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Resources Sought by Digital Library Users Vary by Institution Type: A Multi‐Year Study of the APS Archive of Teaching Resources
Author(s) -
Byse Miranda,
Cipiti Chadwick,
Matyas Marsha Lakes
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.671.4
The American Physiological Society (APS) Archive of Teaching Resources is a collaborative digital library providing scientific resources for educators at the K‐12, Undergraduate, Graduate, and Professional levels. In 2011, the Archive will begin working with users to develop a Community of Practice (CoP) where educators can collaborate and improve on their pedagogy. One of the primary characteristics of a CoP is that members share an interest in similar topics or issues. In preparation for community development, the current study sought to determine whether registered Archive users shared similar interests over three categories – discipline, type of teaching resource sought (e.g. multimedia, assignment, course syllabus, etc.), and teaching method of resources sought (e.g., inquiry, problem‐solving, etc.). Secondly, the study explored whether resource selection was related to the user's teaching level (e.g., K‐12, community college, college/university). We also determined which institution type had the most registered users and the institution type that overall accessed the most materials. This information will lay the foundation for identifying and cultivating shared interests between users from different institutions.