students are shifting. Finally, the students themselves are changing. "Traditional" lecture/test modes of instruction are being replaced by a new generation of student-centered, constructivist, discovery-oriented methods (e.g. Project 2061, Science for All Americans, AAAS, 1989). In light of these changes, tested mechanisms for delivery of information (e.g. textbooks, prescriptive laboratory workbooks, journal articles) the practice of subjecting material to a process of review, should be combined with advanced communication technologies so as to create a unified resource for undergraduate science education, reflecting contemporary educational practices, and maximizing overall impact on the undergraduate SMET educational enterprise.

If faculty are to continue to create innovative teaching and learning environments. to maintain currency with new ideas and pedagogical approaches, to establish examples of "best practice", to sample from these exemplars, to determine suitability to a local situation, and to communicate their findings to a broader audience, they will need Information about mature projects, information about works in progress, the ability to identify developing movements or trends, and the capability to take part in current thinking and debate. Incentives for faculty to use the national library for undergraduate science education include better access to tested materials for immediate use in classes, development of user-networks, ail cross-fertilization of materials and methods across disciplines, institution types, geographic settings, and demographics of the user groups. Faculty will also gain national recognition through their contributions to the library, which will require thorough peer-review prior to acceptance. Students too will need access to these resources and capabilities, as they take on n greater role in collaborative learning environments.

The existence of a system that provides information about undergraduate educational developments would also have great utility to the K-12 community and industry/business concerns as they strive with the undergraduate sector: 1) to address school-to-work transition issues, 2) to improve articulation between the K- 12 and post-secondary communities, 3) to improve pre-service teacher training, which will impact student preparation for entry to higher education, as well as to influence instructional methods on campuses, and in general, 4) to communicate the value of undergraduate education to society at large, arid to help the public determine, on an individual level, where to pursue that value.

In addressing the need for a national library of undergraduate education resources, the NSF is responding to individual and community requests and recommendations for leadership in this area. Program Directors in the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education have long reported a major faculty concern for more effective and widespread access to resources known to have been developed both through sponsored program activities and non-sponsored work. There are many practical barriers to establishment of collaborations among faculty with common educational interests; in the adoption, adaptation, and evaluation of materials that have already been developed; and, especially in the development of inter-and multidisciplinary connections in educational practice. More recently, an advisory panel of specialists in information technology met at NSF on April 18th, 1996 to address questions of the need, form, and function of a new type of information service to serve the undergraduate education community. This panel noted that while other collections of educational material exist (some electronic), these do not adequately serve the undergraduate educational community. Many of the recommendations of this panel are presented in more detail below. On a much larger scale, the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) at NSF recently completed a year-long review of undergraduate SMET education, which gathered input from faculty, academic institutional leaders, professional scientific organizations, representatives from the industrial and business sector, and parents in written form, from invited testimony, and through public forums (Shaping the Future New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology; NSF 96-139). A major recommendation of this undegraduate review is to develop an effective means of validating, codifying, and disseminating good practices in undergraduate SMEI' education.

The goals of the national library will be to improve SMET education through: