Partnering with NSDL

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

Transitioning NSDL...

The National Science Digital Library is a national network dedicated to advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching and learning for all learners in both formal and informal settings. 

NSDL provides resources and collections supporting STEM education, technical tools and services; partnership building, and community support services for educators and developers. NSDL collaborates with projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as other agencies such as the Department of Education and the Institute for Museum and Library Studies; state agencies; and other organizations who leverage NSF’s investment in NSDL.

NSDL has enjoyed the generous support of the National Science Foundation since 2000, the inception year of the National Science Digital Library, via the National STEM Distributed Learning funding program within the Directorate of Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE).  In February 2011, NSF made the decision to discontinue funding the NSDL grant-making program within DUE. Consequently, there was no 2011 National STEM Distributed Learning (NSDL) solicitation. 

NSDL and its extensive networked partnership continues to conduct operations and collection building in support of STEM education (borrowing from Mark Twain: "...reports of our death are highly exagerated").

We are actively engaged in long-term sustainability planning, maintaining broad partnerships with a variety of federal STEM education efforts, including the NSDL STEM Exchange, and national Learning Registry; ongoing development of an NSDL Mathematics Common Core collection; positioning to create an NSDL Next Generation Science Standards aligned collection; development of processes and guidelines for Learning Application Readiness; streamlining of NSDL technical infrastructure and processes, and related activities. 

Interested NSDL community members are encouraged to explore other options for funding from the National Science Foundation, including: 

• Cyberleaning: Transforming Education (CTE):  NSF 10-620 (Letter of Intent due May 14, 2011; full proposal deadline: July 14, 2011)
• Math and Science Partnerships(MSP): NSF 10-556

Letters of Collaboration

Please review NSF’s information with respect to Letters of collaboration. These are not letters of support. The expectation is that negotiation and agreement on some form of collaboration with Technical Network Services and/or the Resource Center will have been attained, and be detailed within your proposal.

Those seeking letters of collaboration from NSDL should submit a request for consultation as soon as possible in your proposal development process, via the NSDL Contact form. NSDL will require up to one week minimum to process these requests.  Please include the following information in your initial request:

•  Project title and all PI names, institutions, and addresses, fax, and phone numbers
•  Brief summary of proposed work, including work plan, and anticipated type of collaborations with NSDL

More Information

Submit inquiries regarding collaboration with the NSDL via the NSDL Contact form, specifying your intended solicitation or RFP, and the nature of your proposed work, and you will be contacted by appropriate NSDL staff. Leveraging NSDL for Dissemination provides guidance on planning potential impacts to your proposal budget for collection building and contribution to NSDL.