New cadets are introduced to the Resource Centre as part of their program. A Resource Centre employee conducts a tour of the facilities and describes the Centre’s resources and services. This document outlines the main points of the orientation tour.

As with all libraries, the Resource Centre is making the transition from the print-based, analog world to the digital and electronic environment. The role of the Resource Centre is to increase accessibility to resources, both within and outside of the Resource Centre itself. 

Video: " Introduction to the Resource Centre" (RE001E) is a five-minute video that provides an introduction to the Resource Centre’s facilities and services.

History of Resource Centre Building: The heritage building that houses the Resource Centre is an historic Depot building . It is a one and one-half story red brick, reinforced concrete structure, designed by Reilly, Warburton and Reilly. The building is well adapted to its local architectural environment. Its Gothic elements harmonize with the Tudor Gothic A.B. Perry Building in the same area.

Built in 1935-1936, Building 24, the Learning Resource Centre, was formerly the saddler's shop and more recently, the shop for Depot's carpenters and electricians. It also provided extra barracks accommodation on the upper floor. 

In 95/96, the building was converted to the library with the relocation of the trades shop to a new facility.
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Hours of operation: The Resource Centre is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day via electronic passes.  

Staff hours: Staff are on site from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, holidays excluded. Staff are there to help cadets and other library visitors frin the information they need.

Meeting Room: The tour starts on the upper floor where there is a large boardroom for orientations and larger meetings. This room can be divided with a sliding wall into two smaller rooms. It is usually used as two rooms for group study. The room is equipped with white boards, computers, a television and a VCR.

Computers: The second floor has 17 study carrels, each equipped for with TV/VCR and a personal computer connected to the Internet but not to ROSS, the RCMP internal computer system. These computers print to a printer located on the second study carrel at the top of the north staircase.

Several computers in the first floor reading room are attached to ROSS. These machines have the same applications as the computers in Halls #8 and #10 in the Applied Police Sciences Building. These print to the copier/printers in the reference area on the main floor.

Telephones: There are two phones in the Learning Resource Centre for cadet use. The phone on the second floor is located in a study carrel at the top of the north staircase. It is provided for long distance calls requires a calling card or credit card. It has a data jack that can be plugged into to connect with personal Internet service providers. Long distance charges may apply.

Another phone on the main floor is provided for local calls only. This phone is useful for making appointments and hotel reservations, for organizing graduations and for other cadet administration purposes.

Fax service: This drop service is available for the cadet corps and Academy staff. The Resource Centre fax number is (306) 780-7599.

To send a fax simply fill out a cover sheet and place it and your fax in an inter-office envelope with your name and troop number on the envelope. Place the envelope in the “To Be Sent” basket on top of the gray file cabinets in the main floor reference room. Faxes are sent at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day. Requests for urgent faxes are accepted.

Faxes that have been sent are placed in the received/completed basket at the same place in the reference room. Responses to your faxes from outside are also placed in the received/completed basket.

Check your fax numbers for accuracy. Ensure that both incoming and outgoing faxes have your full personal names and troop numbers on them.

Main Floor: The reading room, reference area and book collection are located on the main floor.

Collections: Books from the main collection circulate. The loan period is two weeks. It may be extended upon request. To borrow books, patrons must fill out Loan Record form 637. Please include your full name and troop number as well as author, title and complete call number of the book.

The book collection includes Canadian statutes, case law, law enforcement techniques, criminology, psychology, administration, RCMP history and other related items.

Reference books located in the main floor reference area are not loaned. These include atlases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories and other quick-look-up books books. Non-circulating items are marked with a label that says “For Reference - Do Not Take From the Library”.

Much of the material in the Resource Centre is copyrighted. Library users may make photocopies provided they comply with copyright laws. Check with staff for copying advice.

Topic files: Usually referred to by libraries as Vertical Files, these contain paper copies of news clippings, pamphlets, articles and reports on subjects relevant to the Training Academy. They are organized alphabetically by subject. Subjects can be as broad as “Assault” or as narrow as “APEC”.

The Topic Files are kept in locked filing cabinets near the reference desk at the Learning Resource Centre. They are accessible only during the library’s staffed hours.

Topic files can be useful sources of information for both individual and group study assignments on particular subjects. The files complement the Resource Centre’s electronic information sources.  

