Challenged resources

American Librairies Association Posters - IFLA WLIC 2014 CC

Challenged resources are those that may be considered controversial or offensive to members of the school community. It is important that schools have guidelines and procedures in place to deal with any challenges that may arise.

Guidelines and procedures regarding challenged resources should be developed within the school community. The Policy Statement – School Library Bill of Rights from the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) website is a useful starting point, as well as the school’s own Collection Development Guidelines.

Dealing with challenges

Dealing with challenges should be a systematic process involving:

  • referring the challenger to the school’s Collection Development Guidelines
  • completion of a Request for Consideration of School Resources by the challenger
  • a decision on whether to remove the item from the shelf immediately or after it has been reviewed
  • a review of the challenged resource by a committee comprising the principal, resource teacher, a P&C representative and the person making the challenge
  • the principal being responsible for the final decision to remove or retain the challenged item.

Donated resources

Resources donated to the school library should be added to the collection only if they:

  • are compatible with the Collection Development Guidelines
  • adhere to the selection criteria
  • fulfill a need or enhance the collection.

Donors should be informed that their donation undergoes the same selection process as any other resource under consideration for inclusion into the collection.

Originally published WA DET School Library Support: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/curriculumsupport/schoollibrarysupport/detcms/navigation/resourcing-the-curriculum/selecting-resources/#toc6. Used by permission of D. Bevan, Nov 2013

More RDA updates

SCIS hybrid RDA standards

RDA: Resource Description and Access is the cataloguing standard that replaced the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules in 2013. SCIS has been working on a staged implementation of RDA to manage the impact on school library systems and their users. When SCIS started using the transitional standards on 1 July 2013 the intention was to move completely to RDA on 1 July 2014. This timeline is not going to be possible.

SCIS has delayed the full implementation of RDA for a further 12 months.

Bible and Qur’an headings in SCIS

Background

Descriptions of resources created according to RDA instructions are easier for users to understand. Many of the obscure abbreviations previously used by cataloguers have been abandoned in favour of familiar language. This brings us to access points (both preferred titles and subject headings) for the Bible.

The Bible

Bible Bookmark by George Redgrave CC-by-nd
Bible Bookmark by George Redgrave CC-by-nd

Bible headings were previously constructed in this pattern:

Bible
Bible. N.T.
Bible. N.T. Luke
Bible. O.T.
Bible. O.T. Genesis
Bible stories – N.T.
Bible stories – N.T. Gospels
Bible stories – O.T.
Bible stories – O.T. Exodus

RDA has made two major changes. The abbreviations ‘N.T.’ and ‘O.T.’ are spelled out as ‘New Testament’ and ‘Old Testament’. Individual books of the Bible are entered directly under the heading ‘Bible’. The same list of headings now looks like this:

Bible
Bible. Genesis
Bible. Luke
Bible. New Testament
Bible. Old Testament
Bible stories – Exodus
Bible stories – Gospels
Bible stories – New Testament
Bible stories – Old Testament

The Qur’an

The conversion to RDA also provided the opportunity to use the more commonly transliterated form ‘Qur’an’ rather than ‘Koran’ for headings relating to this sacred text. This change does not apply to the transcription of titles or contents which may contain the word ‘Koran’. For example:

Text of the Qur’an
Preferred title: Qur’an
Title statement: The Koran / translated with notes by N.J. Dawood

Work about the Qur’an
Title statement: The Koran : a very short introduction
Subject heading Qur’an – Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Changes in the SCIS database

More than 650 authority records for the Bible and Qur’an, representing headings in over 5,000 bibliographic records were changed in SCIS in January 2014. This was accomplished using the global headings change facility in Voyager, the library management system used by SCIS. The first edition of SCIS authority files in 2014 contains these changed authority records.
‘Use for’ references have been provided for every individual book of the Bible, for example:

Bible. Luke
UF Bible. New Testament. Luke
Luke (Book of the New Testament)

These references allow users who include ‘New Testament’ or ‘Old Testament’ in their headings search, or search directly for the name of the book to be directed to the preferred heading.

Changes in SCIS subject headings
There were relatively few changes required for SCIS Subject Headings, which contain only selected examples and pointers as to how to construct subject headings for parts of the Bible and stories based on Biblical events. The opportunity was taken to include some extra instructions to assist cataloguers in devising Bible headings, for example:

Bible stories – New Testament
For retold or adapted stories from individual books of the New Testament, see headings such as Bible stories – Luke.

Changes in your library system

Individual library systems vary in their capacity to manage global changes. Depending on the nature of your collection and your library system, these changes may or may not represent a challenge. If you use SCIS authority files and your system is set up to automatically match headings in your database when you import the new authority file, the changes may be quite straightforward. In other cases you may need to ask your library system vendor or your user group for advice on how to manage the impact of these changes.

