‘SCIS is like a trusted library assistant that builds my catalogue with accurate records, and allows me to focus on supporting the students.’
School: King's College Taunton Type: Independent co-educational secondary day and boarding school (aged 13-18) Enrolment: 470+ Cataloguing subscription: SCIS Data + Authority Files Library management system: Infiniti Size of collection: 10,000+
King’s College is part of King’s Schools, Taunton along with its prep school King’s Hall. The schools provide continuous day and boarding education for girls and boys aged 2 to 18 years. King’s College pursues academic excellence with a commitment to good teaching and effective learning. Librarian Josephine Barclay credits SCIS Data and Infiniti with reducing the time it takes to catalogue resources, leaving her free to assist students in other valuable ways.
Broadening the librarian’s role
Josephine said that since implementing SCIS Data, she’s been able to extend her role. She’s now more than the school librarian who just catalogues all the books – as cataloguing no longer takes much time.
‘I work a lot with the sixth forms. I assist with Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), History and English coursework and generally help students learn how to research, create bibliographies and use citation tools. I locate quite complex books to help students see what research has been done already. Then they can use the references from the books to look further on websites.’ Josephine also helps students plan and edit their work, ‘I am playing to my strengths now’.
Simple and intuitive to use
Josephine finds their library catalogue to be simple and intuitive and says it is easy for her students to use. She explains: ‘Our students know how to use the Infiniti catalogue and can show others how to do it.’
Infiniti is on the school portal now, so students can log on and search the catalogue from wherever they are, using their phones. Josephine provides students with the foundational skills to find what they’re looking for. She says that students can be really excited about locating a new book. Then they come and see Josephine and she will assist them to locate the book on the shelves. Josephine notes ‘That’s the way they like to do things!’ Josephine likes them to come and talk to her about what they are looking for so she can help them personally.
Says Josephine, ‘Students are very good at finding websites but not so good at searching in books, and I maintain they’ve got to use properly researched books. I help them locate and read through books they need for their coursework.’ Students are also encouraged to make book recommendations for purchase.
Students help with cataloguing
Josephine has also taught some students to catalogue books using the library management system because it is so well-integrated and simple to use. She explained the process: ‘Using Infiniti, students first scan the barcode, then we go to SCIS and the record usually comes up. If it doesn’t, I deal with that book later.’
Josephine previously sourced records through the British Library. It didn’t always provide the correct details, so she had to do a lot on her own. ‘All I use now is SCIS,’ she says, ‘and sometimes the Scottish Library, which is quite useful for books that have gone out of print.’
‘I can find most items in SCIS’, she adds. ‘I would say the hit rate is above 80 per cent.’
Josephine’s students usually catalogue literature and young adult fiction, but can do any books that are on the SCIS site. ‘I might give them a big pile of books and get them to put the stickers and the security labels in’ says Josephine. ‘Then they take turns to learn how to catalogue – and they learn that really, really quickly.’
Josephine thinks it’s great that students can do cataloguing. And, of course, she makes sure it’s done properly. ‘At the beginning of the year, when I’ve got loads of books to process, I know that they can do 50 books each. And they enjoy it – there’s a sense of satisfaction.’
Supporting librarians to do their job
SCIS has definitely saved Josephine a lot of time. ‘It’s a bit like having an assistant librarian,’ she says. ‘And I can trust it to let the children use it and I know the records are accurate.’
‘I find the book summaries very useful. I’m planning to put some on the outside of the books, using my own handwriting. Then students can see why I think it’s a good book and what they’ll find in it. And I know I can trust what you’ve written about it, which really important for people who work on their own.’
For librarians who work on their own, it is not always easy to find someone to talk to about library matters. ‘I want to keep abreast of things,’ says Josephine, ‘but I work on my own and that makes it difficult.’ She finds that the Connections journal helps her stay in touch, and inspires her with ideas from librarians around the world.
Josephine happily recommends cataloguing through SCIS and Infiniti to other librarians. ‘I tell them if the children can do it, they can do it! I genuinely find it takes a lot off my workload.’
‘I talk to them about how SCIS helps me get cataloguing done really quickly so that so I have time do other things. The fact that your system helps me do that is great.’
The time saved by using SCIS allows Josephine to devote more time to the parts of her role that she finds most rewarding. She states, ‘I actually see it as allowing librarians to do their job.’
A cataloguing subscription means that library staff like Josephine have more time to support their school community and offer enriching programs and services.
Josephine’s verdict
Josephine says that she would recommend SCIS to others — ‘A SCIS subscription allows me to carry on with the parts of my role that I find most rewarding.’
To see which other library systems SCIS works with, please visit our Library management systems page.
