University of the District of Columbia

The Learning Resources Division is organized in three main units:

Access Services

The Access Services Unit maintains a collection of well over 500,000 volumes, more than 600 periodicals, microforms, and comprehensive media resources. The unit is responsible for lending materials, engaging in interlibrary loans, and providing media equipment to support instruction. It also operates computer and multimedia laboratories for patrons use and an auditorium for large group instruction.

Information Services

The Information Services Unit provides assistance to patrons in identifying and locating materials in all formats, managing the collections and identifying the resources needed to support instruction and research. Faculty in this unit conduct orientation and bibliographic instruction classes. This unit is also responsible for the acquisition and cataloging tasks and the processing of the serial subscriptions.

Academic Technology Services

The Academic Technology Services Unit maintains the activities and services offered by the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Learning and provides faculty assistance with online course development and management. The unit is responsible for facilitating the use of the Blackboard Learning System, the Flashlight Program, and others to support and enhance learning and assessment.

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Mission, Goals, and Objectives

The mission of the Learning Resources Division of the University of the District of Columbia is to provide efficient support services to students, faculty and staff. In advancing its mission, the Division maintains cooperative programs with District of Columbia institutions for the exchange of materials and services to augment its support of learning and administrative activities at the University of the District of Columbia.

The Division carries out its mission by pursuing the following goals and objectives:

Provide Access to Resources

The Division shall provide access to resources to the faculty and to the undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in degree and non-degree academic programs. It shall:

• Maintain the collections readily accessible by providing a comprehensive catalog of holdings and a list of available support services.
• Provide bibliographic instruction and orientation to patrons in the use of the collection and services in support of learning.
• Develop subject bibliographies at the request of faculty and maintain materials-on-reserve services.
• Assist faculty with online course development and management as well as assessment.
• Publicize the various services periodically by using internal dissemination media, distributing access to Learning Resources, and making presentations to diverse groups within the academic community.

Plan for the Growth of Collection and Services

Collection development and service delivery shall serve curricular needs, academic programming and research activities, and therefore, they should be capable of shifting in accordance with changes in the academic environment. It shall:

• Design and implement a collection management program that will insure liaison with academic faculty in selecting materials for curricular support and changing programmatic requirements.
• Maximize acquisitions of books, periodicals and instructional media materials, by identifying appropriate strategies within the collection management program.
• Evaluate and acquire online resources to improve information access and support distance learning.
• Evaluate service delivery to faculty and students, periodically, to ascertain how well their identified needs are met.

Plan and Maintain a Physical Environment

The Division shall maintain an attractive physical environment conducive to learning and shall be technologically well equipped to retrieve information easily and quickly. It shall:

• Maintain an integrated automation system with online public access catalog, online informational databases, and materials circulation status.
• Provide adequate seating, study rooms, and study carrels for media materials preview, microform viewing, computerized equipment, etc.
• Provide adequate space for collection organization and technical processing of materials.

Participate in Public Service

The Division shall actively participate in community service as it relates to the land grant function of the university, and therefore, it shall establish and maintain liaison with other institutions for the sharing of resources, the development of new strategies for the sharing of resources, the development of new technologies and the continuing education of the personnel. It shall:

• Maintain membership and active collaboration in organizations and programs of institutions such as the Washington Research Library Consortium, the D.C. Sponsored Libraries Committee, etc.
• Encourage our personnel to participate in local and national organizations dedicated to the advancement of knowledge.
• Organize and sponsor conferences, seminars, workshops, and exhibits on topics related to Learning Resources to enhance the cultural and social awareness of the community.