How your library catalogue can help with information literacy – and, in turn, with all areas of the curriculum!

Information literacy skills underpin skills in all areas of the curriculum

When I was studying to be a librarian, I did a Master’s thesis titled ‘Mining for information: an investigation into the use of computer games to develop information literacy skills in primary school aged children’. I chose this topic because I was super interested in the psychology of gamification, and passionate about information literacy – and I thought there was a connection between the two.

Although my thesis topic was lighthearted, I still think I was on to something. Not only in the sense that play and gameplay is really critical for children’s learning, particularly in the early years; but also that information literacy skills are necessary for all sorts of learning and can be contextualised meaningfully in many ways: one of them being Playing Minecraft!

Information literacy matters now more than ever

Many information literacy frameworks exist – I’ve added links to some at the end of this post – but all of them broadly align around six main skills – Recognise, Find, Organise, Evaluate, Synthesise, Communicate. These skills underpin everything from digital and media literacy to everyday learning and decision making. And now, in an AI-driven, information-saturated world, they’re even more essential. Information literacy skills can be taught as a stand-alone topic – but they’re far more powerfully understood if embedded in the curriculum where they can be used in a meaningful context. The NSW information fluency framework complements current curriculum by contextualising information fluency skills, highlighting where they occur and how they can be supported by the teacher and the teacher librarian.

The library catalogue and information literacy

Teaching students how to use the library catalogue is a really simple way to support information literacy in a structured way that can be easily embedded in something as obvious as an inquiry unit, or something as unlikely as gameplay. According to the Internation Federation of Library Associations, the library catalogue is designed to help students Find, Identify, Select, Obtain, and Navigate/Explore resources, and it’s not by chance that you’ll find these concepts overlap somewhat with those information literacy skills I was talking about before!

The library catalogue offers structured and reliable pathways to appropriate and relevant materials, offset – in school libraries that subscribe to SCIS – with metadata that is created and tailored specifically with a school library audience in mind. SCIS records use SCIS Authorities which are a structured and controlled set of terms that cataloguers use to describe resources.

Authority files and the quiet battle to maintain critical thinking skills

Authority files eliminate duplication and ambiguity and offer a structured way to distil a query into a keyword search – a very simple example could be, where a modern search may start off with a query like ‘How do bugs reproduce?’, a catalogue search will force the user to critically analyse their question and break it down conceptually into terms like ‘bugs’, and ‘breeding’ – and synonyms that are not authorised will be redirected to authorised terms like ‘insects’, and ‘reproduction’. This process encourages critical thinking and synthesis of ideas in a way that a Google search box or an AI chat bypasses. When we query a search engine or an AI, the results we see are shaped by algorithms that have learned from previous queries (either ours, or others’) and are programmed to give the results that are statistically most likely to be wanted. This reduces our autonomy and critical engagement, and makes us more vulnerable to misinformation.

By using SCIS records and authorities in your library, and by using the library catalogue as a tool for information literacy, you’re enabling students to engage with information in an intuitive and contextual way that encourages the six main skills that contribute to information literacy. You are also ensuring that searches are conducted with

Consistent terms, names and series headings
Disambiguated terms (distinguishment made between synonyms, homonyms, spelling variants and grammatical forms)
Clear links between broader, narrower and related terms for those who subscribe to Authority Files.

Lessons in the catalogue

If you’re after information or lessons to teach students how to use the library catalogue, see below for some videos and information. Usually your library management system will have a help article or video and I’ve included a couple of them in this section. Although library management systems all have their own interfaces and layout, they all work in basically the same way and will have boxes for search, advanced search and ways to refine search results (by date of publication, place of publication, subject headings used, age groups etc).

These basic skills can be taught on their own but are most powerful when integrated with a need in the classroom, so having library staff working with and supporting classroom teachers during an actual lesson makes a lot of sense. Modelling a search on the library management system and helping students form their own search terms, keywords and refinements on a topic relevant to them will make contextualising and synthesising information and information literacy skills a much smoother process.

From the Editor’s Desk: Connections Issue 137

This year, I’ve been thinking about the term ‘Gatekeeper’, as I’ve come across it frequently in my discussions with teachers, authors and library staff in the first term of 2026.

