NSDL Services

Information on this page feeds to both the nsdl.org user site and to the nsdlnetwork.org site. Links and pages may reflect a different brand and style (look and feel), depending on which site you are viewing..

NSDL conducts a range of partnership-based activities targeted at:

• Collectively addressing challenges and advancing NSDL's mission to provide effective impact on STEM education
• Synthesizing the work of NSDL projects to inform community and teacher best practices and monitor dynamic trends at different levels within education
• Disseminating results via targeted outreach activities that bundle specific products and services to meet user needs, leverage trusted channels, and add context around NSDL products to increase their adoption by users
• Analyzing and evaluating activities to inform short-term improvements and long-term planning, and to create feedback loops among NSDL community, resource developers, and educational decision-makers

Technical Services

NSDL also provides software tools and services to help the education community to organize, manage, and disseminate digital educational content to advance STEM teaching and learning. Technical operations include: 

• Managing ingest and maintenance of collections accessible at nsdl.org; monitoring quality and vitality of collections, and developing and operating tools for management of collections
• Developing and operating web services for discovery and delivery of the library's collections through nsdl.org, and related portals or learning applications
• Providing support, training, and consultation on developing and contributing collections, including metadata, vocabularies, paradata and annotation collections, and embedding NSDL's educational web services in other educational sites and services. 

To learn more about NSDL tools, services and collections, see Contribute a Resource or Collection, For Developers, and Partnering with NSDL, or send inquiries for more information via the NSDL Contact form, to receive consultation from appropriate NSDL staff.

News and Information

The NSDL Network website focuses on NSDL news and issues, STEM education news, news of interest to digital library developers, and activities and issues of general interest to the NSDL community. The site utilizes newsfeeds, forum and group discussions, blogs, personalized account creation, user-selected subscription to RSS feeds that support community participation, and integration of  content from selected NSDL Expert Voices blogs

NSDL Network site members may:

• contribute news items via the Community News feature
• contribute What We're Reading items - latest reports, articles you wish to suggest to the community
• add comments to discussion forums 
• create and participate in collaborative interest groups

For questions, additional information, or help in learning and using the NSDLnetwork.org site, contact Eileen McIlvain at NSDL; or use the Contact form. 

NSDL-all Email list

The NSDL email list (nsdl-all) is a distribution mechanism for news dissemination. Community members may subscribe to the nsdl-all@mailman.ucar.edu email list by completing the web form at Join Email List.
 

Professional development

• NSDL Brown Bags - NSDL conducts hour-long recorded web conferences on a variety of topics, using the ReadyTalk conferencing platform. These events are by invitation, sent 2-4 weeks prior to the scheduled Brown Bag. Recordings and presentations are available in an archive of past presentations. Contact Eileen McIlvain for more information.
• Professional development opportunities provided by NSDL Network partners are advertised via news announcements on this site and via partner dissemination channels. To post news about a professional development opportunity, use the Community News form submission (you must be an NSDL Network site member), or send email with pertinent information to Eileen McIlvain. 

Partnership building

The NSDL works with organizations, institutions, and coalitions of STEM stakeholders interested in:

• building partnerships and opportunities for collaboration with NSDL
• utilizing NSDL technologies, services, tools, and resources in innovative ways

Such partnerships leverage the resources and services of NSDL and of partner efforts to broaden NSDL's reach and to foster capacity-building activities and professional development for K12 teachers and undergraduate educators, placing NSDL in the path of users and educators. Contact Susan Van Gundy or Kaye Howe for more information.

Evaluation

Evaluation for the NSDL is conducted by co-PI Mary Marlino. NSDL also collaborates with Project Tomorrow for K12 data collection and trends analysis and reporting as part of its evaluation activities. Contact Mary Marlino or Susan Van Gundy for more information, or visit the Evaluation and Impact pages on this site.