Highlights of Connections 85

Published on April 30, 2013 in Cataloguing and Connections. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

You can now read the latest issue of Connections at the SCIS website.

Digital Citizenship

Judith Way discusses why she saw the need for a digital citizenship blog which reached out to all sectors of her school community.  She felt that many students and parents, even if adept at using digital technology and social media, were often unaware of the implications of their digital footprint.  She resolved to  promote the responsible use of social media and the internet.

Kew High School's cybersafety/digital citizenship blog. Printed here with permission

Kew High School’s cybersafety/digital citizenship blog. Printed here with permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using archetypes to match learning spaces with physical and digital spaces

Bianca Hewes looks at the traditional classroom and wonders why in a changing world, it remains unchanged despite the creation of virtual learning spaces.  She  examines the work of Prof. David D Thornburg who identifies four ‘archetypal learning spaces: Campfire, Watering hole, Cave and Life.

The Annual Report

Dianne McKenzie discusses how the annual report can be a record of a year’s planning and activity, allowing the Librarian to showcase the diverse roles and activities of the Library.  She emphasizes the importance of documenting and collecting data

SCIS is more: E-book and RDA updates

Meet our new Cataloging Team Leader Soula Kipos, and find out more about SCIS records for e-books and the introduction of the cataloguing standard: Resource Description and Access (RDA).

All about ANZAC

Published on March 26, 2013 in Events and Resources. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Anzac Day, 25 April is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand honouring the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli during World War One.

Anzac Day Subject headings

SCIS Subject Headings List structure for ANZAC

You can find out more on the ANZAC story from New Zealand History Online [SCIS 1594434] and from Australian Stories [SCIS 1030033] on the Australian Government site.  The National Library of New Zealand Services to Schools page has an introduction to Anzac Day [SCIS 1525095], as well as a wonderful gallery of primary sources [SCIS 1547997] under the Culture and heritage page.

Search Scootle for ANZAC resources and teaching ideas.

The National Library of Australia’s Trove provides links to digitised newspapers which you can search by State and newspaper title, and their picture library has a wealth of images.

There is more information at the Australian War Memorial in The Anzac day tradition and from the Australian Army website. Some other great resources on Anzac Day can be found on the ABC, from Many Answers as well as on Scoop.it!.

ANZAC biscuits
by Phil Cummings

Plans are underway to mark the 100 years since World War One with an Anzac Centenary 2014-2018.

To search for further ANZAC resources in SCIS select a subject search using one of the SCIS subject headings above [SCIS login required].

Our favourite recent addition to SCIS with an ANZAC subject heading is the beautiful picture book Anzac biscuits by Phil Cummings and illustrated by Owen Swan [SCIS 1598353].

Safe schools toolkit

Published on March 21, 2013 in Resources. 0 Comments Tags: .

The Australian Government, working in partnership with state and territory governments, the non-government school sectors and Education Services Australia have released a collection of resources for school teachers, specialist professionals, parents and students to develop safe and supportive schools.

The Safe Schools Hub  (SCIS no: 1601867) is underpinned by the National Safe Schools Framework, which aims to ensure that all Australian schools are safe, supportive and respectful teaching and learning communities that promote student wellbeing. The Hub provides the tools and knowledge that will enable all members of the school community to develop the skills to:

  •  nurture student responsibility and resilience
  •  build a positive school culture
  •  foster respectful relationships
  •  support students who are impacted by anti-social behaviour

Visit www.safeschoolshub.edu.au to explore a range of practical examples, resources and activities to assist you in making your school a safe and supportive school. You can also register on the website or email sshub@esa.edu.au to receive regular updates on news and resources for safe schools.

 

Safe schools toolkit

An introduction to the National Safe Schools Framework

Highlights of Connections 84

Published on February 13, 2013 in Cataloguing, Connections and School Libraries. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

You can now read the latest issue of Connections at the SCIS website.

GR8 Debate digital culture is killing reading

The GR8 debate was organized in celebration of the National Year of Reading and explored how digital technologies such as iPads, social media and the instant internet culture impact upon our core, traditional abilities and views of reading and writing. Both sides battled it out with a diverse array of serious and humorous academic arguments

Banned Books Week 2012 at Sunshine College

How Sunshine College celebrated Book week by looking at banned books

“The students were shocked that their favourite books had not been allowed in some places, including their much-loved year 10 class text, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Suddenly, they could feel deliciously naughty while defending freedom of speech. They raided the shelves to find their favourite banned or challenged books. They then decided which passages to read, discussing, arguing, and testing them on each other.”

Creating displays part 2: the practical side

Anita Vandenberghe in her previous article talked about the philosophy of displays – what is the story behind it? Why should we have displays and would people even notice them?  In this issue she highlights the practical side of display. Where to start, what topic to choose, where to get ideas, what material to use and how to prepare yourself?

Collective knowledge construction: four new strategies for learning

How to Connect, Communicate and Collaborate in order to learn Collectively.

QR codes, linking print and online collections

An interesting summarized exploration of how to create meaningful two-way links between the libraries online and print collections.

Cataloguing team leader

Published on January 22, 2013 in Cataloguing and SCIS News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

This week SCIS sadly farewells Pamela Kadow who has ably led the SCIS cataloguing team since 2010.
Cataloguing services are at the core of SCIS and we are very well served by our distributed team of experienced and expert cataloguers currently located in Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Dunedin, Melbourne, Nelson, Perth and Sydney.

ESA Cataloguers 2012

ESA Melbourne Cataloguers 2012

Do you know a cataloguing/systems librarian who would be a great new SCIS team leader?

Reporting to the SCIS  Manager, you will be responsible for maintaining the Voyager library system and growing cataloguing services and data quality within this significant database (currently 1.5 million MARC records). You will lead a team of dedicated cataloguers and provide assistance in the implementation and maintenance of SCIS systems and standards, liaising closely with the SCIS Information Services Standards Committee.

To be successful in this role, you will need to demonstrate previous experience with original cataloguing, copy cataloguing and authority work in an integrated library management system, thorough knowledge of AACR2R, MARC21, DDC and experience in the application of subject metadata. You will possess excellent written and verbal communication skills and have experience in managing and developing teams.

Candidates with knowledge of Resource Description and Access (RDA)  will be highly regarded.

In return, you can expect an excellent working environment with friendly colleagues, interesting work and opportunities for continual growth.

Position Description: SCIS Cataloguing Team Leader 2013

Applications by email to recruitment@esa.edu.au

Applications close 1st February 2013.

2013

Published on January 17, 2013 in Events and Resources. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Welcome to 2013 and the Lunar New Year in the Chinese Year of the Snake.

‘The Snake is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs. It is the enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animals Signs. Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.’

The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation (SCIS no.  1582371) as well as the International Year of Quinoa (SCIS no. 1592685)

In the world of colour AkzoNobel declares Indigo  (SCIS no. 1592774)  is a striking statement colour for 2013 associated with wisdom and honesty which enhances your environment.  However Pantone Color of the year 2013 is Emerald Green (SCIS no. 1592779)

2013 is also the International Year of Statistics,  (SCIS no. 1592783) a worldwide event supported by more than 1,400 organizations. More than 100 scientific societies, universities, research institutes, and organizations all over the world have banded together to dedicate 2013 as a special year for the Mathematics of Planet Earth. (SCIS no. 1592783)

The European Commission has designated that 2013 will be the European Year of Citizens (SCIS no. 1592791) while Scotland has declared 2013 the Year of Natural Scotland (SCIS no. 1592797)

Pope Benedict XVI declared that a Year of Faith (SCIS  no. 1592806) will begin on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013.  World Youth Day 2013 (SCIS no. 1592887) to be held in Rio theme is… ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’

For International Women’s day March 8 2013 the theme is The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum (SCIS no. 1592879)

Red Quinoa by Pru MItchell

Red Quinoa by Pru MItchell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find more pictures  here from the Global Year of Quinoa

Splash Teacher Collections

Published on January 14, 2013 in Resources. Closed Tags: , .

ABC Splash is not just a series of video clips to use with your students.  Check out the Teachers Area (SCIS no: 1592621) with its four teachers collections which feature areas of focus, topics and assessment tasks with links to videos and other teaching resources both within the collection or online.

Genetically engineered crops: SCIS no: 1592621

Improving your writing English: SCIS no: 1592630

From paddock to plate: SCIS no: 1592635

Finding scientific solutions: SCIS no: 1592636

 

SCIS asks: ScOT and subject access

Published on December 11, 2012 in Cataloguing, Resources, School Libraries, SCIS Review, ScOT and Search. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In the subject access session of the SCIS consultation on 4 December 2012, Les Kneebone Project Manager of the Schools Online Thesaurus (ScOT) presented an exciting overview of recent developments in the ScOT thesaurus. Key features that position ScOT for the future include:

  • its ongoing development with input from cataloguers, curriculum developers, subject matter experts and users
  • its use to describe the machine-readable Australian Curriculum
  • its linked data API facilitating automatic semantic relationships
  • its translation into languages including Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Māori
  • its use to describe a wide range of resources through the National Digital Learning Resource Network and SCIS

Discussion followed as to future directions for SCIS in the area of subject access.

Les Kneebone

Les Kneebone presents an overview of ScOT

The ScOT in SCIS project commenced in 2006 when the thinking was that keyword searching would become the pre-eminent means of resource retrieval. Since then SCIS has offered schools the option of downloading both SCIS Subject Headings and ScOT terms in their catalogue records. The challenge is how to manage and display both SCIS subject headings and ScOT terms in a meaningful way for users in order to exploit the inferred links between resources tagged with ScOT terms that match a curriculum tagged with ScOT terms.

Also discussed was an alternative scenario of transition from use of SCIS Subject Headings to ScOT terms and how schools would manage this process.

SCIS asks: Strategic directions for school libraries

Published on December 9, 2012 in Events, School Libraries, SCIS Review and Search. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

On Tuesday 4 December 2012 SCIS conducted a consultation workshop with SCIS partners discussing future priorities in our support for school libraries.

Judy O’Connell, Course Director (Teacher Librarianship) at Charles Sturt University started the day with a set of challenges that covered collections, search, cataloguing, curriculum, interoperability and access. Her presentation Strategic directions for school libraries reinforced the context within which education libraries need to work.  These included curriculum, the cloud and game-based learning in a library environment which is both physical and virtual.Bulb image from presentation

The challenge to participants was to rethink library catalogues, which should no longer be seen as simply tools for locating records. Interrogation of data from different data pools requires new thinking and a new user focus.  We need to change our technology interface to provide a natural, predictive and responsive search capacity.  Web 3.0 challenges us to make library search into a discovery interface.

“How does search impact the way students think, and the way we organise information access?”

Judy pointed out that the search experience influences how students see information structure. Students conceptualise information and the search environment differently, and the way they search should influence the way that we organise information. The learning technologies environment has changed since library management systems were first designed, and we must not lose sight of what is happening in other areas of information retrieval. The importance of metadata developments, including Resource Description and Access (RDA), mean we cannot take old thinking into new information environments.

Check out Judy’s presentation, and then contribute to the ongoing discussion about how SCIS and library system providers can best serve school libraries in 2015 and beyond?

SCIS asks – Resource Description and Access (RDA)

Published on December 7, 2012 in Cataloguing and Resources. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

As part of the SCIS consultation on 4 December 2012 Renate Beilharz from Box Hill Institute provided an introduction to Resource Description and Access (RDA)  and its benefits for education libraries.

The Statement of purpose for RDA states:

Renate talks about RDA

Renate talks about RDA

RDA will be a new standard for resource description and access, designed for the digital world.
Built on foundations established by the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR), RDA will provide a comprehensive set of guidelines and instructions on resource description and access covering all types of content and media.
RDA will enable users of library catalogues and other systems of information organization to find, identify, select, and obtain resources appropriate to their information needs.

During the period of RDA development, the library and cataloguing world updated some key cataloguing principles and developed some conceptual models for resource discovery. RDA is built on these new conceptual models.

If we remember that the highest principle of the International Cataloguing Principles is the ‘convenience of the user’ RDA has aligned with the ICP principles: find, identify, select, obtain.  Through  RDA we can practise what we preach and work to improve search results and the way these results are displayed. RDA is very much about the user and functionality; focused on users – not items.

The RDA cataloguing standard is designed precisely for an online environment. RDA’s element set has been clearly defined, and incorporated into the Open Metadata Registry, which is a set of RDF-based controlled vocabularies, and a fundamental piece of technical infrastructure for the Semantic Web.

Renate’s overview led into a presentation by SCIS Cataloguing Team Leader, Pam Kadow, outlining proposed changes to the SCIS Standards for Cataloguing and Data Entry for alignment with RDA commencing the second quarter of 2013.