Finding and Using Data in Educational Digital Libraries Rajul Pandya

DLESE Program Center UCAR, P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307-3000 +1 303 497 2650

pandya@ucar.edu

Ben Domenico Unidata Program Center UCAR, P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307-3000 +1 303 497 2650

domenico@ucar.edu

Mary Marlino DLESE Program Center UCAR, P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307-3000 +1 303 497 8350

marlino@ucar.edu

ABSTRACTTHREDDS (THematic Real-time Earth Distributed Data Servers)

services catalog geophysical data and other data services to

support discovery and use by researchers. THREDDS, however,

doesn’t support data discovery and use by learners and educators

(i.e. novices). Educational digital libraries, like DLESE (Digital

Library for Earth System Eduation) provide rich metadata

descriptions that are effective in helping novices locate and use

most types of learning resources. DLESE, however, doesn’t

provide a way for novices to discover geophysical data in

immediately usable forms. The VGEE (Visual Geophysical

Exploration Environment) supports novices’ discovery and use of

geophysical data by linking THREDDS services with educational

curricula and learner-centered data tools. The curricula are

cataloged in DLESE and so can be discovered in educational

settings. These curricula then guide novices to the appropriate

tools and illustrate meaningful use of the data. More generally, by

coupling data to curricular documents, text-based discovery tools

(e.g. search engines) can be extended to data.

Categories and Subject DescriptorsH.4.0 [Information Systems Applications]: General

E.3.0 [Data]: General

J.2 [Computer Applications]: Physical Sciences and

Engineering: Earth and atmospheric sciences

General TermsHuman Factors, Design

KeywordsEducation, Geoscience, Data

1. INTRODUCTION Geoscientists have access to a tremendous range of data, using a

variety of technology across a number of sub-disciplines.

THREDDS (THematic Real-time Earth Distributed Data

Servers)[1] uses digital library technology to give researchers

transparent access to these data. The Digital Library for Earth

System Education (DLESE) has created a rich metadata

framework and catalog to support the needs of geoscience

educators and learners, but this framework doesn’t support

educational use of data. DLESE users have asked for data sets as

part of integrated packages that include the tools to use the data

and some guidance in the appropriate use of the data [2].

2. VGEE The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment [3] addresses

the needs of novice data users (e.g. learners and educators) by

providing a way to connect data with curricula and tools that

facilitate meaningful and appropriate use of the data. The VGEE

consists of an inquiry-based curriculum guiding data exploration,

a visualization tool designed to support learner use of geophysical

data, and connections to THREDDS-delivered data. By linking

these three components, learners and educators discover the data

in contexts that ensure its comprehensibility and usability.

3. DISCOVERY IN DIGITAL LIBRARIES Activities within the VGEE curriculum are catalogued as

resources within DLESE. These activities, once discovered,

include embedded links to the learner-centered visualization tool.

The visualization tool itself is configured to link to THREDDS

servers, which provide catalogs of distributed data relevant to the

curriculum. Further development would allow discovery of data

or tools, with connections to the appropriate curricular element.

4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NSF NSF/CCLI #9972491 supports VGEE development.

THREDDS is supported by NSF/DUE #0121623. Unidata’s IDV

is the basis for the VGEE visualization tool. Unidata is funded by

NSF/ATM #9218790. DLESE is funded by NSF/EAR #0215640.

5. REFERENCES [1] THREDDS Catalog.

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/projects/THREDDS/

[2] DLESE Data Working Group Report.

http://www.dlese.org/documents/reports/meeting/Feb_

01/dawg20801_outcomes.html.

[3] VGEE curriculum. http://www.dpc.ucar.edu/vgee.Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for

personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are

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JCDL ’03, May 27-31, 2003, Houston, TX.

Copyright 2003 ACM 1-58113-000-0/00/0000…$5.00.

Proceedings of the 2003 Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL’03)

0-7695-1939-3/03 $17.00 © 2003 IEEE