What's New

July 2004

Intergenerational Transfer of Cognitive Skills: A Two-Way Street for Adults and Their Children in California Library Literacy Programs

Findings from the FULFILL (Families Utilizing the Library For Improving Literacy and Learning) Study

Study conducted by
Drs. Barabara McDonald and Patricia A. Scollay
San Diego State Univesity

This study looked at experiences of people whose literacy use and literacy skills had undergone transition as adults when they decided to learn to read or to improve their reading in library-based adult and family literacy programs. The work comes out of a longitudinal interview study in which adult literacy learners in California public library programs and their volunteer tutors were interviewed once every year over a three year period.

Fannie Mae Foundation Homebuying Readiness Workbooks Adapted and Posted Online

In partnership with the Fannie Mae Foundation, we have adapted the Foundation’s excellent “Homebuying Readiness” workbooks. There are two workbooks, one geared toward learners in Adult Basic Education programs, the other written for English as a Second Language learners. Each workbook has two versions, one for students and one for teachers, which includes lesson plans and answer keys.

We created online versions of these workbooks, complete with nearly 100 interactive exercises and dozens of printable PDF versions of the worksheets found in the workbooks.

California Library Literacy Services
Gets New Logo, Website

The California State Library’s library literacy division, California Library Literacy Services, asked us to develop a new logo and website for the wide-ranging division, which comprises four major programs: Adult Literacy Services, Families for Literacy, Mobile Library Literacy Services, and English Language Learning Intensive.

The website features profiles of all four programs and offers ways for users to find library literacy services close to them as well as getting involved as either learners or volunteers.

The Nevada Literacy Website Is Now Searchable

The Nevada LINCS website, Nevada Literacy, is now keyword-searchable. This important feature is sure to boost usability of the Nevada LINCS site, and we’ll be looking into providing the same feature for other LINCS sites in the Western/Pacific Region.

Science & Numeracy Special Collection Undergoes Redesign, Adds Audio and “What Is Science?” Section

We just completed a major redesign of the Science & Numeracy Special Collection. The most readily apparent improvement is a visual streamlining of the site, which has greatly simplified the navigation, so learners will no longer be overloaded with choices. In addition, we have begun to employ a web-design language called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which we've used to improve typographic behavior throughout the site. In the coming months we'll be working more with CSS to actually rebuild the architecture of this site and other LINCS sites from the ground up, an improvement that will take accessibility to a fantastic new level. For example, there will no longer need to be a separate text-only site, because a site built with CSS can accommodate all kinds of browsers.

Another exciting development is that we've added audio on selected pages, which will allow learners to hear what is on the page as they read. Over the next several months, we plan to expand the audio further throughout the site. (And if anyone wants to give us several thousand dollars so we can build a proper sound studio for recording audio, you know where to find us!)

Finally, Susan Cowles has added a great new section called "What Is Science?" in which she interviewed several scientists and collected their thoughts. This section includes a comprehensive glossary that could be the standard for LINCS sites to come.

ESL Special Collection Keeps It Simple

Matthew Scelza, director of the ESL Special Collection, overhauled the collection and made it much easier for learners to get around. He asked us to develop a series of icons as we redesigned the site. We don't get many opportunities to just sit around and draw over here, so thanks, Matthew!

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