USGS Education Collection Scope Statement

Purpose of the USGS Education Collection

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) provides scientific information intended to help educate the public about natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and issues that affect our quality of life. The objective of this USGS Education Collection is to be as an outreach project to make available online material and educational resources that may be useful to educators in primary school grades (Kindergarten to Grade 6), in secondary school grades (Grade 7 to Grade 12), and at the college level. Many of these resources can be used directly in the classroom or will be useful in classroom lessons or demonstration activities preparation, or as resources for teacher education, curriculum development, and for student research.

Collection Policy

Data and resources for the USGS Education Collection have initially been chosen by USGS Education and Outreach personnel based on their applicability to three areas of outreach: primary grades (K-6), secondary grades (7-12), and undergraduate education (community colleges and universities). The collection also focuses on geology of different environments, such as caverns, caves, climate change, water resources, and coastal areas; many natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes, and floods, and a strong emphasis on maps, atlases, satellite images, and online map tools. A specialized subset of resources is linked to an established list of science and history-social science content standards for the state of California. The selected online resources include lessons, data, maps, and reference materials, to support teaching, learning, education (K-16), and university-level inquiry and research.

Collection contacts

Please email the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) (support@dlese.org) about any questions regarding resources or metadata in the collection.

Terms of use

Terms of use issues have two components, a resource's terms of use and metadata terms of use.

Resource terms of use

The USGS Education Collection includes resource content developed by the United States Geological Survey, its regional divisions, and partner organizations such as the National Map, the National Atlas, and the Library of Congress. Such resources may be used for educational purposes. The information presented is considered public information (unless otherwise noted) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credit is requested; please follow the guidelines provided on the disclaimer page at: http://www.doi.gov/footer/disclaim.html.

Metadata terms of use

All metadata is copyrighted as 2006 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). The collection's metadata may be used as long it is consistent with the DLESE Intellectual Property Policy, which can be found at: http:www.dlese.org/documents/policy?DLEE_IP_approved.html. This allows for the redistribution and reformatting of metadata records to work in DLESE systems and services. Individual metadata records are available for harvest from DLESE.

Quality Assurance

Resource quality assurance

The resources made accessible via the collection will vary in quality because the USGS Education Collection consists of individual resources chosen by DLESE and USGS Education and Outreach personnel and created by various organizations and at different times. However, resources are checked to ensure they meet the criteria to be part of DLESE. If library users find errors or have suggestions for improvement for the collection, such changes are considered and changes are made as appropriate.

Metadata quality assurance

Metadata for USGS Education Collection resources is generated by DLESE personnel using a DLESE Collection System (DCS) to enter information describing USGS and associated resources. Quality reviews and final approvals are conducted by DLESE.

Persistence

The collection is expected to exist indefinitely as long as funding is reliable. Currently, funding is available through September 2007. If the funding situation changes dramatically enough to impact operations, the collection will cease to exist.

Last updated: 2006-10-16
Maintained by: Katy Ginger (support@dlese.org), DLESE Metadata

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