Annual Activities Report
2002-2003
The Instructional Resources Unit (IRU) continued to build 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, as well as reference and information assistance. The IRU provided library services in support of K-S4 curriculum implementation, the Special Education Review, the Aboriginal Education Strategy, educational research and professional learning to address K-S4 educators' needs, such as best practices, school improvement, research based decision-making school library development. With more than 12,000 registered clients staff fielded over 24,000 queries, catalogued over 9,400 new items, and circulated over 124,000 resources. Clients were actively visiting and using IRU's electronic resources, including 2,216,000 hits/visits on the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), over 95,000 searches completed on the electronic research databases, directories, and full-text journals and over 1,157,000 hits/visits on the IRU web site.
- Acquisition, cataloguing and dissemination of resources identified through the Western Canadian Protocol and Manitoba Reviews of learning resources.
- Development and dissemination of print and electronic publications, including print and electronic bibliographies, catalogues of new resources of professional learning documents. New and revised bibliographies included: Substance Abuse Prevention, Using Literature in Your Classroom: Guides to Selecting Fiction and Non-Fiction Resources, Human Sexuality and Sexual Orientation, and Multiple Intelligences and Differentiating Instruction.
- Application of leading-edge information technologies both for services and collections, creating a virtual library accessible to all Manitoba K-S4 educators and Department staff to support current awareness, including electronic bibliographies and acquisitions lists as well as provision of and OPAC and Virtual Education Information Service.
- Provision of copyright clearance through the Schools/CanCopy Pan-Canadian Agreement 1999-2004, as well as copyright information assistance. Development through the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, a framework for a national digital copyright policy, which was recommended to the federal government for the revision of copyright law.
- Provision of efficient and effective delivery for new SPD documents and other education literature, to specified groups and individuals in schools and Board offices via monthly bulk mailings over 690,000 items were distributed through bulk mail services.
- Provision of multicultural library services and resources in the areas of Diversity and Equity Education, Spanish Language, Human Rights Education, English as a Second Language, and Black History.
