The National Science Digital Library As A Platform For An Engineering Education Database.

Studies about the literature of engineering education have clearly demonstrated that a substantial gap exists between the yearly production of articles in this field and the current and historical coverage included by major standard engineering databases. It is estimated 1 that half of the literature produced in English, including those from the USA and Canada, do not have a permanent archival record. This paper proposes the creation of a bibliographic database for engineering and technology education. The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) would be an appropriate platform for such an initiative. NSDL has built, or provides access to, extensive collections of documents and objects in all areas of science and engineering. Well known NSDL projects, such as Annals of Research on Engineering Educations (AREE) or National Engineering Education Delivery System (NEEDS), whether fully or partially funded, are integrated within the NSDL Engineering Pathway (EP). An engineering education database would be a valuable supplement to the robust collections and services provided by EP. The proposed database would be built utilizing the already existing and highly-recognized technical infrastructure of the NSDL. This will be a collaborative project where professional organizations such as the Engineering Library Division (ELD) of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the Science and Technology Section (STS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and the Engineering Division (ED) of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) can play an important role.