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Teams From Around the Province Involved in ARC-BC Pilot Project

December 5 - 6, 2007

The ARC-BC (Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia) is a two year joint project between SET-BC and PRCVI.  The project will see the creation of an online repository or digital library of alternate format materials based on the BC K-12 curriculum.  It is currently in the research and design phase with an expected launch of January 2009.

To ensure that ARC-BC meets as many district and student needs as possible, eight school district teams were invited to attend a two day planning meeting in Vancouver on December 5th and 6th.  Teams from Southeast Kootenay, Boundary, Okanagan-Skaha, Quesnel, Langley, Surrey, Parksville-Qualicum, and Comox Valley discussed many aspects of the project, giving valuable information and feedback to the provincial ARC-BC group.  The discussions and activities focused on:

• a vision of ARC-BC as an online service and/or community
• the process and considerations for school district access to the repository
• establishing material and file standards and the process for accepting submissions from school districts
• grade level, subject, and specific publication priorities
• user interface recommendations

The district teams’ hard work over the two days was greatly appreciated and, as a result of their efforts, the provincial ARC-BC group can now move forward designing the repository incorporating their helpful ideas and suggestions.

The pilot project will continue into next year, with online follow up meetings scheduled in February and a trial phase set for September 2008. 

For more information on ARC-BC, please visit our project area or contact Kerry Randle (krandle@setbc.org) or Anne Wadsworth (awadsworth@prcvi.org).