Annual Activities Report
1999-2000
The Instructional Resources Unit provides Kindergarten through Senior 4 educators with curriculum implementation support, educational research and professional development materials; Department of Education and Training staff with essential library services; teachers-in-training with library services as preparation for teaching; and, all of the above clients, including the general public, with library services to facilitate lifelong learning and parental involvement. All of the activities of the Unit focus on the following educational outcomes: the improvement in teaching practices and student learning; the increased use of educational research and practice to improve decision making in the classroom and in educational administration; and an increased emphasis on resource-based learning as an educational model in schools.
Reference and Information Assistance
Information assistance was provided to answer clients’ queries and to facilitate educators’ professional growth and planning. Twenty two thousand, five hundred and sixty seven ready reference and 5,600 in-depth reference questions were handled. Staff conducted over 12,000 computer searches utilizing the Library’s web-based online catalogue, as well as research and subscriber databases. The online catalogue had 2,174,029 hits and 22,199 user sessions this year.
Multiculture and Anti-Racist Information
Multicultural and anti-racist education information assistance facilitates the development of attitudes and behaviours that respect all people. Over 20 consultations, 525 in-depth information queries and five workshops in the areas of multiculturalism, anti-racism, anti-bias, Aboriginal education, English as a second language, and languages other than English were provided.
School Library Services
100 consultations were provided to assist schools in developing their libraries and to implement the resource-based learning model. Ten school building plans were reviewed where school libraries were new or under renovation to ensure that school libraries conform to standards of construction, Departmental space guidelines and good operational conditions.
Collection Management
During 1998/99, 5,928 resources were acquired for the collection including Western Canadian Protocol resources for Mathematics and English Language Arts: 312 videos, 5,500 books, 68 kits and 48 CD-ROMs, software programs and audiocassettes. Additionally, 35 video titles were purchased with provincial duplication rights, thus increasing the video dubbing masters to 1300. Sixty six video titles were renewed with provincial duplication rights. Selected "Cable in the Classroom" titles were added as donations. The periodical collection of 300 active titles was maintained. The Virtual Electronic Information Service was launched with two databases made accessible on the web site – the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and the Canadian Education Index (CEI).
Bibliographic Management (Cataloguing)
Approximately 6,000 print and non-print titles and 300 periodical subscriptions were acquired this year. 8,600 items were catalogued, processed and bar coded. Over 9,200 MARC-coded cataloguing records and videos were provided to schools. Some 10,700 cataloguing records were imported electronically from the National Library’s Amicus database, thus providing immediate and enhanced access to the resources in the online catalogue. Initiatives undertaken included: the cataloguing of 50 electronic web sites; the provision of complete cataloguing information for 500 periodicals titles; and the provision of holdings information for all of the Library’s periodicals – 1,000 titles and 100,000 issues.
Loan, Media Booking and Video Duplication
The Library’s collections were circulated: 115,978 books and small format audiovisual resources were loaned; 2,425 periodicals were loaned to Department staff; 351 periodical articles were duplicated for teachers in the field; 32,929 media resources were booked. 661 orders were received for video duplication amounting to 10,290 video recordings. Video titles available for duplication covered a variety of subject areas at all grade levels and supported the implementation of the Kindergarten to Senior 4 curricula.
Human Resources/Work Experience/Bulk Mailing
Through an extensive volunteer program, the Unit provided over 4,801 hours of valuable work experience for students and other individuals preparing to re-enter the workforce. The Unit also coordinated the School Programs Division’s bulk mailing system, distributing over 811,793 items to Manitoba schools and division offices, thereby making communication between School Programs Division and the schools more efficient and effective.
Copyright
Through the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada’s Information Network for Copyright, provincial and territorial representatives negotiated with Cancopy for a five year Pan Canadian copyright licence to begin September 1999 as well as responded to federal copyright reform initiatives.
Tours, Publications, Displays, and Home Page
The Library conducted 32 tours including orientation to services and training/demonstration on the online catalogue. The bibliographies developed and made available bibliographies page: Canadian Educational Video and Film Distributors, The Environment, Mathematics: Aboriginal Perspectives, Media Literacy and School Bus Safety. The following bibliographies were revised: Anti-Racist Education, Asia Pacific, Black History, Differentiating Instruction, The Holocaust, Human Rights, Integrating Technology into the Curriculum, Manitoba Writers and Illustrators, Parental Involvement, School Improvement through Planning and The Struggling Student.
For the year, the IRU web site had 12,325 user sessions and 32,615 hits.
Linking Libraries Initiative
A consultant’s report was initiated and will discuss Manitoba school libraries linking electronically to facilitate resource sharing.
