Author Archive
A Retrospective Review on a Decade of Building a National Science Digital Library to Transform STEM Education
In April 2012 a three-day writing workshop was convened to generate a retrospective report on the NSDL library-building process. Workshop participants addressed the following research questions in group meetings and writing sessions of small teams:
- How has the vision for the NSDL been realized?
- How has NSDL developed over time?
- What new knowledge has been generated as a result?
- Where are / were successes and challenges for NSDL?
- How could the NSDL inform cyber-learning programs?
The resulting workshop report is structured as a series of essays and highlights a number of the significant lessons learned and contributions made by the hundreds of individuals who worked to advance digital library research and STEM education.
The report can be found at: http://serc.carleton.edu/p2p_redux/index.html
You can also download the report to your iPad via the iBooks app (this works best with the latest iBooks App installed (v 3.0)). Note: Kindle Fire users can also download this file to their desktop computers and then go the extra step to move it to their Fire.
NSDL Community Revisits Pathways to Progress
Update:
In 2011, NSF provided the Reflections project with supplemental funding to revisit the Pathways to Progress vision. To do so, Cathy Manduca, Dave Mogk, Sarah Holsted and I have invited many of the original group of visionaries who helped to frame that document in 2000, to meet together to consider how that vision has changed, morphed and grown since then.
We have invited 20 plus members of the original workgroup members as well as a number of more recent NSDL community members to meet over three days to explore questions such as:
- How has the original vision for the NSDL been realized?
- How has it developed over time?
- What new knowledge has been generated as a result of the project?
- In what areas has the NSDL succeeded? What are its future challenges?
- How does the NSDL relate to future cyberlearning programs?
After considering these questions, our aim is to produce an online document that reflects back on what we’ve learned about our community and how what we’ve learned can inform the next generation of collaborative projects such as the NSDL, digital libraries in general, and future projects that focus on e-learning, cyber-learning and dissemination of STEM innovations.
Happy Birthday NSDL!
This November marks 10 years of the NSDL. Happy Birthday! Did we know or only hope that 10 years after embarking on this experiment that the NSDL would still be growing and thriving? In Pathways to Progress, we outlined a set of ten challenges in building this resource:
- developing a shared vision for the form and function of the NSDL;
- meeting the needs of diverse learners;
- meeting the needs of the many disciplines encompassed by the NSDL;
- acquiring input from the community of users to ensure that the NSDL is both used and useable;
- developing a governance structure and Core Integration System that balances community needs with technical applications;
- integrating technologies that already exist, and promoting the development and integration of new technologies;
- providing mechanisms for sharing knowledge and resources, and building cooperation among NSDL collaborators;
- evaluating NSDL and its impact on STEM education; and
- coordinating these many interests and functions to provide an integrated whole.
Take a moment to send your birthday wishes to the NSDL, make a comment and share your impressions about participating in this grand experiment.
Ten years later, how did we do? Did we overcome these barriers and achieve the vision? Or, has the NSDL, like so many other organizations, been experienced goal creep and become something different?
Share with others your thoughts about how we have (or have not) addressed the challenges the community envisioned ten years ago. What are the challenges as we move forward into the next decade?
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