WIT 2003

Using eCUIP and other digital libraries

In this module, we will learn about:

• digital libraries
• the types of resources you can find in digital libraries, with particular stress on eCUIP, a K-12 digital library collaboratively designed with and for Chicago Public Schools
• how to use eCUIP and other digital libraries with students
  

Before we begin, you may be asking, “Why use digital libraries at all?” One answer is that digital libraries make rich resources available to you and your students; resources that you can’t get in any other way. In the Finding Existing Resources on the Web module, we discuss different tools to locate information on the Web. However, most popular search engines and directories cannot retrieve the majority of the information on the Web. The part of the Web that is not visible to these search engines and and directories is called the the Invisible, or Hidden, Web. The only way to access these resources is to search or browse the databases themselves; in other words only through digital libraries can the Invisible Web be visible--and usable--to you and your students.

Another reason to use digital libraries is that they enhance the learning experience for your students. Actually “seeing” an ancient papyrus from Egypt, reading a soldier’s Civil War letter, or examining an image of a mosquito taken by an electron microscope bring the world into the classroom. It makes the curriculum come alive when your students are placed in the position of anthropologist, historian, or scientist. Using digital libraries effectively in the classroom means helping students make connections they need to make learning real.

Proceed to What are digital libraries?