resource Center and NCAL collaborating as the lead site.

In October 1997, NIFL funded the second generation of LINCS Regional Hubs. The only change in leadership was for Southern LINCS, where the Center for Literacy Studies in Knoxville, Tennessee, was funded as the lead site.

The NIFL and regional lead sites have created an infrastructure that supports and encourages communication and information exchange nationwide. The LINCS Network is now recognized as a full-fledged national electronic system for literacy resources and a premier resource for state and local community level programs, as well as for policymakers and researchers.

A new vision statement developed in December 1999 at the LINCS National conference, which provided guidelines for the direction and the future of the LINCS initiative at that time. In October 2000, based on the feedback from the conference, the NIFL awarded funds to support the establishment of Regional Technology Centers (RTC) in the five designated regions: Western region (including 11 states and territories) with Peninsula Library as the RTC; Midwest region (including 12 states) with the Ohio State Literacy Resource Center as the RTC; Southern region (including 14 states), with Tennessee Center for Literacy Studies; the Eastern region (serving 10 northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) with Pennsylvania ABLE Net Project as the RTC; and Northwest region (serving 7 states), with the University of Idaho leading the Northwest Consortium, as the RTC.

NIFL has funded the LINCS Regional Technology Centers to continue its expansion nationwide. The Regional Technology Centers will work with the NIFL to:

1. Expand the Literacy Information aNd Communication System (LINCS) network to include the broadest possible range of national, state, and local partners.
2. Extend the knowledge and use of LINCS web sites, infrastructure, resources, and services throughout the state and local adult education and adult and family literacy communities in each region.
3. Assist the adult education and adult and family literacy community in integrating LINCS resources and new technology into teaching and staff development.
4. Enhance the literacy field's electronic knowledge base by creating, collecting, and organizing new high quality literacy information resources on-line, especially locally developed materials. During the same year NIFL in partnership with Office of Vocational and Adult Education awarded funds for the support of 10 Special collections. The LINCS Special Collections were funded with the goal of providing one-stop electronic gateways to specialized information on high-quality literacy practices and materials. The LINCS Special Collections are maintained by the following Content Development Partners. Assessment maintained by Midwest LINCS at the Ohio Literacy Resource Center; Correctional Education maintained by the Correctional Education Association; English as a Second Language maintained by California Literacy, Inc. (in partnership with ProLiteracy, Western LINCS and World Education, Inc.); Equipped for the Future maintained by the EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance at the Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee; Family Literacy maintained by Midwest LINCS at the Ohio Literacy Resource Center; Health & Literacy maintained by World Education, Inc.; Literacy & Learning Disabilities maintained by Southern LINCS at the Center for Literacy Studies; Science & Numeracy maintained by Western/Pacific LINCS; Technology Training maintained by the Adult Literacy & Technology Network and the Sacramento County Office of Education; Workforce Education maintained by Southern LINCS at the Center for Literacy Studies.

In 2005, the Institute concluded the first comprehensive review of LINCS, examining its activities, resources, and infrastructure, including the former Regional Technology Centers. The review addressed each major component's use, quality, value, and effectiveness. Among its conclusions, the review found that LINCS components "...make a significant contribution to the adult education and literacy field. They are also classic examples of what economists refer to as a "public good'."

The Institute is continuing to improve LINCS based on results of the review, changes in the adult literacy field, and administration priorities. As national attention has increasingly focused on the quality of instruction and educational resources, the Institute is shifting LINCS' emphasis from access to a wide variety of information to access to the highest quality information, especially resources based on the most rigorous research available.

LINCS Vision Statements -- 1993 & 1999

VISION STATEMENT
DRAFT
December 14, 1999

LINCS Today
The Literacy Information and Communication System - LINCS -- is the National Institute for Literacy's effort to bring the newest information technology to the service of adult education and literacy. LINCS is an extensive collaboration of national, regional, and state public and private partners. It provides a comprehensive source of original, full-text information and learning content, a sophisticated search capacity for Internet-based literacy-related information and content, electronic discussion lists, and training and technical assistance in the use of technology. These services enable practitioners, learners, and others to easily find free, high quality, reliable, relevant, and up-to-date Web-based information and adult learning content; find and share ideas with colleagues or learners; and improve skills in using technology for adult, family and other literacy education purposes.

End Users
The highest priority end users for LINCS services are adult education practitioners: teachers, tutors, and administrators. Other priority users include adult learners, state level administrators and resource staff, state and national policymakers, researchers, and the press. Other users include: public policy advocates, NIFL Interagency partners, prospective learners, learners' families, NIFL and LINCS regional staff, other national organization staff, employers, and librarians.

