The UC Curriculum Resource Center Opens its Doors to Homeschoolers!

Apparently this happened about a year ago (I vaguely remember hearing something about it) but I stumbled onto the details today! What a great resource to have right at our hands thanks to the University of Cincinnati!

The Curriculum Resources Center, also known as the CRC, is home to the collections and services that support the University of Cincinnati K-12 undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs. The CRC has now opened its doors to meet the educational needs of local in-service teachers and local homeschoolers. The myriad of books, DVD’s, puppets, games, software, kits and other great resources will expand the minds of young and old alike.
Below are answers to many of the commonly asked questions about how local in-service teachers and homeschoolers can utilize CRC resources. (If you have any further questions, please call the CRC at 556 - 1430.)

What kinds of pre K-12 curriculum materials resources can I check out?
Pre K – 12 Audiovisual Media/Instructional MaterialsThe CRC has over 8300 audiovisual media titles covering most curriculum topics, particularly for language arts and reading, mathematics, science and social studies for all grade levels. These materials consist of audiobooks, bulletin board kits, activity card sets, CD-ROMs, charts, audio compact discs, DVDs, games, kits, maps, models, puppets, pictures, posters, transparencies, and videocassettes.
K – 12 Textbooks There are over 12,600 K – 12 textbooks including student books, teacher’s editions and other ancillary materials from major textbook publishers. (These are available to in-service and homeschool teachers for in-house use only.)

Pre K – 12 Teacher Handbooks (teaching activities books)The CRC has over 3700 books filled with teaching/learning activities and lesson plans covering all curriculum areas for preschool through twelfth grade.
Children’s and Young Adult books/videos/audiobooks/kitsYou will find over16,000 children’s and young adult books. These include many nonfiction or information books on all curriculum topics as well as children’s novels, fairy tales, folklore, biographies, poetry, and a large picture/easy reading book section. There are many young adult fiction books also. In addition, you will find many videotapes, DVDs, and audiobooks based on children’s and young adult books. There are also a number of “read-along” children’s books accompanied by a CD or audiocassette packaged in kits as well.

What kinds of Professional Education materials can I check out?
Books The CRC houses a large collection of circulating professional education books that assist in-service teachers and homeschool teachers in the areas of assessment, classroom management, behavioral issues and much more. In addition, the CRC reference collection is available for in-house use.
JournalsYou will find a large selection of education related print journals. Digital copies for some of these titles, along with other educational journals, are available from four CRC public terminals.
Databases For research purposes, the following education related databases are available: ERIC, Education Abstracts, Professional Development Collection, PsycINFO and Dissertation Abstracts. These can be accessed in-house only via the four CRC public workstations.

How do I check out materials?
Go to the CRC circulation desk
Identify yourself as an in-service teacher or homeschooler
Present current public library card (must be in good standing)
Present photo ID
Fill out a “CRC Courtesy Borrowers Form” (up to 3 items can be checked out initially)
A UC borrowers’ card will be sent to you in the mail.
What is the loan period for materials?
Books“Prof Ed” Books (3 week loan; 2 renewals)Children’s & Young Adult Books (2 week loan; 2 renewals)Teacher Handbooks (2 week loan; 2 renewals)Curriculum Guides (2 week loan; 2 renewals)K-12 Textbooks (in-house use only)
Audiovisual Media (1 week loan; 2 renewals)
Note: 10 concurrent item check out limit (this means only 10 items can be checked out at any given time.)

Can I produce instructional materials in the CRC?
Yes, many kinds of instructional materials can be produced in the CRC "do it yourself" Media Production Lab. This facility shares space with the CRC Info Commons and provides equipment for producing the following:
Scanning Images
Producing overhead transparencies (black on clear and color)
Dry mounting and laminating materials
Making cutouts of objects for bulletin boards and learning activities with an assorted collection of Die-Cut Blocks
Spiral Binding
Making two color posters with a poster maker
Dubbing audiocassettes with a high-speed audiocassette recorder
An opaque projector is available in 600C for projecting an enlarged image for tracing for bulletin boards and posters. In addition, clip art books, software and transparency masters are provided in the Production Lab for making handouts and to use in transparency production and enlargement with the opaque projector.

Does the CRC sell supplies?
Supplies can be purchased in the Production Lab for making the above materials as well as other materials. In addition to cash and checks, the Bearcat card can be used to purchase supplies such as:
Dry mount tissue and laminating film
Clear acetate (for write-on transparencies) as well as thermal transparency film (for black on clear transparencies).
Film for producing color transparencies via a color laser printer
Construction paper, poster board and bulletin board paper
Hook n' Loop tape (like Velcro) and magnetic tape for making visual board materials
Spiral binding combs
Blank audio and video cassettes
Floppy disks, zip disks, and CD-RWs

How do I know what is available to be checked out?
To find CRC materials on a given curriculum topic, do the following:
Access UCLID, the UC online catalog via http://www.libraries.uc.edu/
Click on “Library Catalog” (far left, first “QuickLinks” option)
Click on “Keywords”
In the “View Entire Collection” box, click on the black arrow and select “Curriculum Resources Center”
To the left of the “View Entire Collection” box, enter your keyword(s), such as weather.

Does the CRC have any other special resources?
Yes, and many are free for you to take without returning. They may be found inThe NASA Educators Resource Center (ERC), Room 604B. The NASA ERCserves as a preview and distribution center for NASA produced educational materials. It provides elementary, secondary, and university educators easy access to a wide variety of teaching resources for teaching earth science, physical science, life science, space science, mathematics, geography, and the environment. Many of these materials are free of charge and new materials are constantly coming in so it is a good idea to return to the ERC on a regular basis.
Available materials:
Videos (in-house use only but free copying is available)Videos cover careers, earth science, history of flight, life science, living in space, physics, science and technology, mathematics, human space flight, and space science. These videos do not get checked out but if you provide a blank videotape, we will duplicate your requested videos free of charge. Video viewing equipment is available in the ERC.

Teaching Guides (free)You will find teaching guide packets with hands-on teaching activities for some of the topics listed above. All of these guides are graded to early childhood, middle school, or high school and based on national curriculum standards. They are free for you to take.

Posters (free)Posters are available on various topics. These can be viewed in the ERC poster display unit. Once you find a poster you would like to use in your classroom, simply locate it by the referenced letter in the poster supply unit. It is free to take.

Pictures (free)We regularly receive new pictures (lithographs) of various aspects of the space program such as pictures of shuttles, crews, international space station, various planets, earth from space, moon, etc. These are free for the taking.

Publications (free)A variety of additional NASA publications, including fact sheets, are regularly received on a variety of subjects and are free to take.
CD-ROMs (in-house use only)NASA produced CD-ROMs are available for viewing. These, however, are for in-house use only. They may be purchased for a minimal price from NASA.

Reference Materials (in-house use only)Many reference materials are available in the ERC. These too are for in-house use only.

Is there a CRC website?
Yes, at the CRC Web site you will find a number of guides to help you locate various kinds of curriculum materials, such as teaching activities, K – 12 textbooks, children’s and young adult books, and audiovisual media. You will also find bibliographies of CRC instructional materials grouped by curriculum area and grade range. In addition, easy access is provided to teaching activities and lesson plans, curriculum resources, and kids’ sites on the Web.
To access the CRC website:
Go to http://www.libraries.uc.edu/Click on “UC Libraries” (bottom left hand side)Locate CRC on the list and click on “website”Click on “Curriculum Materials Guides” (middle of the page)

What are the CRC hours?
Check the webpage below to find the most current hours of operation. http://www.libraries.uc.edu/information/hours_maps/hours_main.html

Who can I contact for additional information?
For circulation questions, call Al Early at 556-1307.For information about the collection call Dr. Gary Lare at 556-1313.For information about producing instructional materials call Diana Manuel at 556-1308.For help with reference questions, call Cheryl Ghosh, 556-1758.

What are the directions to the CRC?
From the north or south via I-75
From I-75, take the Hopple Street exit (exit 3). (If you are traveling north, Hopple Street exits from the left lane)
Turn left off the exit on to Hopple Street. As you cross the first intersection at Central Parkway, Hopple Street becomes Martin Luther King Drive. Follow Martin Luther King Drive up the hill to Clifton Avenue. (ML King Drive borders the north edge of the West Campus and Clifton Avenue borders the west edge of the West Campus.)
Turn right on Clifton and proceed for 1 mile.
The CRC is inside Blegen Library, which is located at the intersection of Clifton and Straight Street (between the Teacher’s College building and the Law building.)
The Blegen entrance level is the 4th floor, turn right up the grand staircase and CRC is on the next floor.

From the west via I-74
Take I-74 east to I-75 south.
Follow instructions 2 - 5 above.
From the north via I-71
From I-71 south, take the Taft Road exit (exit 3).The exit places you on Taft Road, a one-way street heading west.Taft Road becomes Calhoun Street as you near campus.Stay on Calhoun until it ends at Clifton Avenue.
Follow step 3 - 5 of the first directions.

From the south via I-71
Take I-71 north until it merges with I-75 just south of Florence, Ky.Stay on I-75 after you cross the Ohio River.
From the left lane on I-75, take the Hopple Street exit (Exit 3).
Follow step 2 - 5 from the first directions.
From the east via US 50
From US 50 west, turn right on Taft Road. Taft is a one-way street heading west. Taft becomes Calhoun Street as you near campus. Stay on Calhoun until it ends at Clifton Avenue.
Turn right on Clifton Avenue.
The CRC is inside Blegen Library, which is located at the intersection of Clifton and Straight Street (between the Teacher’s College building and the Law building.)
The Blegen entrance level is the 4th floor, turn right up the grand staircase and CRC is on the next floor.
Or go to http://www.uc.edu/directions/main.html.

Where do I park once I get to the UC campus?
Park along Clifton Avenue (metered parking) or Deaconess Parking Garage on Straight Street across from the Deaconess Hospital.
Rev. 11/22/05