Annual Activities Report
2000-2001
The Instructional Resources Unit (IRU) built local capacity to improve teaching and learning, focusing on six major activities.
- Selection, acquisition, and cataloguing of learning resources, provision of print and electronic access to IRU collections, and reference and information assistance. The IRU provided library services in support of K-S4 curriculum implementation, education research, and professional development to address K-S4 educators' needs, such as best practices, school improvement, research based decision-making, and school library development. With more than 12,000 registered clients, staff answered 28,000 queries and circulated 136,500 resources.
- Acquire, catalogue and disseminate resources identified through Western Canadian Protocol and Manitoba Reviews of learning resources
- Develop and disseminate print and electronic publications, including print and electronic bibliographies, catalogues of new resources and documents of professional awareness.
- Apply leading-edge information technologies both for services and collections, creating a virtual library accessible to all Manitoba K-S4 educators.
- Provision of copyright clearance and copyright assistance, through the Schools/CanCopy/Pan-Canadian Agreement 1999-2004. Developed through the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, a framework for national digital copyright policy, which will be recommended to the federal government, for the revision of copyright law.
- Provision of efficient and effective delivery for new School Programs Division documents and other education literature, to specified groups and individuals in schools and Board offices via monthly bulk mailings. In 2000-2001, over 500,000 items were distributed through bulk mail services.