‘Gatekeeper’ is traditionally used in reference to a person who controls access to something. And of course, controlling information access for students is so topical and important at the moment, both in terms of restriction, for either protection or censorship; and also in terms of curation of the overwhelming amount of information that’s available now. Despite having a pejorative reputation – I think that gatekeeper is typically more often used in a censorship sense than a curatorial one – I find myself leaning towards using the term gatekeeper more and more in reference to school library staff and teachers, who curate and guide young people towards the information they want and need.

Issues addressed this term in Connections include curation of AI content; reparative cataloguing description; diversity and representation in children’s books; and censorship. No matter the topic, this term I found all the authors I spoke with were concerned in some way with gatekeepers, and gatekeeping; with the idea that in 2026, there’s an important role that educators, parents and librarians play in curating, interpreting, and filtering the almost overwhelming amount of information that is available to young people – not all of it useful, accurate, or appropriate.

So, in Connections volume 137, here’s to the gatekeepers – that’s you! The ones curating, contextualizing, diversifying, and clarifying the information that students in school libraries are accessing in 2026.

Andy Griffiths: gatekeeping fart jokes
“I wrote The day my bum went psycho not because I find fart jokes particularly funny. In fact, I don’t. But I find the fact that kids find them so funny very amusing.”

Tui Raven: promoting cultural respect
“The way that we think about authorship and ownership in library systems is different to the way that we think about authorship in an Indigenous knowledge system.”

Kate Temple: curating messages about late-stage capitalism (and women in comedy)
“We’re looking at the ethics of billionaire culture through the lens of guinea pigs.”

Jared Thomas: unveiling and dismantling stereotypes
“I want to challenge myths around Aboriginal people [and show] three-dimensional characters, not stereotypes … or if there are stereotypes, making sure they’re explained and contextualised.”

Kay Oddone: filtering information to make it useful
“Collecting is additive. Curation is selective and often subtractive. It turns accumulation into something usable, coherent and worth sharing.”

Our latest enhancement to your SCIS account

Have you ever wondered why when you log into scisdata.com you’re immediately directed to the Quick scan download request page? Customers have asked us why, when you login, don’t you go to the Search page?

Most customers log into scisdata.com when they’re trying to catalogue a resource in their Library Management System (LMS), and their search doesn’t locate a SCIS catalogue record. Our website metrics confirm the search page is where most users navigate to after logging in and being directed to the Quick scan download request page.

SCIS has listened to your feedback. Now, when users log into scisdata.com with their username and password, they are automatically directed to the Search page.

From the search page you can search for catalogue records by topic, title, or ISBN (or other identifier), or SCIS ID. You can explore websites, apps, e-books and digital videos that the catalogue team have catalogued. You can also click on recently catalogued fiction and non-fiction books to help with your collection development.

If you want to use the Quick scan download process, simply click the Download tab and you’ll be able to create a download request. You can then scan or upload a file with multiple ISBN, ISSN, ISMN and SCIS numbers. Once you have done that, simply follow the prompts to create the download file that you can upload into your LMS.

Look out for our next round of enhancements, which will address longstanding issues with the Browse headings functionality. We expect the 2 enhancements to be released in the next month or two. These enhancements will make finding resources under specific subject headings even easier, further supporting collection development for school libraries.

How do schools and teacher librarians deal with books from controversial authors?

As school goes back for 2026, school leaders, teachers, and teacher librarians will be thinking about the news of a well-known Australian children’s author’s arrest and charges, and what implications that has for the welfare of their students, their own curriculum plans, and the school library collection.

It’s a very sad fact that this issue is not a new one – and that it’s something that schools and libraries have had to come to terms with several times over the last few years. Reactions and advice online and in the community range from ‘remove everything from the shelves and the curriculum and destroy it,’ to ‘keep it in the back room for now,’ to ‘don’t do anything until we have the results of the legal proceedings’.

We’ve curated a round–up of some of the words from teachers, academics, critics and librarians about the issues of censorship and collection curation, problematic artists, and our duty of care to children; and we’ve listed them here for library and school staff to consider while making difficult decisions about those issues.

