Frequently Asked Questions
What is Technical Network Services (TNS)?
The National Science Foundation has funded a Technical Network Services (TNS) provider over the next four years to sustain the National Science Digital Library's (NSDL) technical infrastructure into the future. Activities include collections ingest and maintenance; help for NSF NSDL-funded Pathways and Services grantees to prepare and curate collections for inclusion in NSDL as detailed in the Contribute Collections section of the NSDL web site; operation of infrastructure and library; providing the NCORE technology and services platform for use by NSDL grantees; operation of NSDL.org to support dissemination of grantee collections, and; providing consulting and training to support NCore adoption and use and integrate community tools and services.
The Technical Network Services project team is led by Cornell University in cooperation with partners at University of Colorado at Boulder, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and Columbia University.
The TNS vision is to continue to create a new kind of digital library that integrates the best of traditional libraries, the powerful tools of Web 2.0, the organizational capabilities of the NSDL Pathways and partner societies, and the collective intelligence of all those who use and contribute to the library. Fulfilling this vision will create an intellectual commons, empowering scholars, scientists, teachers, librarians and students with the ability to work together to create knowledge and understanding.
In pursuit of this vision and these goals, our mission will be to work with our customers: Pathways, services grantees, other NSF-funded projects, and outside partners, to harden, automate, and streamline all the existing tools and services; develop new tools and services to meet the specific educational needs of our customers and their users; and to develop and implement a business model that can support the continued operation of the central NSDL services beyond the term of this grant.
For help with preparing resources or collections for inclusion in NSDL please refer to the Contribute Collections section of the NSDL web site where you will find information about policies and metadata along with the Collection Development Blueprint and Collection Branding Guidelines. For help with setting up an OAI harvest please contact the ingest staff.
How do I contribute a resource?
Please visit the NSDL.org web site and read the Participate in NSDL page. Follow the Recommend a Resource link and fill in the required fields. Recommended resources are reviewed and will be added to the library when approved.
How do I contribute a collection of resources?
The guidelines for collection contribution are here. Review the Contributing a Collection section. Here you will find instructions and links to follow to start the process. There are cataloging tools available to aid in the creation and maintenance of resource metadata. These tools also allow for integration of resource metadata into the NSDL library.
Can I access cataloging tools?
Yes. Two examples are NCS, and CWIS.
The NCS is a cataloging tool that utilizes the NCore platform to directly interact with the NSDL repository. Visit the NCore documentation or follow the contact link for further information.
CWIS (pronounced see-wis) stands for "Collection Workflow Integration System." It is cataloging software that you may use to assemble, organize, manage, and share collections of metadata about resources. CWIS was specifically created to help build collections of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) resources and connect them into NSF's National Science Digital Library.
Other cataloging tools are available. Some OAI-PMH based tool information may be found at the Open Archives Initiative site.
How do I set up an NSDL OAI harvest of my digital resources?
When you register a collection with the NSDL you will provide all the information necessary to retrieve metadata from an OAI-PMH service. For further technical help with the process, you may contact the ingest staff.
First, register at NSDL.org. Second, sign in at Expert Voices with your NSDL.org username and password. You will need to register with Expert Voices the first time you come back to the blog as a signed in user. Review the Expert Voices Registration and Sign In Tutorial for step-by-step instructions. Contact the blog administrator to set up a new blog or to get permission to post to an existing blog.
The process is similar to gaining entry to NSDL's blogosphere. Register at NSDL.org then sign in at the NSDL WIki with your NSDL.org username and password. Please contact us to be added to groups or restricted work areas.
What is the Resource Center (RC)?
The RC project team is lead by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
NSDL Pathways are partners funded by NSF to provide access to audience-specific views of appropriate NSDL resources and services (portals). Pathway audiences may be grouped by grade level, discipline, resource or data type, or some other designation. More information is available here.
Who can use NCore technologies and services?
NSF-funded NSDL Pathways and services projects are key TNS customers. Other digital library groups or organizations are also invited to take advantage of NCore open source software which is built on top of Fedora repository software.
Have another question you want answered? You can contact us using our Contact Form.