Turning walls into windows at UBC : from community outreach to global access

The University of British Columbia Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and cIRcle, UBC’s Information Repository, are committed to making information accessible to anyone, anywhere. Through the Learning Centre’s community outreach programming, diverse members of the UBC, British Columbia, and international communities participate in discussions, readings, and dialogues that are captured in webcasts and disseminated to the public via cIRcle. Local events with global significance, such as the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, provide opportunities for leading experts and advocates from UBC and across the world to exchange ideas, share knowledge and influence future directions and discoveries in all areas of academic and social inquiry. Showcasing UBC’s scholarly output through cIRcle includes providing a permanent, accessible home for faculty and student research, and more. By creating, preserving, and disseminating these records online, we are building unique collections that serve a community beyond the walls of the library, effectively turning those walls into windows through which information becomes visible, accessible, and transferable. In this way, joint efforts from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and cIRcle help support UBC Library’s goal to “bring the world’s knowledge to UBC, and connect UBC’s knowledge to the world” (Ingrid Parent, UBC University Librarian). This poster was presented at the IFLA (World Library and Information Congress) 3-18 August, San Juan, Puerto Rico 2011.Library, UBCUnreviewedFacult