The following articles will give you food for thought about the ethics and politics around art, artists, duty of care and activism:

Firstly, from a child welfare point of view, this measured Facebook post by Tania McCartney is a very thorough article about centering children in our decision making; and how our feelings affect our reactions, and what the consequences – intended or not – can be.
Danielle Binks, author and educator, makes no bones of her position, namely, that this is ‘no time to be separating the art from the artist’, because what happens when students, as they often do, google this author to find out more? Read more here…
Further, this discussion and review of a book about separating the artist from the art (Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, Claire Dederer, Hachette) is thought provoking and resonates with many of the feelings of the Australian literary community. It explores the question ‘who is being served by the insistence that an artist’s biography ought not to taint the audience’s experience of the work?’
A fascinating article from 2024 forces the reader to reconsider the reasons they may have for separating art from artist – and why this may be harmful to everyone involved. Read the article…
This article says that the most powerful activism a consumer can perform is to withdraw their attention altogether: making choices about collection development and promoting books and stories that highlight issues and contexts that reflect the values of our own communities. Read more…

And this group of articles offer more practical, ‘what you can do now’ advice for approaching those issues:

This excellent blog by teacher librarian and academic Krystal Gagen-Spriggs discusses a previous case and outlines the actions taken after a work by a problematic author was included in curriculum – and goes on to outline a set of key questions to consider when making decisions of this sort in your own school library.
ALIA schools shared this post from Natasha Georgiou, the WASLA President, offering advice.

Finally, some resources for making decisions about the big question on the minds of many school staff: what do we do with items we already have in the collection?

This is when school library staff really need to ensure they are making decisions in line with their policies on removing items from the collection. If you don’t already have a collection management policy, you may want to consider developing one – and the process of doing this may help guide your decision making at this time, too.

Sample collection management policies are available from:

500 hats*
ALIA provides a helpful selection policy toolkit AND policy and procedure development manual.

*The 500 hats sample policy actually has wording that includes what to do if the creator of a resource is accused or charged of a criminal offense, in particular offences relating to children.

We hope this collection of articles helps you and your school leadership team think through this issue – and if you have comments, concerns or other articles that could be helpful to share, please comment below to add to the conversation.

Ideas for celebrating International Women’s Day 2024 in your school library

“To truly include women means to openly embrace their diversity of race, age, ability, faith, body image, and how they identify. Worldwide, women must be included in all fields of endeavour.” Source: (https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme)

Where can we find a more inclusive space but in a library? School libraries across Australia are spaces where all members of the school community are welcomed – regardless of language, ability, culture or gender. Explore the below resources to honour and spotlight women on International Women’s Day and all year round.

1. An Inspiring Podcast!

Fierce Girls

SCIS number 1964798

2. Books about women and their achievements

100 women who shaped history (2023)

Gail Meyer Rolka

ISBN: 9781728290065; SCIS number: 5455550

It girls: pioneer women in computing (2023)

John S Croucher

ISBN: 9781398112292; SCIS number: 5474826

Not here to make you comfortable: 50 women who stand up, speak out, inspire change (2023)

ISBN: 9781761340581; SCIS number: 5457767

3. International Women’s Day #inspireinclusion video

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Videos

A documentary about women’s rights and achievements.

In the room (2021)

Directed by Stamatia Maroupas; produced by Geraldine McKenna, Stamatia Maroupas.

SCIS number: 5375493

(available on Clickview)

The leadership (2020)

Written and directed by Ili Baré; produced by Greer Simpkin.

SCIS number: 5366418

(available on multiple services: https://theleadershipfilm.org/watch/#online)

He named me Malala (2015)

Written by Malala Yousafzai; directed by Davis Guggenheim; produced by Davis Guggenheim, Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes.

SCIS number: 1757930

(available on Clickview)

4. Resources from other libraries

Share some of the amazing online resources that other libraries have created about women and their roles throughout history. Plenty of libraries have created great free resources to share with your school community.

Shoulder to shoulder: feminism in Australia (2022)

SCIS number: 5395076

State Library of Victoria: Women’s history month

State Library of Victoria: 8 women from Australia’s history you should know (2017)

How SCIS adds new subject headings to its database

Additions to the SCIS subject headings are made through a detailed process of consultation to ensure they are as appropriate as possible.

The lifecycle of a new heading begins with an idea. Suggestions for new headings can come from teachers or librarians in schools, from changes in the curriculum or from cataloguers. They can be prompted by technological change, social change or changes in accepted terminology or language.

