A digital library for education: the PEN-DOR project

Recent initiatives in digital library research have suggested new models fo r the creation and organisation of digital information and its disseminatio n to virtual communities. PEN-DOR (the Pennsylvania Education Network Digit al Object Repository) is a digital library designed to provide access to th e collective experience of teachers, students and administrators in public schools in building lesson plans and using curriculum materials. Using the WWW as a platform, PEN-DOR incorporates current research in digital librari es to provide K-12 educators with access to multimedia resources and tools to create new lesson plans and presentations, and to modify existing ones. Design problems addressed by the project include the design of a distribute d, object-oriented database architecture, the description and cataloguing o f multimedia objects, and issues related to usability and training for a ge ographically scattered user community. Two critical aspects of the organisa tion of this digital library are the development of a method for the persis tent identification of resources, and the design of a record structure base d on recent developments in metadata. Resource identification has been achi eved by adopting a system-wide approach with an upgrade path to the emergin g URN standards. In designing a record structure, the PEN-DOR project has e lected to use the GEM (Gateway to Educational Materials) metadata standard developed as part of the GEM union catalogue project Content for the databa se is solicited from project partners, government agencies and educational resources Web sites, as well as from participating teachers. Once incorpora ted in the repository, materials can be organised in frameworks that form t he basis for lessons, tutorials and presentations. As frameworks are develo ped, used, critiqued and modified, they will form a community memory of pas t experience. Supported by the state's Link-to-Learn programme, the system will function as a resource for educators throughout Pennsylvania.