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New Digital Library to Focus on Gender and Science

February 11, 2002

Despite some narrowing of the gender gap in scientific careers, girls continue to be underrepresented in upper-level science courses in high school and college. EDC's Gender and Diversities Institute (GDI) hopes its new digital library can help reverse that trend by providing educators, researchers, and students with a vast collection of online resources focused on gender and science.

The Gender and Science Digital Library (GSDL) is part of the National Science Foundation's major initiative to "create, organize, and install high-quality education resources onto the Internet." To be developed over the next 20 months in partnership with the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC), the GSDL will collect materials, evaluate and classify them, and provide instant online access.

"The GSDL's approach and offerings are distinctive. Its gender equity framework, cross disciplinary focus, broad conceptualization of science, K-16 focus, interactivity, and international dimension make it an original and promising resource," said Katherine Hanson, director of the GDI and principal investigator of the project. "With this library, we will improve the dissemination of good teaching materials and the quality of gender-fair science instruction materials. The GSDL will also allow users to interact with each other and with specialists all over the world," says Hanson, who is joined by Vivian Guilfoy, an EDC vice-president, as co-principal investigator.

The digital library, one of about 20 collections funded by the National Science Foundation, responds to a growing need for better access and dissemination of the many high quality gender-fair science materials that have been developed over the past few decades. The library will tap the sizeable collection of EDC's WEEA Equity Resource Center and NSF's Programs for Gender Equity, along with numerous other sources around the world. The WEEA center, the primary national resource for gender equity in education for more than 20 years, specializes in equity resources, including science, math, and technology materials. In addition to gender-fair and inclusive classroom curricula and teacher resource guides, the GSDL collection will bring together a wealth of information about gender issues in science-gender differences in perceiving and doing science; research on females in science; and gender-fair models of science education.

"The GSDL will pull together materials from all over the world and offer instantaneous dissemination of information," says Sarita Nair, EDC project director. "And it won't just be a repository of ideas; it will also be designed to generate new ideas." For example, the digital library will feature a series of forums and discussions where users can exchange information and thoughts on the materials in the collection.

The library will be designed to accommodate a wide range of visitors' styles in questioning and searching-allowing for differences in gender, race, ethnicity, language, and disability. The project will also provide alternative access to the information for people without an Internet connection-such as CD's and print-outs from the library's collections.

Tapping a Broad Network

Working with ENC, located at Ohio State University, EDC will conceptualize the presentation of the library, determining topic selection, how the library can be searched, and categories of material. EDC will also oversee the collection and review of materials.

ENC will provide technological expertise and focus on the architecture of the library. The library's structure will draw on the architecture of the ENC Online resource, which includes the ENC Resource Finder, a catalog of curriculum resources describing all the materials in ENC's collection that is easily searched by browsing or using key words. ENC's database of information about federally sponsored mathematics and science programs includes the full text of selected publications. The information in these documents is bolstered by ENC's collection of over 18,000 curriculum materials.

Call for Submissions

The project partners are also actively soliciting suggestions of good materials to include in the library. To learn more about the project—or to recommend material—visit the Gender and Diversities Institute Web site.

How Does a Digital Library Work?

A digital library collects information much as a "bricks and mortar" library does, but it goes a step further. In addition to gathering books, software, videos, and curricula, it evaluates them, presents an abstract, and offers immediate access to all resources, 24 hours a day. A visitor's search can be more elaborate, nuanced, and sophisticated than a typical request made of a search engine. Kimberly Roempler, a co-principal investigator based at the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, offers this example of the potential of digital libraries.

Suppose you need a lesson on the hydrosphere for sixth graders. You want the lesson to last 45 minutes, and you would like to include an interactive applet that covers the water cycle, two minutes of video, a short essay for students to read, and an activity that students can take home and do with parents. Ideally, you'd like to highlight the contributions of female hydrophysicists. You type all these requests into a search engine, click on Submit, and instantly the resources are delivered to your computer.

Collaborating with EDC Colleagues

The GDI digital library will draw on the expertise of a variety of EDC specialists, including: