enhancing science education through a partnership of digital libraries
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Enhancing Science Education through a Partnership of Digital Libraries. Presentation for the Indo-US Workshop on Digital Libraries National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, USA Dave Fulker, NSDL Executive Director 24 June 2003. Outline of Presentation. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Enhancing Science Education through a
Partnership of Digital Libraries
Presentation for the
Indo-US Workshop on Digital LibrariesNational Science Foundation, Washington, DC, USA
Dave Fulker, NSDL Executive Director24 June 2003
SLIDE 2
Outline of Presentation
Sketching the NSDL (a US-centric view) Background and mission Open questions (drawn from the mission) Current status (as reflected by annual meeting) Addressing definitional and strategic matters
- Goals for each of 4 facets of the NSDL- Developing common infrastructure
Thoughts on common India & US interests
SLIDE 3
Background Information on
The NSDL Funding agency: The National Science Foundation/
Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR)
Scope: Education, for all ages and all venues, in Science, technology, engineering and mathematics
Construction: Distributed holdings and services, provided and maintained by many players Joined by a “Core Integration” team (led by presenter)
Status: Funded for 2001, 2002, 2003 and continuing Over 100 awards granted, so far, along 3 tracks:
- Collections
- Services
- Directed research
SLIDE 4
The NSDL Mission
Enhancing science education through a partnership of digital libraries joined by common technical and organizational frameworks.
In greater detail: The NSDL mission is to enhance science, technology, engineering
and mathematics education through a partnership of digital libraries joined by common technical and organizational frameworks.
Individually and collectively these partners engage and inform multiple clienteles, using shared resources to serve many communities of users, each with its own level of knowledge and learning model.
The NSDL also embodies longstanding library traditions of service, longevity, equal access, fair use, and privacy, as well as innovations that foster a spirit of inquiry and the accessibility of science to all.
SLIDE 5
Open Questions (Drawn from the Mission)
Definitional matters What precisely are the common technical and organizational
frameworks on which to build effective partnering? What shared resources will “serve many communities of users,”
even where learning modalities differ? What do library traditions of service, longevity, equal access, fair
use, and privacy actually mean in the digital world? What innovations will in fact foster a spirit of inquiry and the
accessibility of science to all?
Strategic matters, especially phasing & scalability What capabilities should be addressed first? What is the best use of (limited) human effort in joining large
numbers of collections, services, and specialized views? What is the operational definition of an NSDL “partner”
SLIDE 6
The NSDL All-Projects Meeting Third annual, held 2-4 December 2002 Featured 76 posters from 109 NSF-funded projects Initial release of the NSDL (at nsdl.org) Focus sessions
Collection building: metadata, OAI, & other issues Service integration & creation, incl. portal development Authentication, authorization, & IP rights Longevity & preservation Evaluation Building content & quality control Effective/emerging uses of NSDL in learning & teaching Integrating NSDL into formal & informal learning
SLIDE 7
The Flavor of the All-Projects Postersorganized along 3 dimensions of specialization
DisciplineAnatomy
Anthropology
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Earth System Science
Environmental Science
Engineering
Kinematics
Microeconomics
Mathematics
Oceanography
Physics
Technology
Data TypeApplet or Application
Article
Collection-building Tool
Course
Database
Graph
Handheld Software
Image or Animation
Learning Object
Movie or Video
Observed or Simulated Data
Ontology
Pedagogy Case Study
Review or Annotation
Strand Map
Surrogate (book, specimen...)
Learning ContextInformal K-45-89-12UndergraduateTeacher PreparationCourse DevelopmentCommunity of PracticeCataloging
many of theseare relatively
languageindependent
SLIDE 8
A Framework to Address Definitional & Strategic Matters
Four Facets of the NSDL
Collec
tions
Collec
tions
& S
ervic
es
& S
ervic
esEducational
Educational
Innovation
Innovation
Technical
Technical
Innovation
Innovation Lever
aged
Lever
aged
Partn
ersh
ips
Partn
ersh
ips
A library of exemplary educational collections
and services
A center for innovation in
science education
A locus of technical innovation for educational
digital libraries
A leveraging partnership among
resource/service providers
SLIDE 9
Goals for NSDL as a Library of Exemplary Collections and Services
Dependable, useful collections, eventually of great breadth & depth
Services that enhance usability General-purpose & specialized views
(i.e., a multiplicity of digital libraries) Increasing numbers of satisfied users,
eventually spanning all of science education Well-monitored, operational infrastructure
SLIDE 10
Goals for NSDL as a Center of Innovation in Science Education
Collaboration environment as “community center,” with knowledge & resource sharing
NSDL users as contributors Evaluative feedback, influencing advances Partners with educational strength & reach Collaboration on effective applications of
educational digital libraries Influence on education context & policy
SLIDE 11
Goals for NSDL as a Locus of Technical Innovation in Educational Digital Libraries
Large-scale distributed architecture Environment for user contribution &
collaboration “communities of practice” Widespread use of NSDL standards
& guidelines NSDL as a premier vehicle for investigating
& testing the practicality of innovation in large-scale educational contexts
SLIDE 12
Goals for NSDL as a Leveraging Partnership among Resource & Service Providers
Well-defined participation model, fostering educational excellence
Inclusion of all NSDL-funded projects Inclusion of publishers, professional societies,
& other educationally oriented partners Constructive discourse on the partnership A plausible strategy for sustainability
SLIDE 13
Users
Collections
Metadata repository
Services
The “Initial Release” NSDL—Built on a Centralized Metadata Repository & OAI
The metadata repository is the primary basis for service provision.
It provides information about every collection & item in NSDL including “branding” & “inclusion” relations:
Item A is contained in Collection B
Items in Collection B should be displayed with brand X
OAI
OAI
SLIDE 14
Strategy for Extending the Metadata Repository:
A Data Warehouse, Specialized for Relationships
Base Web Graph
NSDL Selections
Descriptive Metadata
Annotations
Branding
Collection (Semantic)
People and Organizations
Equivalence
DataStores
DocumentRepositories
Databases
Other WebResources
PublisherOfferings
Harvesting, Gathering, Normalization
Specialized Mining
Digital Sources
NSDL Data Warehouse:Entities and their
Relationships(wholesale)
Diverse Network of Partner Libraries
and Services(retail)
Data Annotation
SLIDE 16
Preliminary Thoughts on
Common India and US Agenda
Open questions (slightly reframed) What technical frameworks will support international partnering? What shared resources will “serve many communities of users,”
even where learning modalities differ greatly? What do library traditions of service, longevity, equal access, fair
use, and privacy actually mean in the global Internet age? What innovations will foster an spirit of inquiry and the accessibility
of science to all on trans-national scales What is the best use of human effort in joining highly diverse
collections and services, including digital libraries specialized to meet the needs of greatly differing communities?
- How does this differ from traditional librarianship?- Can it build trans-cultural understanding