About NILRC

NILRC is one of the oldest community college learning resources cooperatives in the nation. Although it began as a grass roots organization to meet the basic needs of developing learning resources centers at community colleges, it has become a leader in the development and use of a variety of instructional resources and technologies. It was one of the first organizations to foster satellite teleconferencing and satellite delivery of video resource materials. In the early 1980s it developed computerized online circulation control and records management system. The system, known as the Comprehensive Automated Learning Resources System (CALS), was the forerunner of today's commercial online circulation systems and OPACS.

The cooperative is governed by a board of directors representing each member institution. Board members have a variety of backgrounds and responsibilities on their campuses ranging from LRC deans to directors of educational technologies. This diversity enhances the organization, nurtures its projects, and facilitates the exchange of ideas and resources.

Institutions are either "full" or "associate" members. Full members have voting rights in the corporation. Full members attend board meetings and actively serve on standing committees. The corporate office, located in River Forest, Illinois is managed by an executive director.

The organization supports itself in three ways. Membership dues, surcharge fees on group purchases, and investment income provide operational budget income. A flat rate surcharge is placed on all group purchases coordinated by the corporate office. Only those members who participate in given projects pay a surcharge. Investments provide a small amount of operating revenue.

NILRC Mission Statement

The mission of NILRC is to enhance the services provided by post secondary learning resource centers/libraries and alternative delivery programs to their institutions and respective committees.

The commitment to this mission is demonstrated through the pursuit of the following goals:

• To improve the cost effectiveness of members’ learning resource centers/libraries and alternative delivery programs through group buys of materials and services.
• To facilitate the exchange of resources and information.
• To strengthen the skills and knowledge of members’ institutions personnel through staff development activities.
• To serve as an advocate for issues and projects that would enhance members’ instructional support activities.

Members Services

Discounts on:
Activision Electric – Projector Lamps
Barcode Discount Warehouse
Brodart
Cambridge Educational
CDW-G
Films for the Humanities
Gaylord Brothers
Highsmith Inc.
Meridian Education
Minitex Tattle Tapes
Shopware
Starlink Training Network Teleconferences

Discounted Services:
EBSCO A to Z
NoodleTools
SerialsSolutions

Databases Offered:

Bowker:

• Books in Print
• Ulrich’s

Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

• CQ Researcher

EBSCO:

• Literary Reference Center
• Magill on Literature Plus
• Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
• Serials Directory
• Vocational Search and Career Collection
• Wilson Biography Illustrated

Facts.com

• Reference Suite

FactsonFile.com

• African American History and Culture
• Ancient History
• Ferguson’s Career Guide
• Health Reference Center
• Science Online
• World Atlas
• World History Online

Gale:

• Biography and Genealogy Master Index
• Biography Resource Center
• Business and Company Profile
• Consulta
• Contemporary Authors
• Contemporary Literary Criticism
• Dictionary of Literary Biography
• Expanded Academic Index
• Informe
• Literature Resource Center
• Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center

Greenwood Publishing Group

• Daily Life through History
• World Cultures Today
• World Folklore and Folklife

LexisNexis:

• Academic Universe
• Congressional Universe
• Statistical Base

NewsBank:

• New York Times

Oxford University Press:

• Oxford Reference Online Premium Collection
• Grove Dictionary of Art
• Grove Dictionary of Music

Proquest:

• Career and Technical Education
• CINAHL
• Criminal Justice Periodicals Index
• Historical New York Times
• History Study Center
• Literature Online
• National Newsstand
• Nursing Journals
• Research Library
• Wall Street Journal

H.W. Wilson:

• Applied Science
• Art Full Text Web
• Bio and Ag Ind. Plus FT Web
• Biographies Plus
• Omnifile Select
• Readers Guide

All of NILRC’s contract negotiations are membership driven. The membership determines what vendors will be contacted and what databases are offered.

Distance Learning Opportunities

Courses licensed through NILRC:

• Astronomy: Observations and Theories
• Business and the Law
• By the Numbers
• Child Development: Stepping Stones
• Choices and Change: Macroeconomics
• Choices and Change: Microeconomics
• Concepts in Marketing
• Cycles of Life
• Dollars and Sense
• The Endless Voyage
• Exploring Society
• Faces of Culture
• The Human Condition
• Humanities Through the Arts
• It’s Strictly Business
• Journey to Health
• Mastering the College Experience
• Nutrition Pathways
• Portrait of a Family
• Psychology: The Human Experience
• Research for Writers
• Shaping America
• Something Ventured
• Taking the Lead
• Transforming America: US History since 1877
• Transitions Throughout the Life Span
• Universe: The Infinite Frontier
• Voices in Democracy
• Writing for an Audience
• Writer’s Circle
• Writer’s Odyssey