Creating and Operating a Digital Library for Information and Learning– the GROW Project Muniram Budhu Department of Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics University of Arizona

 Brief introduction of NSDL and GROW  Digital library model for GROW  Conclusions TOPICS

National Science Digital Library - NSDL Sponsored by the NSF to create a digital learning place for science, mathematics, engineering & technology teaching and learning that encourages and supports users to discover, explore, create & interact with digital resources anyplace- anytime.

 Source: Lee Zia “The network is the library.” students, educators, life-long learners structured learning materials – all media types search; refer; validate; integrate; create; customize; publish; share; notify; collaborate A Learning Environment and Resources Network for SMET Education

NSDL Information Architecture referenced items & collections referenced items & collections Special Databases NSDL Services NSDL Services Other NSDL Services CI Services annotation CI Services discussion CI Services personalization CI Services authentication CI Services browsing Core Services: information retrieval Core Collection- Building Services harvesting Core Collection- Building Services protocols Core Services: metadata gathering Portals & Clients Portals & Clients Portals & Clients Usage Enhancement Collection Building User Interfaces NSDL Collections NSDL Collections NSDL Collections Core NSDL “Bus” Source: D. Fulker

Project Details  The GROW collection: –A portal to civil engineering resources on the web –Hundreds of interactive learning objects created and developed by GROW team members –24-hour digital library of reviewed resources  Our audience: –K-12 students and teachers –Undergraduate and graduate students –Professors –Civil engineering professionals –Lifelong learners

Requirements for Creating and Operating a Digital Library  Needs  Collection  Infrastructure  Deployment  Evaluation and monitoring

A Digital Library Model NEED I NFRASTRUCTURE COLLECTION DEPLOYMENT MONITORING/E VALUATION Activities Define need  Define collection  Define community  Estimate staffing  Identify/obtain funding  Sustainability Activities Sources  Harvest  Copyright  Metadata  Contribution Activities Testing  Promotion  User community Activities Meet needs  Quality of user services  Demographics  Improvements Activities Software Metadata  OAI  User Services Hardware Location  Server  Storage

Project Overview  The Geotechnical, Rock and Water Resources Library (GROW): –First phase of the National Civil Engineering Education Resources Library (NCERL)

GROW’s mission - NEEDS  Provide high-quality educational resources in the field of civil engineering  Meet the learning needs of a diverse audience  Middle and High Schools  Undergraduates  Graduates  Professional engineers  Continuing education for engineers  Life-long learners

Project Uniqueness  Development of Interactive Learning Objects –Learning styles –Expense of physical labs –24-hour access to learning –Appeal of technology  Our challenge: –Interactive learning objects –Easy to use –Meet learning objectives –Measured learning results

Collection Criteria  Technical accuracy  Relevance  Pedagogical effectiveness  Usability  Documentation  Enhance learning  Robustness/sustainability as a digital resource.  Copyright/intellectual property rights

Harvesting Process Search & Retrieve Keywords Holding bay – sent to expert Check against collection criteria Metadata added Link inserted on site approved

Contribution Process

Infrastructure Storage layer Metadata Portal provides the actual content Search engine Indexing layer provides data to discover, identify, access content Customized access to content, tools, statistical info

Architecture

Portal  In-house  CWIS (  DSpace (

Portal

MULTIMEDIA, INTERACTIVE RESOURCES  Interactivities  “Story-booked” to emphasize active learning  Content repurposed to create new resources  Every unit focuses on educational objectives

Interactive content Fall cone experimentForce of flowing water Examples:

Learning objects Force of flowing water learning object  Used static images to provide background information visually  Used a separate movie clip in Flash MX for “swept away”/ flowing animation  Flash ActionScript allowed us to relate flow animation and individual car images being swept away to: –Water depth –Force of stream –Frictional force

Technology used  Macromedia Flash MX Authorware Dreamweaver MX –Maxon Cinema 4D  Hundreds of interactive learning objects at: –

Deployment  Launched in Dec. 2, 2002 with NSDL Grant funding  Site promotion –User groups, conferences, workshops

Statistics – Monthly report

Statistics – Demographics January 30, domain report

Results & Benefits  Grant funding  Increase in site traffic: –Site promotion –Interactive learning objects  GROW users report: –Interactive learning objects are easy to use –Concepts are easy to understand –GROW’s interactive learning objects are better than any similar civil engineering content available on the web –Site easy to use and locate information

Conclusions The creation of a good digital library requires  significant planning  developmental effort  funding  systems approach

For Information: Webpage: Contact: NSDL: Personal contact: Muni Budhu, Project Director Tel: Or Janice Lodato, Project Manager Tel: