Set Resource Types

The resource library, by default, includes three resource types which identify major categories of resources such as teaching resources, evaluation resources, and strategies. The school district may wish to modify this default setup, adding or removing resource types depending on their needs. For example, a resource type can be added to store lesson plans. This addition would enable teachers to store their private lesson plans, and it would provide the capability to store exemplary lesson plans that would be "publicly" available to all teachers. In addition to categorizing resources, each resource type acts as a storage area where resources of that type can be maintained.

Resources can also be categorized in a more detailed way by assigning resource tags. Resource tags allow you to mark (visually with an icon) groups of resources that have common characteristics. For example, you could define resource tags to identify resources as textbooks, web resources, multi-media resources, etc. While resource types and resource tags are both means of categorizing resources, there is a key distinction between the two. A specific resource can be of just one resource type (broad category), but can be marked with multiple tags that identify specific characteristics of that resource.

Information describing the publishers of resources can also be maintained in the resource library if applicable. This makes ordering new supplies easier and facilitates communication about the resource. When setting up resource types, you can specify whether publisher information will be maintained for any resource type.

Resources are either public or private to a particular staff member. Public resources are accessible by all staff and optionally by students and parents. Private resources are accessible only by their creator. The school district can define a process, facilitated by the system, through which private resources can be submitted as candidates to become public resources. However, staff with the necessary access privileges can accept or decline the submitted resources based on their appropriateness or quality.

Add a New Resource Type

1. Select Curriculum > Resource Library, and then select Resource Library Setup from the More... drop-down menu.
2. Click Add New Resource Type.
3. On the Add New Resource Type page, enter a name for the new resource type (both singular and plural form), and set the other options.
   
   • To allow students or guardians to access resources assigned to the resource type, select the Allow Student Access and Allow Parent/Guardian Access checkboxes as needed. Note that you can also control student and parent/guardian access to individual resources.
4. Click Accept to proceed. The new resource type is added. If needed, you can modify the properties of the resource type later by clicking the Edit (pencil) icon on the far right.

Once a resource type is set up, you can set up resource tags to further categorize the resources as described in the Set Resource Tags.

If you wish to maintain formatted documents for lesson plans or other resource types, set up resource formats to define the layouts of those documents as described in the Set Resource Document Formats.