National Adult Literacy Database

Context
The National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) has used technology to provide educators and learners across Canada with a one-of-a-kind national literacy support and resource network in both official languages.

Project Description
The NALD is a non-profit organization that collects as much information as possible on behalf of literacy specialists in Canada and makes it easy for all literacy organizations to access this information, at little cost.

Using the Internet and resources that were already available on the Web, the organization has created a literacy portal where learners and educators can easily download books, pamphlets and other documents that have been converted into electronic format. The NALD's Web site has changed in response to technological developments. Whereas it used to simply make information available to its members, the site has grown and is now a true on-line community dedicated to literacy.

By the end of the project's first year, 14,000 people had visited the site. Last year there were 3.2 million user sessions by people who downloaded more than 1.3 million documents.

Successes/Challenges
The NALD has used its technical expertise to help more than 170 member organizations across the country build their own sites without cost to them. The sites are hosted on the NALD's servers. All the sites are linked together, which promotes information sharing and communication among members. As a result, the number of partnerships has increased and duplication among organizations has been very significantly reduced.

http://www.nald.ca

These best practices are an excellent way of sharing your experiences with other organizations in the voluntary sector. If you also have positive experiences on the use of technology in the voluntary sector, the IM-IT Secretariat will be pleased to post your stories. Please contact the IM/IT Secretariat by e-mail at imit@ic.gc.ca.