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.
An introduction to the National Safe Schools Framework
SCIS is conducting a consultation workshop in Melbourne on Tuesday 4 December 2012 from 9.00-1.00pm. The consultation aims to engage SCIS and its partners in discussion about future priorities in our support of school libraries.
Spiral, Rena Voronoff, 2007 Photo by Michael Jongen
1.00pm SCIS Consultation closes
Participants are encouraged to stay for a light lunch and then join delegates at the keynote session and opening reception for the IDEA 2012 conference at the Sofitel, 25 Collins Street Melbourne.
2.00pm Keynote: The science and technology of learning, Professor Erik Duval, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
3.15pm Afternoon tea
3.45pm Panel: Challenges and opportunities for digital learning including Rhyan Bloor, Digital Education Branch, DEEWR; Rodney Spark, eWorks; Kerri-Lee Krause, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education), University of Western Sydney and Bevan Doyle, Chief Information Officer, Department of Education Western Australia
SCIS subscribes to LibraryThing for Libraries which has a ‘similar books’ display that matches books based on what members own and tag in the social reading platform LibraryThing.
Look at the SCIS Catalogue screen [subscription required] for a popular title such as ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ and wait for the bottom section of the page to load. There you should see a table of Similar books which will give your students (and teachers) a range of options of further titles to check out. There are 8 suggestions in the table for each title, but by clicking on one of the suggestions you can get another 8 suggestions.
There are also reviews available (77 reviews for Diary of a wimpy kid) – many of them written by students.
Note: This content requires a subscription to LibraryThing for Libraries so the similar books and reviews will not download into your library system with the SCIS catalogue record. Use your school’s SCIS login to give students and teachers access to these ideas via SCIS Catalogue searches.
Education Services Australia (ESA) is a national, not-for-profit company owned by all Australian education ministers. The company was established to support the delivery of national priorities in the schools, training and higher education sectors, in particular to advance key education initiatives and to create, publish and market ICT-based solutions, products and services to support learning, teaching and professional development.
Due to an internal promotion, an exciting opportunity exists to join the Publications and Library Services division. As Library Services Coordinator, you will enjoy a varied role and be responsible for providing support and advice to Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) subscribers in Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
The key responsibilities include:
Providing high level subscriber email and phone support including basic cataloguing assistance and complex system support
Managing subscriber support/troubleshooting queries escalated from the Customer Service team, and provision of associated documentation and training
Developing subscriber information sheets and FAQ and Help resources for print and web delivery
Producing current and engaging content for SCIS online communication channels including the SCIS website
Developing and monitoring audience engagement with SCIS communication channels including social media
Developing plans and managing requests for subscriber training
Preparing, delivering and reviewing professional learning sessions for school library staff
Contributing articles to the SCIS journal Connections and other professional publications of interest to school library staff
Liaising with Sales and Marketing team to ensure optimum delivery of information to subscribers and conducting subscriber satisfaction surveys
Producing and monitoring SCIS reports
It is expected that the successful candidate will possess a “can do” attitude with a minimum of two years experience as a teacher librarian in a school library setting. You will also possess practical knowledge and experience in a range of school library management tasks, including integrated library systems, basic cataloguing/indexing and technology support roles. Good knowledge of the SCIS user/SCIS Web system as used in school contexts, and proven ability to learn new systems and processes, is required.
In return, you can expect an excellent working environment with friendly colleagues and great conditions, interesting work, and opportunities for continual growth.
Doug Johnson, Director of Media and Technology in the Mankato Schools provides an overview of the Creative Commons licence system, how to use it for one’s own work and its implications for K-12 education. Originally published in Library Media Connection, vol 27 no 6 pp 56–57 May–Jun 2009.
Donna Benjamin, Executive Director of Creative Contingencies, tells the story of the project which led to the digitisation of the historical magazine The Dawn, and its addition to the National Library of Australia’s Trove online collection of Australian digitised newspapers.
Barbara Combes, Lecturer School of Information Studies Charles Sturt University makes an argument for using the library catalogue as a teaching and learning tool, specifically as an example of real-world relational database for secondary computing courses.
Catherine McNicol introduces a new global education website launched in early 2012 which provides educators with a range of resources to develop understanding and integrate a global perspective in the curriculum.
The Improve online formative assessment tool was developed by Education Services Australia to meet a need in schools for an interactive system that can be used by teachers and students to support improved learning. This article includes information about the content of Improve and how schools can access it.
Announcement of the list of Australia’s top 100 books. This list was compiled from a school library survey conducted a result of the Educational Lending Right (ELR) 2011–12. Download file of titles (307 Kb Word document)
QR codes and iPads in the library
Narelle Keen, teacher librarian and chair of the ICT Committee at Pacific Lutheran College, describes their trial incorporating iPads and QR codes into library orientation activities.
Social media and schools as professional learning communities
Kay Cantwell, Education Officer Digital Learning, ResourceLink at Brisbane Catholic Education, presents ideas for using Twitter and other social media in professional learning communities, in collaboration, leadership support and information provision.
