The project aims to raise awareness and enhance information literacy competency skills of laymen as well as information professionals and educators. Its objectives are fully in line with UNESCO’s mandate to bridge the digital divide and UNESCO’s vision of Knowledge Societies.

This project has its genesis in recommendations of a UNESCO supported Workshop on Information Literacy Competency Development for Information Professionals and Special Educators organized last November by SALIS in Chennai, India, and subsequent information literacy sensitization workshops held in Delhi and Nagpur. Following a documentation period, it is now set to begin in the third week of May 2007.

The e-learning portal will cover a number of self-learning modules, such as:

• Information Literacy,
  
• Information Literacy Models and Standards,
  
• Information Communication Technology (ICT),
  
• Information Services for the Disabled People,
  
• Information Literacy Assessment,
  
• Freedom of Information/Right to Information,
  
• Lifelong Learning and Development of Life Skills,
  
• Sample Information Literacy Programmes for Library and Community Information Centre Users.

The portal will be developed using Moodle Open Source software, an internationally renowned Courseware Management System (CMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

On completion of the project, the information professionals, educators and other persons may participate in the ensuing online course to enhance information literacy skills based on a set of interactive activities, such as assignments, self-check exercises, multiple-choice questions, and quizzes.