A Five-Year Vision for LINCS
LINCS will be a widely known, widely used, and well-regarded information and communication service. It will continue to pursue NIFL's goals of building systems to improve the quality of services and developing sound public policy for literacy. LINCS will be a first-stop gateway to comprehensive, high quality adult, family, and other literacy education resources. It will be a catalyst for developing new, high quality resources to meet users' needs. LINCS will bridge the communication gap between different groups in the literacy community. A wide range of partners at the local, state, regional and national levels will contribute to the continuing development of LINCS.

Strategies for Achieving the Vision
Through its Web presence, electronic lists, and national, regional and local partners, LINCS will:

1. Keep abreast of new technological developments and implement state-of-the-art technology to help end users improve their access to up-to-date, useful, reliable, high-quality information.
2. Maintain its existing network of partnerships and establish broad new state and national collaborations to leverage the resources necessary to achieve the vision.
3. Expand the range of literacy stakeholders who invest in LINCS and share resources and expertise through a variety of communication tools.
4. Promote the development and use of innovative multi-media web-based projects that involve the use of technology, especially in the areas of teaching, learning, and professional development.
5. Provide state and local level training and technical assistance - both traditional and technology-enhanced - that enable practitioners to use Internet technology effectively.
6. Research the information, communication, and learning resource needs of users, and then systematically collect and organize good content that meets these needs.
7. Continue to develop and implement systems for quality control of resources and services on LINCS.
8. Continue to develop standards to assure compatibility with other technology initiatives.
9. Work with partners to market LINCS to end users through training and other tools.

VISION STATEMENT
Developed in December, 1993

In order to implement critical provisions of the National Literacy Act of 1991, the National Institute for Literacy proposes to develop a national literacy information and communication system that will contribute to the goals of maximizing the effectiveness of literacy services and enabling every adult to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

The Information and Communication System will be based on field research findings about literacy stakeholders' information needs; the NIFL Priorities for Action; the direction set forward by representatives of ED, DOL, HHS, and the NIFL's Advisory Board; and Administration priorities in the area of telecommunications -- the superhighway proposed by Vice President Gore. The System will build upon existing state, regional, and national networks and educational databases to provide the adult literacy community with interactive links to information resources from federal, state, and local public and private sources.

The NIFL Information & Communication System will enable:

• policymakers at federal, state, and local levels to get and share valid and reliable information for building sound policy and measuring progress toward achievement of the National Literacy Act's goals;
• teachers and tutors to gain access to and share effective teaching strategies, proven curricula, and materials from all across the country;
• local program directors to share curricula, staff development ideas, funding opportunities, and accountability systems and measures;
• adult learners to interact with one another, and to find out about programs and services that can help in removing barriers to learning;
• providers of staff development services to gain access to research results and alternative approaches to training models and curricula;
• resource center staff to share information and resources that help clients meet their needs;
• adult literacy researchers and evaluators to access data and research results, and to learn about new questions and hypotheses in the field;
• libraries; national, State, and local clearinghouses; public and private entities; and information referral networks to interact with the literacy community;
• business, industry, and labor to learn about workplace learning models, information about the extent and quality of workplace learning efforts, and opportunities for forming partnerships for workplace learning;
• all groups and individuals with adult literacy information to give or receive to take advantage of the System's resources and capabilities.

The NIFL Literacy Information & Communication System will be:

• INCLUSIVE: will serve all stakeholders in the adult literacy/basic education community
• ACCESSIBLE: low cost, user friendly for all user skill levels; multiple entry points
• SEAMLESS: system processes, including access to other remote resources, will have a unified "look" and "feel"
• INTERACTIVE: will have two-way communication, conference capability, and facilitate both retrieval and contribution of information
• DYNAMIC: will evolve with users' needs, keeping pace with technological advances
• COMPREHENSIVE: will include access to all existing literacy-related resources
• RESPONSIVE: will always provide a quality response from either electronic or human intermediaries
• GROWING: can be added to; will incorporate new information sources
• EFFICIENT: will enhance and streamline access to existing information sources without duplication or redundancy; will get the best information in the least number of calls.

The NIFL Literacy Information & Communication System will require:

• collaboration at all levels among federal, state, and local agencies;
• technical assistance, training, and support;
• funding for all levels of the System;
• federal interagency support; and
• sensitivity and responsiveness to the changing needs of the field.

The NIFL Information & Communication System will include:

• an evaluation and reporting system on implementation of the National Adult Literacy Act of 1991;
• a forum for dialogue about the results of basic and applied research and demonstration projects;
• a database of adult literacy and basic education programs, including workplace education and family literacy programs;
• a database of assessment tools and outcome measures;
• a forum for dialogue about findings regarding progress toward the National Education Goals, especially Goal 5;
• access to information on training and technical assistance for the full continuum of services pursued by adult learners;
• access to information on promising products and practices;
• interfaces with State Literacy Resource Centers, State Library Systems, ERIC, OCLC, OVAE/Dial-in, and other databases;
• information on points of contact and experts in topical areas; and
• Information and referral on programs and resources.

About LINCS

Last updated: Thursday, 10-Sep-2009 16:10:08 EDT