Policy statementSelection criteriaSubmission criteriaDeselection Criteria
Web publishing guidelinesAuthoring committee

Selection Criteria for Specific Resource Types

Best practices and program evaluations:*

Materials reporting best practices in the field or program evaluations made available through the LINCS system should
• Provide accurate and credible citations -- online -- whenever possible.
• Include an abstract of the identified practices and/or program evaluations.
• Include recommended adaption/adoption of the practices or program evaluation; e.g. usefulness to teachers and tutors, administrators, staff developers, and funders in order to improve the quality of service delivery, collaborative efforts, and public relations.
• Note adaptation for geographic, demographic, or socioeconomic factors.
• Address method of selection of practice or evaluation.
• Describe the key features of the practice and/or evaluation that differentiate program types (life skills, pre-employment, etc.).
• Identify existing program design models that facilitate learner participation in the development of curricula and choice of instructional methods.
• Validate instructional techniques that facilitate program ability to move adult learners from being passive to empowered learners; e.g. historical reports are integrated with personal oral histories, writing, and/or local community studies.
• Include references to relevant research on the variables that make the use of technology effective.

Conference proceedings (online):

Collected papers from conferences/colloquia and general conference proceedings of interest to the LINCS community should
• Include the conference/colloquium name and date(s).
• Include the name and organization of the contributing author(s), as well as contact information (email, homepage URL, phone number, address, etc.) for the author(s) as available.
• List the presentation name/title.
• Indicate the track of the conference the presentation was part of.
• Include an abstract of the paper/presentation.
• Include a disclaimer if the work is a draft or work in progress.
• Include notes and references, as appropriate.

Instructional resources:

Instructional resources selected for inclusion in the LINCS system may include learning activity suggestions, lesson plans, curriculum, or other resources for accompanying, conducting, or developing instruction. Regardless, these sites should
• Begin with a description of the curriculum or lesson and the overall objectives of the material.
• Include an indication of the targeted audience (by instructional setting and learner skill level) with considerations noted and suggestions provided for meeting special needs.
• Include a statement of the learning philosophy or perspective of the author.
• Include an overview of the overall considerations including timing, materials needed, lesson format, and classroom preparation.

Instructional resources should include the following:

• Clear objectives for individual lessons.
• A statement of the ability level of learners for whom the material was designed or is appropriate.
• An introduction or purpose setting for motivation.
• Time break-down and materials needed for activities.
• Suggestions for assessment and closure.
• Suggested resources, if appropriate.

Journals and newsletters (online):

In addition to the general selection criteria, original journal and newsletter submissions should
• Provide the URL for the publication, not for specific articles.
• Provide a short description of the publication's general focus or area of coverage, including a list of regular features, if applicable.
• Provide the publication years and publication frequency for the journal or newsletter. ex. [1995-] Quarterly.
• Provide subscription and ordering information for paper copies, if applicable.
• Provide reprint, permissions, linking and submission stipulations, if applicable.

Learner resources:

The goal of these criteria is to encourage the inclusion of learner-produced materials and materials written specifically for new and emerging readers. The criteria are intended to encourage submissions of materials geared to new readers at all levels. Materials will be accepted in any language or in a bilingual format. Learner resources should
• State content, concepts, and activities clearly; these need to be readable by new and emerging readers.
• Include a "context setting" statement about the material to help other users re-create the project, setting, theme, etc.
• Include level and instructional setting of the learner or learners who have created or used the materials.
• Indicate the target audience by interest and level.
• Keep paragraphs short -- about 6 lines per paragraph.
• Keep sentences short -- about 10 words per sentence.
• Keep sentence structure simple.
• Use short, familiar words. Avoid using words with many syllables.
• Use the active voice, not the passive.
• Use upper and lower case letters in 12-point or larger type.
• Avoid writing in script or italics.
• Mark choices (links) and Home clearly so that the site can be navigated easily.

News, announcements, calendar items:

Time sensitive materials such as announcements, calendar items, and news flashes are a vital part of the LINCS system. To ensure the usefulness of these items, contributors should be certain these items
• Include a posting date at the beginning of the document.
• Include a "pull date" or expiration date for the item and clear indication or marking of time-sensitive information.
• Contain a link to the Web site of the conference or meeting and a "mail to" link to the appropriate contact person (when relevant and available).

Policy and legislation:

Policy and/or legislative resources can be the original source, analysis or interpretation of the real source (such as an excerpt from an online discussion or a policy statement), or news/commentary on the real source. In addition to the general selection criteria, materials related to policy and legislation should also
• Clearly identify the subject of the policy of legislation.
• State the author or contributor of the resource, and the author/contributor's organizational affiliation.
• Be accurate, current/time-sensitive, and have credible legislative resources.
• Contain minimal or easily noted bias.
• Be consistently available, regularly maintained and updated, and freely accessible.
• Include a disclaimer, as needed.

For legislative sites, a source selected for inclusion in the LINCS system should EITHER contain no evidence of a political agenda or bias, OR the bias should be obvious so that a user can immediately recognize the bias and overlook it or take it into account.

For policy and advocacy sites, it is expected that bias toward the population or issue that the site advocates will be evident.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the resources listed on this site are those of the author(s) and may not reflect the positions and policies of the National/Regional LINCS or the National Institute for Literacy.

Research, historical reports and statistical resources:*

In addition to the general selection criteria, research, historical reports and statistical resources should
• Describe the key features of the research and/or findings that differentiate program types (life skills, pre-employment, etc.).
• Provide accurate and credible citations -- online whenever possible.
• Provide access to time-sensitive research.
• Include an abstract of the research and findings.
• Include recommended applications of the research findings, historical reports or statistical resources; i.e., usefulness to teachers and tutors, administrators, staff developers, and funders in order to improve the quality of service delivery, collaborative efforts, and public relations.
• Address methods of systematic data collection.
• Suggest from the findings criteria to be considered in decision making about program design, instructional content and practices AND note adaptations for geographic, demographic, or socioeconomic factors.
• Validate instructional techniques that facilitate a program's ability to move adult learners from being passive to empowered learners; e.g. historical reports are integrated with personal oral histories, writing, and/or local community studies.
• Validate the critical variables that make the use of technology effective
• Specify the effect of local, state, and/or national policies on the types and quality of programs through trend analysis.

Staff development and training resources:

In addition to the general selection criteria, items with a focus on staff development should meet the following standards:
• Any training modules should be replicable in a variety of staffing situations and organizations.