Archived Information

Access for All: A New National Library for Tomorrow's Learners - February 1997

Access Recommendations

The Task Force defines access as providing all customers effective and efficient means to utilize the National Library of Education's information resources in all formats, whether housed within the Library's own collection or available through network partners.

Access to Services and Resources

  1. National Library of Education should provide maximum access to education information and services in all formats by all users. To accomplish this end, the Library should:

    • Emphasize user access in the design and development of all programs and activities, facilitating access by users who do not currently have access to high technology resources as well as those who do; and

    • Utilize user feedback and partner experience to achieve, maintain, and improve user friendliness for all National Library of Education and U.S. Education Information Network resources and products and provide advice and guidance on locating and using these services.
Such as:
  • Opportunities and initiatives in new technologies;

  • Marketing research; and

  • Customer tracking and survey utilization.

  1. Access issues and solutions should be addressed in cooperation with the U.S. Education Information Network, with the goal being to encourage common or similar standards and procedures wherever possible.

  2. The National Library of Education, together with its partners in the U.S. Education Information Network should initiate a program of educational reference publications and products, in print and electronic formats, to assist users in finding and using information on important educational issues.

Collection Management

  1. The core collection of the National Library of Education includes all materials and items acquired and maintained by it and its contractors in all formats, and the national collection of the National Library of Education includes the sum of all the collections, in all formats, available through the partners that become members of the U.S. Education Information Network.

  2. The national collection of education information that is shared among all the partners in the U.S. Education Information Network should fulfill the National Library of Education's requirement to develop and provide to the public a comprehensive collection of materials related to education.

  3. In managing its core collection, the National Library of Education should concentrate on maintaining a collection that: (a) adequately serves the missions and priorities of the U.S. Department of Education and its contractors and grantees, and the education information needs of other federal agencies; (b) achieves the mandate of becoming the principal center for information about education at the federal level; and (c) fulfills the specialized collection responsibilities for the Library that are agreed upon in the U.S. Education Information Network.
Among the Collection Emphases Will Be:
  • Federal information on education;

  • Lesson plans in all subjects across all grade levels;

  • Digitization of important historical and current items; and

  • Examples of best practices and high standards.

  1. The National Library of Education should take steps to ensure that its collection provides accurate, current, and timely information to education professionals and the public about the best and most useful research findings, practices, data, policy initiatives, and other aspects of education and related subjects by ensuring that the quality control principles and standards so effectively used by the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and the Institutional Communications Network (INet) are applied to the entire collection.

  2. The National Library of Education should actively collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education, the National Archives, other federal agencies, and its partners in the U.S. Education Information Network to develop and implement plans for locating, describing, and preserving important historical materials (especially published and unpublished materials produced or sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education) and information related to education and making these materials available to users in a variety of formats.

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