Connections 88

Connections 88
Connections issue 88

Heading into holidays? Now you have some time, catch up on some professional reading. In case you missed it – the term 1 issue of Connections is published online at the SCIS website and features the following articles of interest to school library staff.

Literacy loves storytelling

Dr. Pam Macintyre looks at the role of oral language in the development of successful literacy and suggests how schools can foster this in programmes such as In Other Words at Dinjerra Primary School, Melbourne. Pam is a lecturer in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. She is editor of the quarterly review Journal Viewpoint: on books for young adults and sits on the 100 Story Building board of directors.

Teacher associations support Australian Curriculum

Education Services Australia has partnered with Australian teachers’ associations to develop practical, classroom-related digital resources that are aligned to the Australian Curriculum. In this article Gabrielle England provides an overview of free online resources available for Phase 1 Learning Areas.

Miss Scarlet in the library with the smart phone

Joanna Hare provides a handy how-to-mobile photography guide for librarians looking at practical uses for libraries, some basic tips and apps.

Inanimate Alice

Inanimate Alice is a fictional story designed to develop student’s digital literacy skill. It is linked through Scootle to many of the Australian Curriculum guidelines for English and literacy.

School library collections survey 2013

In 2013 SCIS conducted an online survey of Australian school library staff to find out more about the state of school library collections. Clare Kennedy reports on the survey results.

New and revised subject headings: Bible and Qur’an

List of the new and revised subject headings for the Bible and Qur’an approved by the SCIS Information Services Standards Committee following implementation of Resource Description and Access (RDA).

SCIS Asks 2013

SCIS conducted its annual consultation workshop in Melbourne on Thursday 14 November 2013 from 9.30-3.30pm. The consultation engaged SCIS and its partners in discussion about future priorities in our support of school libraries.

SCIS Asks logo 2013Twitter hashtag for the day: #scisasks

Programme

9.30am Welcome and consultation goalsVictoria Johnson, General Manager Education Services Australia

9.40am The view from the school libraryDi Ruffles, Melbourne Grammar School

10.00am SCIS update: [from slide 9] Pru Mitchell, Manager SCIS

  • What are SCIS users asking for? How can SCIS and library system providers best serve school libraries?

10.30am Key issue: The future of identity for integration and personalisation
Nick Lothian, Developer ESA

  • Key question: How can ESA and library systems work together to support integrated search and access across school-selected resources?

11.00am Morning Tea

11.30am Future of the catalogue: Panel

12.20pm Discussion and questions

  • How should SCIS source, create or enhance catalogue data to meet future needs?

12.45pm Lunch

1.30pm Future of  vocabularies Ben Chadwick, Metadata Analyst/SCIS System Administrator ESA

  • Schools Online Thesaurus (ScOT) report
  • Linked data developments
  • Australian Curriculum alignment opportunities
  • Discussion and questions

2.10pm Resourcing of the curriculum project reports

2.50pm Final table discussion and recommendations

  • Discussion and questions
    Outcome: Recommendations on priority areas for SCIS services

3.30pm Close

If you cannot attend the Consultation you are invited to contribute via the SCIS Asks Survey

Scootle update

Stacey Hattensen, Program Director, Content Services at Education Services Australia provided an overview of Scootle at the ASLA 2013 conference. Stacey’s presentation was titled: Scootle, supporting teachers to implement the Australian Curriculum, and guided participants through the latest developments of Scootle including:

Stacey encouraged teacher librarians to download the apps for Scootle [Android and iPad] and Scootle community [Android, iPad and iPhone].

Want to participate in creating a national collection?
Stacey also asked for voluntary reviewers with a good understanding of the Australian Curriculum, and a keen interest in digital and online learning. If you are interested in reviewing online resources and providing advice, or if you find something great that you think fits the Scootle criteria, get in touch at: stacey.hattensen@esa.edu.au.

Collections for connected learning

The Australian School Library Association national conference took place in the Term 3, 2013 school holidays in Hobart.

SCIS Manager, Pru Mitchell facilitated a workshop on the future of library collections, asking:

  • Is a collection of resources fundamental to the school library’s role?
  • What priority should be given to balanced, professionally selected and managed collections in emerging learning environments?

The workshop considered the assumptions behind these questions, reviewed the changes taking place in school library collections, and discussed associated resource and information management challenges.

Collections pre-survey

What issues are schools facing in resourcing the curriculum?

During 2013 SCIS has been conducting informal surveying of school library staff who attend workshops, asking them the free text question:
What are your current collection issues?

This survey closed at the end of Term 3 with a total of 85 respondents. The results were then coded, revealing what the researcher saw as 16 distinct issues.
While the frequency of each category being mentioned in a response is shown in the table below, the goal of the pre-survey was to collect a range of responses from which to prepare a more in-depth survey. The fact that respondents were attending a cataloguing professional learning activity at the time of completing this survey question, may well explain the high occurrence of ‘cataloguing’ as an issue.

What are your current collection issues survey responses
Collection issues survey responses. Sep 2013

 

Categories

  • cataloguing 14%
    catalogue records for resources are unavailable or unsatisfactory
  • e-resources 13%
    e-resources are not available,  or not managed or used appropriately
  • time 9%
    time to manage resources is limited and/or wasted
  • library system 7%
    system does not meet school’s needs
  • promotion 7%
    resources are not promoted to staff and students
  • budget 6%
    budget for resources is inadequate
  • staff 6%
    staff responsible for managing resources are not doing this effectively or do not exist
  • technology 6%
    technology required to use curriculum resources is not available and/or inadequate
  • search 5%
    finding what resources the school has, and where they are located, is difficult
  • weeding 5%
    weeding of resources does not occur regularly
  • access 4%
    access to resources is inadequate
  • age of collection 4%
    outdated resources are retained
  • balance 4%
    balance between print and digital resources is lacking
  • collection use 4%
    staff and students do not use school resources
  • OPAC use 3%
    staff and students do not use OPAC to find resources
  • professional learning 3%
    professional learning in resourcing the curriculum required

 What’s next?

You can contribute to the next stage of this research by responding to the survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/scisresearch.

Western Australia SCIS agency

On 16 September 2013, Education Services Australia received advice from the Director-General of the  Western Australian Department of Education that the Department will be closing the  in-house cataloguing service as of 27 September 2013.

The cataloguing service has for many years catalogued resources sent in by Western Australian schools, as well as providing support and training in the use of SCIS.

Access to SCIS for WA government schools

The Department WILL continue to provide ongoing support for Western Australian government schools to access SCISWeb and retrieve catalogue records via a bulk service subscription to SCIS for all Western Australian government schools.

Cataloguing of Western Australian school resources

Education Services Australia will provide a replacement cataloguing service for Western Australian schools and is currently investigating options for schools who wish to send resources. It is a priority to ensure Western Australian resources continue to be added to the SCIS database in a timely manner. Schools will be advised of the process via email, this blog and on the SCIS website Cataloguing Services page.

Questions

If you have further questions about SCIS cataloguing services, please email the SCIS cataloguers at catinfo@esa.edu.au.
For any SCIS login problems, training or general requests, email scisinfo@esa.edu.au, or call 1800 337 405.

Farewell and thanks to the WA SCIS cataloguing agency 

WA cataloguers prior to final ISSC teleconference Sep 2013
WA cataloguers prior to final ISSC teleconference Sep 2013. Photo by Robin Wake used with permission.

We would like to acknowledge the outstanding service that the Western Australian Department’s e-schooling staff have provided to SCIS and to Australian schools. According to statistics available since 1996 a total of 240,000 learning resources have been catalogued by the WA agency.

Particular thanks to the most recent team members Bev Blackwell, Barbara Carle, Sabina Cull, Tina Hoyland, Charlene Plunkett and Suan Kui Yoong, plus previous members Leonie Samuelsson and Barbara Shardlow, and all those who have supported this team over many years.

Feel free to record your experiences of the team and its service in the comments area or send us an email.

 

Unmatched SCIS orders

Unmatched orders

Can’t find your resource on SCIS?

The ISBN, ISSN, ISMN and SCIS numbers you tried to order were not found on the SCIS database?

You can get your unmatched orders checked.

Go to My Profile and choose Advanced options.

My Profile Advanced Tab showing unmatched orders option
My Profile Advanced Tab showing unmatched orders option

If you receive the unmatched orders message in SCISWeb there are two things you should do today to get the most out of your SCIS subscription.

Check that:

  1. you have an up-to-date email address in your SCIS Profile, and
  2. you are receiving emails when SCIS catalogues a resource you have ordered that was previously unmatched.

These two simple steps mean you can either

  1. put an unmatched resource back on your cataloguing shelf and wait for an email telling you when a catalogue record is available, or
  2. create a skeleton record for the record if your library system allows this, and overlay the full SCIS record when you receive the email from SCIS.
MyProfileEmail
Add your email address to My Profile

Note that if you use a Z39.50 system you will need to re-order any unmatched ISBNs in the SCISWeb Create Orders interface to activate this email alert.

 

This is a handy feature of SCIS, but remember that SOMEONE has to send the resource to SCIS for it to be catalogued. Our cataloguing services staff would love to receive your unmatched resources.

Access to digital content

Recent SCIS workshops and presentations have focused on the challenges facing school libraries in their management of digital content. As a key service provider and partner with Australian and New Zealand school libraries SCIS is committed to helping schools deal with collection management issues, and provides catalogue records for e-books, websites, apps, audio books, learning objects and digital video.