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) [email protected]
Columbia University417 Watson Hall612 West 115th StreetNew York, NY 10025