Catalogue: The Resource Centre’s card catalogue was discontinued in 1989 and is of limited use. It can still be used to locate older publications. Since that date, catalogue records have been added to the automated catalogue, Voyager, which is part of REGLIN (Regina Library Information Network). Voyager is maintained on a University of Regina server and can be accessed through the Internet. The cadet orientation session concludes with an exercise to familiarize them with Voyager. The Internet address is:  

http://rcmp.voyager.uregina.ca

Resources at Other Libraries: The Resource Centre has a reciprocal borrowing agreement with the University of Regina. Patrons are advised to become familiar with REGLIN, specifically with the University of Regina library catalogue as it has law enforcement resources to support the University’s Human Justice Program. The Regina Public Library collection is useful for general social science research. Regina Public Library's reference desk has an index of associations, clubs, committees and organizations that are active in the city. The library of the Law Society of Saskatchewan is useful for general legal research and for provincial case law study.

Inter-library Loan: To complement its own collection, the Resource Centre provides an interlibrary-loan service. This is a system where libraries borrow books and obtain copies of articles from other libraries on behalf of their patrons. Because most lending libraries use regular mail for delivering this service it is not useful for projects with short turnaround time. It can be valuable for longer term research needs.

Internet Resources Printed Internet guides are available at the second floor study carrels. Law Enforcement Links contains 1500 links but is somewhat dated. A more recent collection of law enforcement information links can be found at www.copseek.com. Internet Handbook for Canadian Lawyers as well as providing information on Canadian legal information sites contains a general introduction to the Internet. LeGuide Internet Juridique is a French language guide to legal sites on the Internet. It is broader in scope than the handbook, containing links to international and university legal sites as well as Canadian sites.

Licensed Databases: A number of licensed databases are available, including INFOTRAC, with over 3,000 journals mostly related to social sciences. About one-half of the journal articles are full-text and can be printed. Citations for non-full-text articles found in INFOTRAC can be useful but if the Resource Centre does not own the source of the citation, patrons may require either interlibrary loan service or a visit to another library which has the article.

Law enforcement information is available through Criminal Justice Periodical Index on the Internet. See the Resource Centre staff for information for access to electronic databases.

Video Collection: The video collection is organized by subject with videos arranged in numerical order as received; a printed list is available. A diskette is available that can be searched by title using the search function of WordPerfect.

Most videos in the collection are protected by copyright. The TV/VCR units at the study carrels are equipped for playback only. Learning Technology and Creative Services can make a copies of internally produced videos for a minimal charge. Copies of videos from other sources may be available from commercial suppliers.

Reading Room Resources: Besides housing the ROSS computers, the reading room has a collection of paper resources.

Detachment profile binders are sorted by RCMP Division letter, then alphabetically by name of detachment. An alternate source for similar information is the RCMP web site's  Links page in Ottawa (http://www.rcmp.grc.ca). It provides links to some detachment sites. Please note that not all detachments have set up web sites. Through the Internet,cadets can also visit town or village web sites.A supply of provincial maps is also available at the Resource Centre.

Community Policing binders are available and may be borrowed for applied police science work but must be returned when cadets are finished with them.

Periodical display area contains general interest and law enforcement magazines and newspapers.

Besides the Reference Desk, the fax drop baskets, topic files, local service telephone, photocopiers and the reference collection are located in the reference area.

Two Internet computers are in located in the reference area close to the room housing the main collection. Library patrons can use these machines to look up books using the on-line catalogue (http://rcmp.voyager.uregina.ca). These print to the second floor printer.

Assignment Resources: Cadets will need parts the RCMP Administration Manual for one of their first assignments. The most recent version of the complete manual is available on the RCMP Infoweb. The Resource Centre has paper copies of the RCMP policy on harassment for cadets’ Human Rights exercise. Cadets will also need statutes of Canada, Volume V, Chapter H-6, Canadian Human Rights Act which will help answer questions 1 to 4 in their Human Rights exercise. Paper copies of this are also available.

The topic files are another research tool. They contain information on disabilities, anger management and other topics required for assignments.

Individual Instruction Modules: Individual Instruction Module documents are kept in the gray cabinet in the back of the room housing the main book collection.

Student Loan Applications: The Academy is accredited by the province which entitles cadet eligibility for student loans. The brown filing cabinet by the front entrance has applications for student loans. These are also available on the Internet. Link here to the Resource Centre's Student Loan Information