Once a new heading is proposed, the first step is to write a working paper. This starts with a detailed rationale for the new or changed heading. We count the number of records in the SCIS database that use the term to determine how common it is and provide a dictionary definition for clarity.

The structure of the new heading is laid out: ‘Broader terms’ and ‘Narrower terms’ are identified and ‘Use for’ references are indicated, where appropriate. The heading may also include a clarifying scope note.

The working paper will then detail the existing reference structure in the SCIS thesaurus and determine how the new term would be integrated.

The completed working paper then starts its rounds of consultation. Papers are discussed at SCIS cataloguer meetings in Victoria and New South Wales. Once any suggested changes have been made, the papers are discussed at meetings of external cataloguers who contribute to the SCIS database. Papers are also assessed by a group of school librarians and teachers.

When all stakeholders have been consulted, the opinions of each group are collated and presented at a quarterly meeting of the SCIS Standards Committee, made up of representatives from each team that contributes to SCIS. Each paper is presented and discussed in detail, and then voted on for inclusion in the database. If the paper is accepted, the new term will be added. If the paper is rejected, it may be revised and presented again at a later date, or rejected as unnecessary. Papers may go through several iterations before the new heading is finally accepted for inclusion.

Example of a new SCIS subject heading

Key

BT – Broader term
NT – Narrower term
RT – Related term
UF – Use for
SN – Scope note
SEN – Special example note

In – Indexing note

Heading

Sleepovers

SN Use for works about school-age or younger children sleeping over at another person’s home.

UF Sleep overs
UF Sleep-overs
UF Slumber parties
BT Sleep
RT Bedtime
RT Amusements
RT Children’s parties

Find out about new subject headings recently added to SCIS:

Unlock the World of Interactive Fiction: Discover 35 Free Titles on SCIS!

In the immersive world of interactive fiction, players command the story by inputting text to guide characters and explore rich narrative landscapes. Dubbed text adventures, these non-linear tales allow you to carve your own path through intricate choose-your-own-adventure stories online.

Excitingly, SCIS cataloguers have meticulously created records for 35 free interactive fiction titles, complete with URLs for direct, seamless access to these resources straight from your library catalogue.

Free Interactive Fiction Titles

SCIS NUMBER	TITLE
5473019	Lost Pig
5473026	Suveh Nux
5473033	Inside the Facility
5473370	To Hell in a Hamper
5473371	The Wand
5473514	The Shadow in the Cathedral
5473381	Six
5473382	Aotearoa
5473385	Illuminismo Iniziato
5473386	Risorgimiento Represso
5473390	The Temple of Shorgil
5473539	Grandma Bethlinda’s Variety Box
5473538	Skies Above
5473541	A Bear’s Night Out
5473543	Winter Wonderland
5473392	Ether
5473520	Snack Time!
5473524	Best Gopher Ever
5473396	Untold Riches
5473401	Earth and Sky
5473402	Another earth, another sky
5473550	Pirate’s Plunder!
5473556	Mrs. Pepper’s Nasty Secret
5473574	The Prongleman Job
5473576	The Legend of the Missing Hat
5473579	The Blue Lettuce
5473403	The Lost Islands of Alabaz
5473585	It
5473642	Reflections
5473644	Baking with Lizzie
5473494	Dragon Adventure
5473646	And a Hippo New Year
5473649	Grandpa’s Ranch
5473495	A matter of Heist Urgency
5473496	Bureaucrocy

How to batch import the records into your library system

Log into https://www.scisdata.com/
Navigate to Downloads – Collections
On the left you will see the categories of digital collections curated by SCIS
Click on a category e-Books (free) click Download
A list of the records in the list appears for you to evaluate suitability:

Clicking on the SCIS number opens the SCIS record
Clicking on the title will opens the digital resources

Select resources to be removed from the download list by ticking the square box(es)
Click Remove selected # records for any resources not relevant to your school community
When you are happy with these records to be added to your catalogue click Download records
You will have a new file in your computers download files with file extension .mrc
Go to your LMS and use the file import process to import the records into your LMS (contact you LMS vendor with assistance with this step).

