RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
Learning takes place not only at workshops or on training courses, but also
through discussions with colleagues, practical experience, and consulting
newsletters, books and audiovisual materials. Resource centres can support a
wide range of learning activities by making information available. By helping
health workers learn, they can play a valuable part in improving the health of a
nation.
A concern for equity – a key principle of primary health care – means that
information, like health care, should be accessible to all. But in many
developing countries, access to information is limited, especially information
relevant to local conditions. Locally produced information is often unavailable,
while information produced outside the local area may be inappropriate or too
expensive.
Resource centres have an important part to play in improving access to
information. A resource centre collects and organises materials that are useful
to a particular group of people, such as health workers. Materials may be very
varied, including training manuals, handbooks, reference books, directories,
leaflets, posters, games, videos and samples of equipment.
However, a resource centre is much more than a collection of well organised
materials. A resource centre actively seeks to share the information that it
contains. Resource centre staff encourage people to use the materials. For
example, they not only help people to find the materials they need, but they
also disseminate information in the resource centre by producing and
distributing locally adapted materials and information packs, holding training
or discussion workshops, or arranging exhibitions.
A resource centre should aim to:
• create a pleasant environment for learning
• contain a relevant and accessible collection of resource materials (based on
the actual needs of users)
• provide a range of information services
• encourage people to use the information in the resource centre
• help users gain access to information from other sources.
Development organisations usually prefer the term ‘resource centre’ to ‘library’
to emphasise that this is an active, attractive place where people can relax and
enjoy themselves, talk to each other and take part in meetings and training
activities.
A resource centre can be any size, from a trunk of books or a few shelves, to a
whole room or several rooms. A resource centre may be part of an organisation
or an organisation in its own right. It may serve staff within the same
organisation, people from other organisations, members of the public, or a
mixture. It may be staffed by a volunteer or someone for whom it is only part
of their job, or by a team of professional librarians and information scientists
who are responsible for different aspects of managing the collection and
providing information services. A collection of materials in a hospital or health