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Welcome to the TRAILS Archive. Here you will find the content from the TRAILS information literacy website formerly available at trails-9.org. That now-discontinued site from Kent State University Libraries provided a freely available, web-based system for measuring students’ information literacy skills based on 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grade standards. From 2004 through May 2019, 31,000 teacher/librarians administered TRAILS assessments to nearly 2.5 million students.

TRAILS Categories: TRAILS classified information literacy skills into five categories which are the basis of the content available here at the Archive. The categories are (click here for full definitions):

  • Develop topic
  • Identify potential sources
  • Develop, use, and revise search strategies
  • Evaluate sources and information
  • Use information responsibly, ethically, and legally

TRAILS content available to you at this site:

  • Assessment downloads: Each of the TRAILS assessments presented in ready-to-print PDF format, including answer keys for easy grading.
  • Item bank: A searchable database of all TRAILS items with results presented in .csv file format, facilitating reuse of content in other applications as desired. Search parameters include: grade level, TRAILS category, learning objective, item question.

Also available: