Cornell University Adopts SourceForge for The National Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Digital Library (NSDL)

VA Software Corp. announced Cornell University deployed the SourceForge(TM) Enterprise Edition collaborative software development (CSD) platform to accelerate the growth of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) for the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The NSDL program is building an online network of learning environments and resources for science, mathematics, engineering and technology education at all levels. Cornell is one of many entities working with the National Science Foundation to create software applications that will power NSDL. The Core Integration group includes six teams that must collaborate very closely.

The NSDL project team at Cornell set out to meet the challenge of providing a CSD environment for participants in approximately 30 different locations. The project team wanted to ensure developers could work together seamlessly regardless of location, time of day, number of developers involved and developer turnover, as well as a variety of development tools being employed.

“With such a large number of developers working on the same project, we wanted a solution that would provide high levels of visibility and control. It’s the only way to ensure delivery of a quality product in a reasonable amount of time,” said Dean Krafft, Senior Research Associate and Director of Computing Facilities, Computer Science Department, Cornell University. “We believe that SourceForge is a CSD solution unmatched in the industry, and we are confident VA Software will continue to play an important role in assisting the NSDL project.”

With the concurrence of the Core Integration group, the Cornell team selected SourceForge Enterprise Edition to power its project center because the technology fulfills all of the key functional requirements for this initiative. “Having the ability to customize SourceForge was critical to our needs. SourceForge provides a very friendly, comfortable and rich environment for widely-distributed collaborative development,” said Krafft.

Upon completion of the first phase of the project, which is slated for late fall 2002, the NSDL will serve as a portal for math and science educators and students at all levels.

The SourceForge-powered Communications Portal for the NSDL project can be found at http://comm.nsdlib.org.

About NSDL

The National Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education Digital Library (NSDL) is now under construction with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSDL will offer, via the Internet, high-quality materials for science, mathematics, engineering and technology education. Its initial release is scheduled for the fall of 2002. The NSDL is likely to be the largest and most heterogeneous digital library yet built.

The accessibility of its collections and range of services will enable the NSDL to enhance education in all scientific disciplines across the nation. In the words of NSF program staff, the NSDL “will strongly affect education at all levels, including pre-K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and life-long learning, by providing anytime, anywhere access to a rich array of authoritative and reliable interactive materials and learning environments.” The NSF site for NSDL can be found at http://www.nsdl.nsf.gov.

About VA Software

VA Software is the provider of SourceForge(TM), the collaborative software development (CSD) platform used by more than a quarter million developers worldwide. SourceForge Enterprise Edition helps IT and engineering organizations accelerate development by improving internal visibility and control through a centralized, integrated CSD platform. Information on VA Software’s SourceForge enterprise software product, services and support is available at http://www.vasoftware.com.

Note: VA Software and SourceForge are trademarks or registered trademarks of VA Software Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.