NSF NSDL: Where are We

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NSF NSDL Where are We Where Are We Going?

• Jane Chu Prey (jprey_at_nsf.gov)
• Program Director
• National Science Foundation
• Division of Undergraduate Education

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National Science Foundation Organization
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Education and Human Resources (EHR)
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The NSF National Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) Education Digital Library
(NSDL) Program

• Purpose
• To create, develop, and sustain a national
  digital library to serve as an online network of
  learning environments and high-quality resources
  for science, technology, engineering and
  mathematics education at all levels.
• Vision of the digital library
• Designed to meet the needs of learners at all
  levels, in both individual and collaborative
  settings
• Constructed to enable dynamic use of a broad
  array of materials for learning, primarily in
  digital format
• Managed actively to promote reliable anytime -
  anywhere access to quality collections and
  services, available both within and without the
  network
• Reduce confusion of the web and help people focus
  their time productively

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NSDL Programmatic History
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The network is the library

• NSDL

• Users

• Tools

• Content

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NSDL Connects

• Users students, educators, life-long learners
• Content structured learning materials large
  real-time or archived datasets audio, images,
  animations primary sources digital learning
  objects (e.g. applets) interactive (virtual,
  remote) laboratories ...
• Tools search refer validate integrate
  create customize publish share notify
  collaborate ...

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NSDL Tracks

• Core Integration
• activities to focus on the coordination and
  management of the librarys core collections and
  services
• Collections
• projects to aggregate and actively manage a
  subset of the librarys content within a coherent
  theme or specialty
• Services
• projects to develop services to increase the
  impact, reach, efficiency, and value of the
  library
• Targeted research
• projects to have direct applicability to one or
  
• more of the other tracts

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Core Integration

• Maintain the premier gateway to the digital
  library
• Supplement and coordinate services developed to
  enable effective use of and access to the
  networks content
• Provide leadership in the development of
  standards for including resource collections and
  services in the library
• Work with resource collection providers to
  establish a suite of review systems for inclusion
  of material
• Coordinate the formulation of requirements for
  resources and services interoperability,
  reusability, reliability, and stability
• Seek out new resource collections to join fully,
  or otherwise be affiliated with the library.

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www.nsdl.org
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Collections

• Disciplinary-based themes defining a natural
  body of content
• Access to large real-time or archived data sets
• Software tools for analysis, modeling,
  simulation, or visualization
• Reviewed commentary on learning materials and
  pedagogy

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Collection Projects

• Biology Education Online-An Interactive
  Electronic Journal
• Digital Community and Collections for Science and
  Mathematics Teacher Education
• A Digital Multimedia Library for Health Sciences
  Education
• BEN Bioscience Education Net
• MATHDL-A Lbrary of Online Learning Materials in
  Mathematics and Its Applications
• THREDDS Thematic Real-time Environmental Data
  Distributed Services
• Gender and Science Digital Library
• Electronic Encyclopedia of Earthquakes
• Water in the Earth System (WES) An NSDL K-12
  Project
• Computing and Information Technology Interactive
  Digital Education Library
• DLESEDigital Library for Earth Systems
  EducationA Microcosm of NSDL

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Services

• Collaborative learning environments using shared
  resources
• Mechanisms for building personal digital
  information spaces
• Metadata system translation

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Service Projects

• Improving Knowledge Transfer Prioritizing
  Content Creation in Digital Libraries Using
  Competitive Intelligence Systems
• Implementing an Electronic Peer-reviewed Journal
  of Earth System Science Education Resources
  (JESSE) A Pathfinder for SMETE Resource Peer
  Review
• Collaborative Project A Component Repository and
  Environment for Assembly of Teaching Environments
  (CREATE)
• Threading Information Pathways Through NSDL Video
  (Services Proposal)
• Breaking the Metadata Generation Bottleneck
• The Instructional Architect A System for
  Discovering, Recommending, and Combining Learning
  Objects
• Peer Review of Digital Learning Materials
  Critical Service for Digital Libraries

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Targeted Research

• Digital library usage studies
• User interface construction and implementation

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Targeted Research Projects

• Design and Evaluation of Maintenance Tools for
  Distributed Digital Libraries
• Collaborative Research Developing a
  Learner-Centered Metathesaurus for Science,
  Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education
• Developing a National Science Digital Library
  (NSDL) LibQUAL Protocol
• Question Triage for Experts and Documents
  Expanding the Information Retrieval Function of
  the NSDL
• ReMarkable Texts A Digital Notepad for the NSDL
• Integrating Digital Library Resources into Online
  Courses
• MetaTest Evaluating the Quality and Utility of
  Metadata
• Using Spatial Hypertext as a Workspace for
  Digital Library Providers and Patrons
• Effective Access Using Digital Libraries to
  Enhance High School Teaching in STEM

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Project Characteristics

• Current domains include various engineering
  disciplines, life sciences, geosciences,
  mathematical sciences, chemistry, materials
  science, anthropology, computer science
• Professional societies involved
• Nascent private sector and publisher involvement
• Several formal collaborative projects (more born
  at All-Projects meeting) all feature multiple
  PIs
• 28 with explicit pre-K - 12 links, 19 with strong
  potential for application to preK - 12

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NSDL Program Accomplishments

• In the first two years of the program (FY00 and
  FY01) nearly 200 proposals were submitted and 60
  projects funded (40M) (core integration 1,
  collections 31, services 22, targeted
  research 4)
• Program in the third year (FY02) 156 proposals
  submitted in three tracks and 50 funded
  (collections 34, services 11 and targeted
  research 6)
• All Projects meetings held in Sept, 2000 and Dec,
  2001
• Third Annual All Projects meeting was just held
  December 2-4, 2002
• http//comm.nsdlib.org -- communications portal

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Issues/Questions

• In what ways might this virtual facility become a
  sustainable resource?
• New role for and relationship between librarians
  and faculty
• Implications for K-12 sector?
• Implications museums and other informal learning
  venues?
• Implications for graduate programs?

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Issues/Questions cont.

• What about non-science, mathematics, engineering,
  and technology domains?
• International collaborations

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Conclusions

• Development of digital libraries is a huge
  challenge as well as a huge opportunity
• Full development of digital libraries will
  require international cooperation and
  collaboration across disciplines and across
  geographical boundaries
• We really dont know what other exciting ideas
  are just waiting to happen!