The Geoscience Digital Image Library (GeoDIL) is a collection of Earth science images intended primarily as a teaching and learning resource for K-16 educators and students. It is an ongoing project, initiated at the University of North Dakota (UND) in fall 2000; library holdings will grow significantly over the next several years.

Dexter Perkins and Joseph Hartman, of UND's Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, are the Library Directors. Henry Borysewicz, Joseph Stevens, and others at UND's School of Aerospace Sciences are responsible for the programming.

The primary goal of GeoDIL is to provide a visual learning environment that sparks interest and excitement in K-16 students and instructors. With enough holdings, GeoDIL will be used to explore the Earth, make connections between different processes and materials, and develop ideas about Earth system processes. It is especially intended for small schools and colleges that do not have documented images as part of their regular teaching materials.

GeoDIL is also intended to support research by facilitating virtual field trips and providing fundamental information and field data to people with limited access to diverse field experiences. GeoDIL will also allow the public to explore geology and selected Earth system phenomena in a way not previously available. The library will enhance the public's scientific and technological literacy and will permit a better understanding of the Earth system's science.

GeoDIL consists of an ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)-compliant relational database with a custom-designed Web interface. The database is invisible to all users; users access it via a standard point-and-click Web page. A search engine allows users to browse the library and load selected images into virtual carousels for viewing at remote locations.

Your feedback is appreciated. If you have comments, click on Contact Library Administrators. If you have images we can include in GeoDIL, click on the Submit Images.

This is a joint project between the UND Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Energy & Environmental Research Center, and School of Aerospace Sciences. It is funded by UND and the Geoscience Education Program of the National Science Foundation.