Finding a metaphor for collecting and disseminating distributed NSDL content and communications

The national science digital library (NSDL) dramatically broadens the information about STEM resources that it can accept and make available to its users with the introduction of the NSDL data repository (NDR) architecture. On Ramp is a platform for managing workflow, and creating, editing, distributing and storing content from multiple users and groups in a variety of formats to transform information into knowledge by enabling the NSDL community to engage in a rich exchange of information. Flexible content that is small, modular, and adaptable is favored to promote this type of distributed reusable and multilayered information in an educational digital library such as NSDL. In this article we trace the process used to determine a metaphor for the NSDL On Ramp (ONR) content and communications system by exhibiting iterative designs for a user interface derived from ONR user survey results