STEM to Grow in Libraries: Research project to get science content into media centers

Project to get science content into media centers

Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 9/1/2009

School librarians searching for a better way to broaden their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) resources for K–12 students may soon have some innovative help.

Marcia Mardis, an assistant professor at Florida State University, is embarking on a three-year project to build an RSS-like feed that she says will search Web sites and online libraries, pluck specific images and other digital-based content right from the source, and deposit them directly into a school’s digital collection.

It’s like having a mole on hand for digging and retrieval—the dirty, sometimes uncertain work that can prevent nonspecialist users, including librarians and media specialists—from acquiring STEM content, which frustrates science teachers who lament the lack of resources. “My one-woman mission is to help science teachers and school librarians work more closely together,” says Mardis, who won a $309,344 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the project “Digital Libraries to School Libraries (DL2SL),” which will emphasize open content specifically designed for reuse and remixing.

Schools across the country are being urged to promote science-based teaching as a shortage of US-based experts in STEM subjects is expected in coming years. Even President Obama has made this a priority, pledging to train 100,000 new scientists and engineers during his presidency. Tools like the one Mardis plans to develop could help librarians and other educators inspire K–12 students to study these subjects—and potentially pursue science-related careers.

Mardis’s study should help schools download open content with a science focus, and then allow students to manipulate and edit it to create new digital media. “This is where the promise of digital learning lies, with students learning reading and writing in a different way,” says Susan Van Gundy, director of education and strategic partnerships at the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), an online directory for STEM-based collections. “STEM digital resources allow for stimulation, interactivity, and the ability of students to learn how to manipulate tools. There’s a blending and blurring of different discipline areas.”

Up until now, school library collections have been weaker in the sciences, which can hamper student learning in these subjects. “Because school librarians come out of the language arts and social sciences, they tend to collect in those areas because they’re more comfortable,” says Mardis. “As a consequence, print and static video collections in STEM are small, limited, and out of date.” Major resources do exist online, such as NSDL. Yet educators and students can still become frustrated by vast directories—and simply give up.

“Students need to have content where they are, as opposed to having them do a lot of hunting,” says Linda Braun, president of the Young Adult Library Services Association. “And often, science resources seem to be much more academic. It’s hard to find some that are not higher-level. You can end up spending a lot of time weeding.” Mardis hopes to develop the technology by February 2010 and start testing it in select schools in the spring. Librarians interested in piloting one of the programs can contact her this fall as she’s searching for volunteers. Email Mardis at mmardis@fsu.edu.

“We’ll work with [the volunteers] to give them the confidence to collect more resources,” says Mardis. “And then, they’ll have the confidence to teach the teachers as well.”

SLJ's Q & A with Marcia Mardis.