91´«Ã½

Washington, D.C. – The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded a $581,609 grant to the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) and the Center for Library and Information Innovation (CLII) of the University of Maryland’s iSchool to develop a Web resource to help libraries and governments better assist users with successfully engaging in e-government activities. Project partners also include the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Information Institute at Florida State University.

“This project is an important step to growing and creating collaborations between the government and libraries in an ever changing electronic environment to ensure that the public is receiving the best possible service,” said Jessica McGilvray, assistant director of the 91´«Ã½’s Office of Government Relations.

Developed jointly by 91´«Ã½ and CLII, this Web resource will 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. 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 91´«Ã½ 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 Review 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.

“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,” CLII Director John Carlo Bertot said.

For more information, please see the Center for Library and Information Innovation .