Ball State Libraries Offer Access to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Digital Library Suite

The University Libraries recently established access to the Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL), a resource free to federal, state, local government, and educational institutions. This addition is representative of the University Libraries’ continual efforts to identify and make available to students and faculty some of the Web’s best free resources for teaching, learning, and research.

Begun in 2002, the HSDL was created through the partnership of the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security and the now U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The online library seeks to preserve the current debate surrounding the development of policy and programs to protect national security and American interests abroad.

As such, the digital library serves as a virtual archive of official documents related to national security and includes the various iterations of documents, allowing users to trace the development of a policy, program, etc.

The HSDL is not available to the general public; however, the University Libraries applied for special institutional access because of the integration of homeland security and emergency management topics into various disciplines.

The 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States has reverberating cultural and educational impact, and the applications of the HSDL collection for teaching and learning are broad and interdisciplinary creating multidimensional and meaningful opportunities for curricular and classroom connection with contemporary issues in security, emergency preparedness and management, and disaster response.

The University Libraries’ continuing commitment is to deliver excellent, relevant online resources to the students and faculty. The HSDL assumes a unique place in University Libraries’ digital collections and provides incomparable government-sponsored, primary source information equipping students and faculty with authoritative and up-to-date content. To visit the Homeland Security Digital Library, click on this URL: www.bsu.edu/libraries/electronicresources/databases.asp.

For more information, contact Matthew C. Shaw, Ball State University Libraries’ Electronic Resources Librarian, MCShaw2@bsu.edu, (765) 285-1302.