Frequently Asked Questions about NSDL by Educators

What is NSDL?

NSDL is the National Science Foundation's online library of resources and collections for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and research.

What is a digital library?

A digital library is a coherent, organized collection of resources, usually accessible via the Internet. A digital library may appear to be a single entity, but often links to other libraries or information services in an effort to present a unified view of a topic or collection to the end user. Despite the strong connotation with printed resources that the term library carries, digital libraries usual contain far more than electronic versions of textual documents, and can include any type of information that is "born digital" or can be converted into an electronic format.

What kinds of resources can I find at NSDL?

Resources available through NSDL include images, video, audio, animations, software, datasets, and text documents such as lesson plans and journal articles. In addition, NSDL provides search, browse, help, blogging, collaborative workspaces, collection creation and management services, news reports, and online community discussions.

Is there a cost for using NSDL?

Use of the NSDL.org website and related search and reference services is completely free, as are the majority of the resources discoverable through NSDL. However, some of the resource providers who make their materials accessible through NSDL do require a login, or a fee-based membership or that users purchase the complete version of a resource.

Who operates NSDL?

Under the support of the NSF, the Library's development, project management, and daily operations are a collaborative effort of the NSDL Resource Center, and NSDL Technical Network Services, and other NSDL-funded projects. The broader NSDL community of resource builders and contributors is composed of a diverse range of institutions including universities, museums, libraries, research labs, federal agencies, professional societies, and commercial content providers.

NSF, the coordination of NSDL's technical infrastructure, research and development, and daily operations are provided via a partnership between Cornell University and the Digital Learning Sciences group at UCAR, jointly filling the role of Technical Network Services Provider for NSDL. UCAR's NSDL Resource Center provides strategic partnership building, outreach, professional development, and communications functions for the broad NSDL community of resource builders and contributors. These include a diverse range of institutions including universities, museums, libraries, research labs, federal agencies, professional societies, and commercial content providers. In the provision of all services, Cornell and UCAR work closely and collaboratively to coordinate effective and efficient operation of NSDL. -->

How is NSDL funded?

NSDL receives the majority of its funding through the generous support of the National Science Foundation. Individual NSDL collections and services also receive funding from a wide variety of public and private sources.

How big is the Library?

As of October 2010, NSDL contains 120 collections and over 132,000 records, in addition to other supporting user services and content, such as NSDL news and online exhibits. New resources are added to the Library every week.

How are items in the Library selected?

NSDL relies on specialists in STEM disciplinary fields to select exemplary resources or collections of resources for inclusion in NSDL. Reviews for quality and appropriateness are made by specialist(s) in appropriate fields of science, education, and educational research. The qualifications of specialists and their selection processes are documented by individual resource providers. Common mechanisms for selection include peer review boards, content creation committees, and user recommendations.

Quality guidelines for NSDL resources are contained within the NSDL Collection Policy and are adhered to in reviewing resources submitted to NSDL. These include criteria for quality, accuracy, reliability, and appropriateness. The NSDL Accessioning Board (NAB) reviews selected resources from collections submitted to NSDL for adherence to these quality guidelines, makes recommendations to collection developers for remediation of any issues, and approves collections for accessioning into NSDL

More about NSDL Pathways

Pathways are NSDL projects that provide audience-specific NSDL resources and services to broad categories of users. Pathway audiences may be grouped by grade level, discipline, resource or data type, or some other designation. They are digital library portals developed and managed in partnership with organizations and institutions that have a history and expertise in serving their target audiences. Pathway partners select appropriate resources and user services, and act as reference librarians for their communities. They contribute metadata (descriptive information) about their resources to NSDL, making their resources searchable and discoverable via NSDL.org, as well as via their own portals. These partnerships enhance the educational character of NSDL, and demonstrate the value of NSDL in a wide variety of educational settings.

How do I contribute resources that I have developed into NSDL?

To suggest an existing resource or collection of resources for inclusion in NSDL, visit the Participate in NSDL page, where policy, detailed guidelines, recommendations, and helps for contribution to NSDL can be found.

How is using NSDL different from doing a Google search?

NSDL collections and services are selected from high quality providers of scientific and technical materials that are accurate and appropriate for educational settings. NSDL's search results are drawn only from this body of pre-selected materials. In contrast to a single term Google search which will often produce search results numbering in the millions, many of which are likely not relevant, NSDL allows for efficient discovery by only searching resources that are useful for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teaching, learning, and research.

What age/grade level does NSDL target?

NSDL has resources addressing learning at all levels including preK-12, post-secondary, graduate study, professional education, and lifelong learning. The NSDL Science Literacy Maps service allows for search results aligned to science standard benchmarks, and the NSDL Google Search Gadget added to browsers are step in making it easier for the user to locate resources designed for specific audiences.

What are the copyright policies governing the reuse of images, graphics, animations, and other resources available through NSDL?

Because NSDL aggregates materials developed by a wide range of content providers, each resource carries its own policy for reproduction and/or reuse of content. In many cases, the content authors anticipate "fair use" for educational purposes with proper attribution; however, it is always best to contact the author before reusing any text, animation, image, or other content. In some cases rights information can be determined by clicking "more info" where it appears next to a resource in NSDL search results.

What is the NSDL Community site?

The NSDL Network site is an interactive site (built on a Drupal platform) providing news and information dissemination, community interaction, discussion forums, working groups and collaborative workspaces, NSDL Annual Meeting information, help and information for prospective proposers and newly-funded NSF projects on collaboration with NSDL, developing and new initiatives, and serves as a community center for NSDL funded projects as well as external partners collaborating with NSDL.