Find resources to teach undergraduate ecology using EcoEd Digital Library

Background/Question/Methods

EcoEd Digital Library is ESA’s searchable online catalog of resources for teaching undergraduate ecology. Using EcoEd Digital Library, faculty can find free teaching resources that are peer-reviewed for quality, scientific accuracy, and pedagogical use. Teaching resources include photographs, figures, tables, Ecology 101 articles, Issues in Ecology, laboratory exercises, and simulation programs. Resources can be browsed by ecological concept or searched by keyword. The long-term goal for the library is to build and maintain a comprehensive catalog of user-developed teaching resources. Through peer review and citation, we seek to raise the scholarship of teaching in ecology in undergraduate education. Faculty who have developed their own visual resources (photographs, figures, tables) are encouraged to submit them to the library for peer review and publication. Faculty can also contribute to the library by providing feedback on the website and reviewing submissions.

Results/Conclusions
The EcoEd Digital Library catalog and user community are steadily growing. Since the fall of 2007, ESA now accepts visual resource submissions twice a year, with plans to include other resource types as the library expands. Two rounds of review have been completed, and a third is planned for the fall semester of 2008. As of February 2008, Ecoed Digital Library contained about 250 resources and over 2300 registered users. EcoEd Digital Library is a partner library in the Biology Pathway (BEN) of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). BEN is coordinated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). A 2004 survey found that BEN users primarily use the libraries to find lecture resources and to enhance their own teaching and learning. Most users reported that they had downloaded resources from the BEN libraries and used them in the classroom.