About the Archive
The APS Archive of Teaching Resources is a digital library of peer-reviewed science teaching resources that is free and open to educators worldwide. As of January 2009, the Archive contained more than 2,200 peer-reviewed teaching resources including audiovisual materials, lesson plans, teaching journal articles, and scientific content materials.
Unique Features
Searchable through BEN and NSDL: The Archive shares metadata with the BioSciEd Net (BEN) Portal (www.biosciednet.org). BEN is the National Science Digital Library Pathways Portal to the Life Sciences. Archive materials can also be searched through BEN and through the National Science Digital Library (www.nsdl.org).
Collaboration among Scientific Societies: The Archive serves as a national model of a professional society digital library that shares its cyberstructure among numerous societies. As of 2008, teaching resources from five scientific societies can be searched through the Archive: American Physiological Society, Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, Society for Developmental Biology, International Union of Physiological Societies, and the National Association for Health and Science Education Partnerships. For more information on these Archive Partners, click here. Online tools allow partners to manage their submissions and reviews. If you are interested in your organization becoming an Archive Partner, contact the Archive Coordinator at archive@the-aps.org.
"My Archive" Tools: The Archive is open to all users. Registration is not required to search or download resources. However, additional tools are available for those who register as Archive users. These include saving search parameters and search results, customizing folders to save results, sharing resources with colleagues, submitting materials to the Archive, and serving as an Archive reviewer.
Colleague-to-Colleague Resource Sharing: The Archive not only catalogues materials produced/published by partner organization but encourages individual educators to share the teaching materials they have developed through the Archive. Each item is reviewed, at minimum, for scientific accuracy and appropriate use of humans/animals in teaching (if applicable). Authors receive all reviewer comments and, after making any required modification, their materials are posted in the Archive. Authors retain copyright and have the option of publishing an abstract describing their Archive contribution in the APS journal, Advances in Physiology Education. Authors can withdraw or update their Archive submissions at any time. Many educators have found Archive submission an excellent way to have their teaching materials peer reviewed by content experts. In addition, each resource in the Archive has a bulletin board feature where users can post comments on the item and suggestions for its use.
History
The APS Archive was originally initiated in 1997 as a project of the APS Education Committee. The Committee envisioned a set of web pages where APS members could share teaching resources that they had developed. A web page with a handful of teaching resources was posted in 1998 along with a call for submissions by APS members. As the overall concept of digital libraries developed, the Committee proposed that the scope of the project be expanded to develop a full, database-driven, digital library with standardized metadata. With support from the APS and the NSF and in partnership with the BioSciEd Net collaborative, this goal has been not only realized, but far surpassed.
Major contributors to the development of the Archive have included APS Education Committee Chairs Barbara Goodman, Robert Carroll, and Thomas Pressley. APS Education Committee member, John Dietz, spearheaded the initial Archive development and contributed the initial resources for its launch in 1997. Without their combined vision and hard work, the APS Archive of Teaching Resources would never have become a reality.
For more information, please contact the Archive Coordinator at archive@the-aps.org.