Libraries in the cloud
Doug Johnson, Director of Media and Technology in the Mankato Schools, discusses cloud computing and its impact on how schools provide access to resources, computer applications and file storage for staff and students.
Advocating for librarians – as opposed to libraries
This commentary by Stephen Abram outlines how librarians can market their value and skills as an individual professional without being tied to a physical library.
Authors Hazel Edwards, William McInnes and Alison Lester at Bialik College, Hawthorn, Victoria, for the soft launch of the National Year of Reading in September 2011
Sue McKerracher explains why 2012 has been declared the National Year of Reading, and how parents, teachers, students and school libraries can get involved in this initiative to focus attention on reading and showcase the important role that libraries play in the school community.
If you don’t have a PLN
Bev Novak from Mentone Grammar School encourages educators to start developing their Personal Learning Network (PLN) and discover the joy of lifelong learning – learning anything, anytime, anywhere with anybody they choose.
Australian School Library Association Citation Award
An interview with Pru Mitchell following presentation of the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) citation award in October 2011. Pru discusses the citation and the role and impact of professional associations.
Professional development of library technicians
Kerrie Kelly and Kim Wilson outline the 2012 professional development and networking activities planned by the ALIA Victorian Library Technicians Committee.
The 2011 Horizon Report for schools
The Horizon Report profiles key emerging technologies for education providing estimates of timelines for adoption/implementation.
The new SCIS Catalogue provides a number of ways to search by subject. To choose the most useful subject search option for your purpose, first consider whether you are looking for:
a SCIS Subject Heading or ScOT term to apply to a catalogue record, or
Selecting the subject tab before entering a search term provides the most comprehensive option for a subject heading search, looking for the subject term anywhere in subject, and returning any matching SCIS Subject Headings and ScOT terms in an alphabetical list.
The number of related titles, and details of any broader and narrower terms are provided below the subject heading.
While the default display is set to a list of 20 subject terms per page, this number can be changed to 10, 25 or 50 records per page prior to searching.
Subject browse returns term at the start of a subject
The Subject browse drop down option within Basic search returns an alphabetical list of SCIS Subject Headings and ScOT terms that start with this term and also provides a count of titles and details of references.
This is helpful for finding the most appropriate subdivision of a SCIS Subject Heading.
2. TO FIND RESOURCES ON A SUBJECT Note: these search options will provide a list of records, not a list of subject headings.
Basic search: Subject returns records with the term anywhere in subject
Subject search within basic search looks for the search term anywhere in any subject heading and returns the records that meet that criteria.
Results are sorted alphabetically by title, but can be changed to a sort by publication date or author using the drop down options at the top right of the search results.
To find the subject heading used for a particular title, click on the title to display the full record and view the subjects. Click through from the full record to investigate that subject heading further.
Advanced search is accessed from the top right hand banner menu of the SCIS Catalogue, and provides the option to combine a subject search with other search parameters. Advanced search will return a list of records, sorted alphabetically by title.
Advanced search by subject and GMD
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Screenshots of SCIS Catalogue courtesy of Ex Libris Voyager system
Dianne Oberg discusses the concept of school culture. She believes the very essence of the work of teacher librarians – improving teaching and learning – requires that they work within the culture of the school and that they also work to change the culture of the school.
This article by project managers Carol Grantham and Silvana Jenkins, describes the online referencing generator project undertaken by the School Library Association of South Australia (SLASA). It outlines the project’s rationale, the development process, the partnership with the University of South Australia and how schools are using this online Harvard referencing tool.
This article has been prepared from edited extracts of Digital Literacy across the Curriculum, a handbook developed by Futurelab. The handbook is aimed at educational practitioners and school leaders, in both primary and secondary schools, who are interested in creative and critical uses of technology in the classroom.
Pam Kadow, SCIS Cataloguing Team Leader summarises the main updates and changes to subject categories in the new 23rd edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification, being used by SCIS from September 2011.
More detailed information on number relocations, discontinuations and re-used numbers is available at www.oclc.org/us/en/dewey/versions/print.
Have you checked out the new SCIS Catalogue launched last week?
As well as a fresh look, there are a number of features that will be appreciated by SCIS users.
Search filters
The search limits available in previous versions of SCIS OPAC are still available (year, place, type, format and language), but search limits have been supplemented in this version of the Catalogue by the ability to filter the results following your initial search. These filters are found in the right hand column of the search results page.
Search filters
Log in to the SCIS Catalogue and try the filters on a search for World Cup.
If you have requests for other filters you would like to see included as default, please let us know.
Timeout warning
A new timeout countdown feature alerts you if your search session has been idle for some time and is about to be reset.
Extension to the timeout period is also being trialled following a server upgrade.
The new SCIS Catalogue is designed to display well and resize for use on various mobile devices.
Technical infrastructure
The SCIS Catalogue is now on a separate server at address: http://opac.scis.curriculum.edu.au which means it can function independently in the event of downtime on other SCIS services such as SCISWeb. If your network settings or firewall need to be changed as a result, please contact SCIS for the IP address of this server.
