Contribute a collection (overview)

Collections and collection building

Collections are groups of resources (activities, modules, annotation, etc.) organized around a theme, organization, topic, audience, learning strategy or some criteria that can be articulated. DLESE does not hold actual web resources themselves. DLESE's content is information containing pointers to and information about web-based materials (like a card in a card catalog). This information is called metadata (data about data). Such information typically includes a URL, title, audience, grade range, description, etc. in the form of a digital record. From a DLESE perspective, a collection is an organized or thematic group of these metadata information records.

What is collection building?

Collection building is a process conducted over time that builds and shapes a collection into a balanced, cohesive and sought-after set of user materials. Anyone in the DLESE community can build a collection. Good collection building involves

• Assessing the information needs of users
• Analyzing usage statistics and demographic projections
• Formulating and articulating of selection criteria
• Making plans for resource sharing
• Developing a well-defined cataloging plan; that is collecting the URL, title, description and other information about a resource
• Maintaining metadata and resources for library
• Exposing the collection to library users

Benefits of contributing a collection

• Exposure: marketing and outreach activities promote access to resources and collections
• Distribution: resources and collections are made available to the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and other digital libraries
• Discovery: search and browse mechanisms target collections and resources to appropriate audiences
• Reputation: resources can be peer reviewed to be part of the DLESE Reviewed Collection
• Recognition: collections are searchable by collection name and resources are attributed to individual collections
• Support: access to technical assistance and tools for collection development and management

How to contribute

The length of time to create and contribute a collection varies widely depending on whether the collection already exists or if the collection is being newly created from scratch. The amount of time also depends on the type of collection and the support needs of the persons or organizations making the collection. To facilitate contributing in a timely manner, please contact the DLESE Program Center (DPC) support@dlese.org early in the collection contribution process.

Please read contribute a collection (detailed) for a complete how-to for contributing collections.

Policies and documents

• Collections Scope and Policy - describes the resources that are desirable within DLESE and provides an overview of the library holdings, (subject matter, geographic coverage, types of resources), and information access (copyright restrictions, language, technical requirements). See also: DLESE Community Collection Scope Statement (use this as a model if you are developing your own scope statement).
• Collections Accessioning and Deaccessioning policy - describes DLESE collection requirements.
• Metadata overview - the information records mentioned above are called metadata records; collections development and metadata go hand-in-hand.
• July 21, 2004: DLESE Steering Committee recommendations re: Quality report: Next Steps in Support of Developing a Quality Plan for DLESE
• July 7, 2004: Providing a High-Quality DLESE Experience ; a report by: Annette de Charon, Don Elthon, and Michelle Hall. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Discussions and committees

• Collection committee email group: collections@dlese.org (must be a member to post)
• Archive of the Collections committee email group

Last modified July 26, 2004.