Design considerations for the Library of Congress Learning Page: providing learners context and access to the collections - World Wide Web site - Children and the Digital Library

Library Trends, Spring, 1997 by Judith K. Graves

Abstract

The Learning Page of the Library of Congress (LC) () was created using an Instructional Systems Design (ISD) analysis of LC's requirements; the needs of the target audience; and the tasks and skills necessary to access American Memory, LC's digitized historical collections on the World Wide Web. The resulting Web page organizes American Memory materials from a learner's perspective and provides supporting educational materials which focus in the research process and the use of primary sources in the classroom.

Background

In 1990, the Library of Congress launched American Memory, a five-year pilot program to test the concept of utilizing digital technology to make some of its rare and unique American collections available to the community at large. More that twenty archival collections were digitized. During a two-year user evaluation, ten of these collections were placed on a hybrid CD-ROM/videodisk system and distributed to forty-four test sites, which included colleges, universities, state and public libraries, and elementary and secondary schools. The evaluation of this pilot program revealed the most active participants to be the K-12 schools, which were beginning to include more primary source materials in their classrooms (Veccia et al., 1993, p.81).

In October 1994, based on the findings of the first large-scale evaluation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded LC a three-year, $3 million grant to extend the resources of the National Digital Library to the K-12 educational community. LC's five objectives are to:

* shape selected Library of Congress historical collections for the K-12 community;

* produce descriptive guides to help teachers and students use the collections;

* explore CD-ROM, Internet, and cable television distribution channels to the schools:

* help teachers learn about using primary sources in elementary and secondary education; and

* engage in a distance learning initiative.

In July 1994, LC established its World Wide Web site (www.loc.gov/>). One of the initiatives put forth to achieve the Kellogg grant objectives was the creation of a World Wide Web page for education and, in the fall of 1995, the design process for the Web page began. The Learning page (<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/>) debuted in march 1996 and received more than 100,000 hits in first six months online. Although the Learning Page has grown substantially since its beginning, it has maintained its original framework, which is based on the principals of Instructional Systems Design (ISD).

Instructional Systems Design seeks to provide: a clear, orderly analysis of the learner; a comprehensive analysis of the content to be learned and its organization and presentation; and an analysis of the tasks and skills involved in the learning event. The resultant design will be a product of the interaction between the cognitive processing required to acquire the content, the strategies and methods that support these processes, and the characteristics of the technology that promote positive learning strategies and cognitive processing (Park & Hannafin, 1993, p.67).

Design Considerations

From an Instructional Systems Design standpoint, the considerations in designing the Learning Page were:

1. the Library of Congress' goal of raising public awareness of the value of primary sources and its other objectives as set forth for the Kellogg grant;

2. the target audience, specifically learners and educators, and their characteristics, motivation for visiting LC's Web site, and skills and knowledge in searching for and using primary sources and the World Wide Web; and

3. the tasks learners would perform to gain access to the primary source materials of LC and the skills needed to perform those tasks.

Design Discussion

Library Congress Goals and Objectives

The Library of Congress, a world-renowned research institution, serves expert researchers. A Web page for education should promote the learning and development of the skills necessary to become an expert researcher. Scaffolding techniques that support learners and lead them toward this goal should also be an integral of the design (Savery & Duffey, 1995, p. 33). LC, in pursuit of its goals and objectives, has gathered lesson ideas from experienced teachers on the use of primary sources, especially those of the American Memory collections (Library of Congress, 1995). Making these ideas available in an online archive would promote the collegial exchange of ideas among educators, providing support for educators as recommended by Honey and Hawkins (1996).

Target Audience

The American Memory User Evaluation (Veccia et al., 1993) has revealed that both elementary and secondary schools used the American Memory materials, with secondary schools being the more frequent users. A study (Center for Children and Technology, 1996b) done for the Library of Congress describes a wide variation in technical proficiency and Internet connectivity. Hardware and software availability vary from the Apple IIe to the Powerbook and from the 286 to the pentium with multimedia capability. Therefore, the Web page design must accommodate the technologically proficient while providing the same level of service to school that are just beginning to come online.