The National Science Digital Library & Shibboleth

The National Science Digital Library & Shibboleth

What is NSDL?

http://NSDL.org

NSDL: a digital library, organized in support of science and mathematics education for all levels

Digital Library

Metadata Standard resource info given to NSDL NSDL creates a searchable catalog

Data: Links to described resources

Physical Library

Metadata Card catalog Electronic catalog (e.g. NYPL’s LEO) Other descriptive info

Data Books on the shelves

ScienceTechnologyEngineeringMathematics

NSDL: ‘S’ stands for science,short for STEM

NSDL Teaching Tools

Authoritative results

Collaboration, interaction, participation

Curricular materials

Research results and data sets

Lesson plans and teaching aids

Textbooks, journals, video, audio, multimedia, etc.

NSDL Offers…

AskNSDL

NSDL Recommender

Approx. 200 NSDL Awards

300+ Collections, and growing Aggregator of aggregators

Collection Highlights

Collection Development Policy

Quality = accuracy, appropriateness, relevance, and technical reliability

Editorial boards, peer recommendations, user annotations, or other processes

NSDL supports materials that support its mission: excellence in STEM education

Q: Why NSDL? What about Google or other popular search engines?

A: NSDL offers authority and safety. For example, compare searches for keyword, “Venus.”

Venus Search on Google

Venus Search on NSDL

Levels of Access

Open access: freely available materials through NSDL.org; no registration

Personal access: access to proprietary materials requires affiliation with a subscribing institution. Benefits include customized or personalized services:

annotation asynchronous services (e.g. email) synchronous services (e.g. chat/office hours) personal selections (for teachers and students) archival services

Shibboleth

To personalize/localize access, NDSL advocates Shibboleth implementation

Consolidates administration Provides single sign-on capabilities Scaleable and capable of virtually any

identity management need.

Single Sign-on

Enables login into multiple resources with a single username

What is Shibboleth?

Shibboleth is software, more specifically referred to as middleware

Middleware is a layer of software that acts as a facilitator between a network and its applications, providing services such as identification, authentication, and authorization

Shibboleth was developed by Internet2/MACE. The current version is v1.2

Shibboleth in Middle Schools

Funded with an NSF/NSDL grant, Columbia University is investigating the feasibility of implementing Shibboleth in a pilot group of middle schools

Columbia is interested in partnering with schools in its local community

Implementing Shibboleth

Software (Free)

Web Server

Java Servlet Container

Login system (local identity management)

Agreement with federation policies

Partnership Possibilities

Integration of NSDL resources into middle school science teaching activities

Professional development opportunities to guide teachers and administrators in the most effective uses of internet technologies

Understanding district privacy policies, practices, concerns, and emerging technologies

Pilot implementation of Shibboleth

Websites to Note

http://NSDL.org

http://www.columbia.edu/~jb701/nsdl

http://NSDL.org/asknsdl

http://recommend.NSDL.org

Ways to Participate

Bookmark http://NSDL.org on school PCs

Link to NSDL on school websites

Inform colleagues about NSDL

Promote student use of NSDL

Ask about Shibboleth

Contact Information

James Burger, Manager, Subscriber Services National Science Digital Library (NSDL)

(212) 854-1110jb701@columbia.edu

Columbia University417 Watson Hall612 West 115th StreetNew York, NY 10025