Learning Resources

Brokering and Licensing of Resources

• The Ministry of Education provides financial support to the BC Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium (ERAC) www.bcerac.ca.
  ERAC is a consortium which represents BC school districts and many Independent Schools.

	ERAC:
		evaluates and negotiates preferred pricing for educational videos
		evaluates and licenses software, as well as online information services
		evaluates learning resources and classroom novels
		works in collaboration with the Alberta Learning Resources Centre to provide cost-effective, one-stop access to BC-Recommended learning resources.

The Ministry of Education has assigned ERAC the field support responsibility for the BC/Alberta Memorandum Of Understanding [160KB], a 5-year agreement for the acquisition of learning resources, signed October 8, 2003.

Alberta-British Columbia Protocol for Cooperation and Development - Acquisition and Delivery of Learning Resources (News Release).

• Access Copyright Photocopy License Information at the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada web site
  
  This site provides an overview of Canadian copyright with respect to students' and educators' rights and responsibilities under the Canadian Copyright Act. The associated links discuss copyright in a variety of domains, including video, music, software and the Internet, and provide useful links.
  
  By following the link "Copying Print Material in Schools" (under Quick Links), you can find detailed information about the CMEC-negotiated license with Access Copyright, that provides students' and educators' additional rights concerning print materials.
  
  
• The Special Education Technology - BC (SET-BC) negotiates provincial site licenses for software titles designed to help students with special needs improve their literacy, numeracy, and communication skills. Details are available at http://www.setbc.org/psap/