The basic design of the EarthRef.org website has been updated based on feedback from many of its users. Currently, we have finished the first phase of this redesign project, in which we have moved most of the navigational links into the top menu. You can now also directly search in the EarthRef.org databases by filling out your search terms in the textbox in the top menu and clicking the Go button. Finally, you may register or log-in by clicking on the links in the top menu. Registration and log-in are optional for most operations, but are required for some, such as contributing files and references.

The second phase of the EarthRef.org redesign will focus on improving the functionality and information on the home pages for EarthRef.org, GERM and MagIC. In the last phase we will add "graphically" enhanced search forms to interrogate the EarthRef.org databases. We plan to finish these redesigns in the coming months, so please check back with us on a regular basis. We would appreciate your comments or suggestions through the Feedback form.

A two-week summer workshop between 11-24 July (2004) is open to middle and high school teachers who teach Earth science concepts in their curriculum to create Enduring Resources for Earth Science Education (ERESE). Support includes a stipend for travel and living allowances. Enable your students to design their own personal voyages of discovery. We will concentrate on the ideas of plate tectonics, using real shipboard data and state-of-the-art global Earth science models. Beginning with the discovery of magnetic seafloor spreading stripes, we will explore the scientific inquiry process of hypothesis and testing. Throughout the workshop, you will be immersed in the researcher’s view of the world, as you work side-by-side in daily sessions with a group of researchers and advanced graduate students. You will be making use of the latest developments in digital library technology to build new learning environments.

The workshop is funded by an NSF National Science Digital Library (NSDL) award and is a collaborative project involving the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), A.C. Mosley High School in Lynn Haven (Florida) and the UCSD Libraries. A national search is being conducted to select ten teachers to participate in the workshop. The deadline for registration is 1 March 2004. Click here to read the official announcement on the EarthRef.org website.