TRAILS: Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills

TRAILS: Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills, a product of Kent State University Libraries, free and online, aims to evaluate information literacy skills of elementary and high school students. Launched in 2006, the tool was initially funded by the Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education (ILILE), an initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the U.S. Department of Education. The multiple-choice, standards-based, knowledge assessment measures competencies in five information categories—topic development, identification of sources, development of search strategies, evaluation of information, and ethical uses of information—at the third-, sixth-, ninth-, and twelfth-grade benchmark levels.