Contingencies
PRIORITIES FOR IMPLEMENTING USEIN
Implementation of USEIN should begin as quickly as possible. To that end, the following steps need to be taken.
A working group drawn from stakeholders needs to be established to begin drafting bylaws and operating procedures. This group should consider the USAIN documents, but feel free to diverge from them in order to better fit the needs of the educational community. This working group should be supported and staffed by the NLE, with extensive consultation about the role that NLE can play in budgetary and future staff support of the network. A clear charge to the working group and any subcommittees it may form needs to be provided. The working group needs to make its work as public as possible through postings on the listserv, U.S. Department of Education Web site, or other mechanisms that will generate feedback from interested parties. Since many components of USEIN are already in existence or ready for development or evolution from related resources, it will be the working group's task to prioritize production schedules in consultation with NLE staff.
A listserv to connect the membership of USEIN should be established as quickly as possible. The NLE should host the listserv, with operating guidelines, including archiving policies, established by the same group described above or by another temporary task group. This listserv will be critical to members working on various projects at the organizational stages as well as at later stages.
A Web site devoted to USEIN must be developed. This Web site will include links to other relevant sites, and maintain a keyword searchable database of education information and service providers and other products recommended for development. This site should be developed with care rather than haste since it will be the primary source of information for many constituents.
Development of a master directory of education organizations, institutions, and partners will begin using electronic resources already being developed by ERIC and NLE staff, with information drawn from sources such as the Directory of ERIC Resource Collections (1996) and the Directory of Curriculum Materials Centers (1996), with additional information solicited through U.S. Department of Education, OERI, ERIC, and NLE publications. Once this master directory is compiled it will serve as the major resource for education information providers of all types of information in any type of format. In his paper, Don Ely referred to this as a "national union catalog," with very similar purpose. In the interim, NLE will continue to provide referral services using the publications mentioned previously, and other relevant resources. It remains essential that products already under development be merged or utilized as part of USEIN whenever practical and appropriate in order to be efficient.
Mailings to educational organizations, such as those listed in the Encyclopedia of Associations (1997) should be sent to solicit participation as a USEIN partner. Educational organizations such as the PTA should be included in those mailings. Corporations with an educational focus, including software, equipment and textbook producers, should also be contacted for potential partnership. Partner groups should be recognized for their specialized expertise, time and contributions.
Promotional and informational news releases will be prepared and a schedule established to disseminate information about USEIN. News releases will include human interest stories of how the information network can assist a parent trying to improve a child's homework habits, or how a school district was able to levy a tax increase based on information from the network, or how it was possible to track down a textbook used in a 1930s classroom for the benefit of a local citizen. Marketing should be professional, attention- getting, and of high quality.
A schedule of workshops will be established to disseminate information about USEIN.
The first annual meeting will be scheduled for 1998, based on the guidelines established in the operating procedures.
Contingencies