Edumeres

The virtual network for international textbook research

The Edumeres platform (Educational Media Research) serves as a central port of call for the community of textbook researchers and practitioners spread around the world, bringing together the varied digital products and tools provided by the Georg Eckert Institute. These products were part of the DFG project ‘Vernetzung im Forschungsgebiet der internationalen Bildungsmedienforschung und Erprobung neuer Formen wissenschaftlicher Kommunikation und Publikation‘ (Networking in international educational media research and testing new forms of academic communication and publication), which ran from 2009 to 2011 and tested digital working processes in a virtual research environment. Companion studies and a concluding analysis lead the platform to focus more on structured, specialised information and products related to the GEI’s textbook inventory. By 2023 the platform’s future-proof modules will have been internationalised and their information technology basis standardised within the framework of the Global Textbook Resource Center (GLOTREC).

  • Aims

    The overriding aim of the Edumeres project is to become the ‘virtual network for international textbook research’ and therefore the central access point for the GEI’s digital products. In following this aim the project had different emphases over its 12-year lifespan, after it was launched in 2009:

    In the context of the DFG project ‘Networking in international educational media research and testing new forms of academic communication and publication’ (2009-2011), the focus was on the development, maintenance and evaluation of a virtual research environment (VRE) that was to be integrated into Edumeres.

    Building on the results of the first phase of the project, after 2012 the Edumeres team attempted to modularise the products and tools and to improve their usability to meet its overarching goal of providing central and user-friendly access to the GEI's digital information products. Regular internal evaluations were designed to advance the core modules and the functionality of the project and to standardise them, and the information technology and data management underpinning them, in the subsequent project phase, thus making Edumeres compatible with the initial phase of GLOTREC and ready to be integrated with it.


  • Methodology

    The Edumeres platform went live in spring 2009 following a construction and test phase. The first modules to be available, using the TYPO3 content management system, were ‘Information’ and ‘Publications’. The platform addressed different target groups and became the central access point for most of the GEI's digital products. Within the framework of the DFG project ‘Networking in international educational media research and testing new forms of academic communication and publication’, the GEI developed a virtual research environment and integrated it into Edumeres in order to enable virtual working processes that were more user-oriented. During the project’s two-year duration (2009-2011) the team members followed a variety of internal project groups and analysed what they required from a virtual research environment. It became apparent that there was very limited take up for such a product, however, comprehensively structured, specialised information and products related to the GEI’s inventory were much more in demand. Edumeres was subsequently expanded through the development of individual modules containing information from international educational media research (edu.news), on textbook systems (edu.data), textbooks reviews (edu.reviews), digital publications (edu.docs), and on an international network of experts (edu.experts). Based on a number of user surveys, products maintained by the research library such as ‘GEI-DZS’ and the ‘curricula workstation’ were added to the platform when it was relaunched in 2016.

    In the course of an internal evaluation and strategy overview of the Institute’s digital products and services in 2017/18, the future-proof modules available on the Edumeres platform were highlighted and the information technology upon which they are based was further examined and standardised. These modules will be subsequently be integrated into the long-term GLOTREC infrastructure by 2023 and expanded to include more international content.


  • Results

    Information services and research tools on the platform

    During the project a range of information services were developed and made centrally available through Edumeres.

    edu.news (concluded)

    The edu.news module ran from 2009 to 2018 and featured current information from the world of international textbook research and practice as well as conference reports and news of events. The entire collection is still available to view, providing an overview of a decade of educational media research.

    edu.reviews (concluded)

    Edu.reviews provided a platform for reviews of German-language textbooks, and ran from 2004 to 2019. The platform built a bridge between academia and educational practice as academics and researchers were able to gain a range of perspectives on textbooks through discussions with teachers and students. The aim was to make it easier for teachers to select appropriate textbooks by providing multiple perspectives and a non-publishing point of view, to provide researchers with stimuli for textbook research and also to improve the design of textbooks by authors and publishers.

    Curricula Workstation and GEI-DZS

    The Curricula Workstation and GEI-DZS were developed in partnership with the Institute’s Research Library. The Curricula Workstation provides free access to German and international curricula for social science subjects. The GEI-DZS database contains textbooks and school atlases approved for use in German schools from year 5 onwards.

    edu.docs (concluded)

    Edu.docs provided a central access point to freely available publications relevant to international textbook research. Digital publications will be incorporated into the library’s online catalogue in future.

    edu.data (deactivated)

    Edu.data provided information on international textbooks in the context of the individual country. Information on textbook systems around the world was collated and available through this platform.


    Publications (selection)

    Fuchs, A. L. 2018. ‘edumeres.net: Zehn Jahre digitale Vernetzung’. In Digital Humanities in der internationalen Schulbuchforschung (Eckert. Expertise 9) edited by Maret Nieländer and Ernesto William De Luca, 191–206. Göttingen. Available online.

    Hartung, T. 2015. ‘New Wine in New Skins – The Relaunch of the Edumeres Portal’. In: Eckert. Bulletin (15), 46–49. Available online.

    Brink, S.; Fuchs, A. L.; Henrÿ, R.; Strötgen, R. 2012. ‘Kollaborative Wissensgenerierung im virtuellen Raum – Entwicklungen und Erkenntnisse aus der internationalen Bildungsmedienforschung‘. InVernetztes Wissen - Daten, Menschen, System, edited by Bernhard Mittermaier, 307–322. 6. Konferenz der Zentralbibliothek Forschungszentrum Jülich

    Brink, S.; Frey, C.; Fuchs, A. L.; Henrÿ, R.; Reiß, K.; Strötgen, R. 2009 ‘Edumeres.net: Aufbau einer virtuellen Forschungsumgebung für die internationale Bildungsmedienforschung’. In Generation international – die Zukunft von Information, Wissenschaft und Profession. 61. Jahrestagung der DGI; Frankfurt am Main, 15. bis 17. Oktober 2009; Proceedings. edited by Marlies Ockenfeld, 225–234. Frankfurt am Main: (Tagungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Informationswissenschaft und Informationspraxis, Vol. 12).


Project team

Project contact: edumeres(at)leibniz-gei.de

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