Digital Library Repositories and Instructional Support

Systems

Dale Flecker

David Greenbaum

Leslie Johnston

The impetus….

Parallel developments:

* Larger and larger collections of digital library content

* Instructional support systems to deliver digital resources to students

There should be a relationship….

Some work underway

• IMS Digital Repositories Interoperability

• OKI Digital Repository OSID

• IMS Digital Library SIG workgroup on Resources List Interoperability

• IMS/CNI White Paper on Interoperability between Information and Learning environments

But a wide perception much more needs to be done…

Mellon Foundation

Mellon Foundation funding for somemeetings to help move things forward

Ad hoc group

* Digital libraries (MIT, Virginia, Harvard…)

* Educational technology community(IMS, OKI, Indiana…)

•Digital publishers(ArtStor, Blackwell, NetLibrary…)

Some observations

• Lots of highly diverse sources of useful digital content

• High barriers to finding and using existing resources in a course context

• Many information providers unaware of developments in instructional technology

• It’s not just about course management systems– PowerPoint, weblogs, citation managers, Net Snippets,

Onfolio, image manipulation tools, etc also play an important role in delivering educational content

More observations

• It’s also not just an issue of standards and protocols– Selection and organization of resources– Business models, perception of market– IP issues, licensing, vendor relations– Incessant change in the environment

• Other relevant developments in the environment– Metasearch engines, link servers, “knowledgebases”

about the digital landscape, portals…

FACULTY STUDENT STAFF PUBLIC

USER EXPERIENCE

EXPOSE/ACCESS

PUBLISHER DIGITAL LIBRARY

LEARNING OBJECTS

INSTITUTIONAL

REPOSITORIES …ETC

HIGHER EDTOOLS

CourseManagement

Weblog CitationManager

CommunitiesTool …ETC

USERS

Diversity

* of users

* of tools

* of repositories

Spawned two working groups

* Issues for repositories(Leslie)

* Thinking about use and tools(David)