Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is a term which is used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to describe a type of

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

that exists within an educational setting such as secondary schools, further education

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

s and universities. LRC can also stand for Library Resource Centre and in some cases Learning Resource Centre has been shortened to Learning Centre. Learning Resource Centres are similar to a

hybrid library Hybrid library is a term used by librarians to describe libraries containing a mix of traditional print library resources and the growing number of electronic resources. Overview Hybrid libraries are mixes of traditional print material such as bo ...

Liverpool John Moores University Aldham Roberts Library 2

Overview

These centres contain traditional educational resources such as books, journals, software and audio/visual materials, but they also exist to promote electronic information resources. Examples of these are subscription electronic journals, databases, free websites and other web based resources. The traditional

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

role has been replaced with the LRC Manager who is an information professional with qualifications recognised by the

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in th ...

. As well as managing the physical environment of the LRC, the LRC Manager is usually involved in editing LRC web pages and making contributions to the

virtual learning environment A virtual learning environment (VLE) in educational technology is a web-based platform for the digital aspects of courses of study, usually within educational institutions. They present resources, activities, and interactions within a course stru ...

, in order to provide access to quality and timely resources to colleagues and students. A key aspect of a Learning Resource Centre is the application of self study in a variety of different ways. They usually include computers, places to study and often private rooms. LRCs usually have a responsibility for the teaching of

information literacy The Association of College & Research Libraries defines information literacy as a "set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued and the use of infor ...

and/or study skills within the institution they are in. Although this role is firmly established in further and higher education, it has only become a serious responsibility for the Secondary School LRC since the publication of "Key Stage 3 National Strategy" in 2003. The schools inspectorate OfSTED have also made this a key area for school LRCs to evaluate themselves on in their self-evaluation document for LRCs in 2003.

References

*Edwards, Brian. Libraries and Learning Resource Centres. Oxford, UK: Architectural Press, 2009. *Alomran, Hamad Ibrahim; (2007) Learning Resource Centres in Saudi Arabia: A study to the Reality with A plan for an Ideal center. Riyadh: Riyadh Girls University *Burlingame, Dwight, Dennis C. Fields, and Anthony C. Schulzetenberg. The College Learning Resource Center. Littleton, Colo: Libraries Unlimited, 1978. *Thomson, Sarah Katharine. Learning Resource Centers in Community Colleges: A Survey of Budgets and Services. Chicago: American Library Association, 1975. *Crawford, L. Lucille. The Learning Resource Center—Its Development and Implementation. olumbus, Ohio Ohio Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1970. *Pearson, Neville P., and Lucius A. Butler. Learning Resource Centers; Selected Readings. Minneapolis: Burgess Pub. Co, 1973. {{Libraries and library science School terminology Libraries by type Types of library

Overview

References

Further reading