This NSDL small targeted project is developing an evaluation tool for use by the NSDL Pathways, Core Integration, and other collections. The intellectual merit of the project includes building on the lessons of an earlier targeted project, Faculty Participation in the NSDL - Lowering the Barriers (FP-NSDL). The evaluation tool is needed to help the NSDL understand learning needs specific to their user communities, identify barriers to use of a collection, and track how use changes over time. The broader impacts of the project include extending the tool in more depth within individual STEM disciplines. While the primary audience for dissemination is the NSDL Pathways, Core Integration, and collections, the benefits from this project extend beyond the NSDL.