Download today

More reading about Interactive fiction:

IFWiki https://www.ifwiki.org/Main_Page
Interactive Fiction Database https://ifdb.org/
Interactive fiction (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction
People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction http://pr-if.org/ (Warning – No SSL certificate, be careful not to share any personal information on the site.)

We’re eager to gather feedback on how interactive fiction has impacted students in schools. Your insights are crucial for SCIS as we contemplate the future of this project and consider adding more titles. Email your feedback to help@scisdata.com.

Fostering Respect in Australian Schools through SCIS Authority Files

In today’s educational landscape, nurturing inclusivity in schools is of increasing importance. At SCIS, we’re deeply committed to fostering diversity and respect within the educational community, and we have recently taken a significant step in this direction by enhancing SCIS Authority Files.

We have now integrated AustLang terms into SCIS Authority Files. AustLang is an extensive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language database that utilises the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) catalogue of language terms.

SCIS Authority Files play a central role in supporting learning and exploration through library catalogue searches, providing ‘see’ and ‘see also’ results to help users find the information they need.

Why is this development so crucial? The inclusion of AustLang terms means that school communities will see search results categorised by terms that appropriately name Australian languages, helping them understand how to respectfully refer to the resources they are looking for.

For educators, it offers a valuable resource, in line with the Australian Curriculum v.9, to help teach the importance of cultural diversity and respect to their students. It also encourages teachers to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander terms in their teaching, embedding a deeper understanding of Australia’s diverse culture into education.

Over 5000 schools across Australia use SCIS Authority Files. AustLang headings are now available to subscribing schools through our September Authority Files release. This update can be downloaded via our website, or automatically imported through our API for Accessit, Oliver and Athenaeum users.

If you don’t currently subscribe to SCIS Authority Files, you can contact our friendly customer service team at help@scisdata.com for more information. You can also sign up for our FREE March 2024 webinar to find out more about what SCIS Authority Files are, and how they can benefit your school library:

American Library Association Annual Conference 2023: Creating Connections in Chicago

As a teacher librarian in a diverse school community, I am acutely aware that my worldview has been shaped by my upbringing in country South Australia. In June 2023, I had the opportunity to further my worldview by attending and presenting at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago. The experience of meeting with 20,000 librarians from across the world was humbling. As we discussed our joys and challenges, there were many similarities. I felt while I was geographically outside my comfort zone, I was professionally in a familiar place.

A sign advertising the ‘Rally for the right to read’.

One of the most interesting parts of my trip was my exposure to the book challenges and bans currently being experienced in schools and public libraries across the United States. On my first night in Chicago, I attended ‘A Rally for the Right to Read’. The title was not hyperbole; the right to read freely and widely in much of the US is at risk. The keynote was delivered by Dr Ibram X Kendi, Professor in Humanities at Boston University and the author of How to be an Antiracist, one of the most banned texts in school districts in 2021–22. However, this was not the most transformative moment for me – this moment came when a panel of school librarians and a rural mum/graduate student spoke. Jamie Gregory was the 2022 South Carolina School Librarian of the Year, an accolade which in turn brought undue attention to a simple tweet in support of a book, which then led to a tirade of online and offline abuse.

Becky Calzada is the District Library Coordinator in Leander ISD; her district was one of the first to experience the full brunt of book challenges, a title she is not proud of. She has taken it upon herself to guide others and even spoke to this little Australian, delivering valuable advice. In her words, ‘It starts with one book!’ and ‘Don’t give them to airtime they desire.’ The final panel member was Leila Green Little, a rural mum and graduate student in library studies who, along with six friends, have become plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against her county, which has resulted in a preliminary injunction requiring the return of books to the shelves of the public library. The case is ongoing, as is the fight against book bans.

Senior Library at the University of Chicago Lab School

The following day I joined a Chicago School Library Tour with school librarians from the US, Singapore, Kenya and Peru. We visited school libraries serving different communities, with various designs and programs, but one quality was similar: the passion of the staff that work within them. At University of Chicago Lab School, one of the most interesting parts was exploring the Senior Library, replete with old wooden shelves and stained-glass windows. There was even a room dedicated to books published by graduates of the school. In contrast, the Catherine Cook School was a vertical school built in an old shoe factory. The furniture and programs were modern, the playground was on the roof, but the staff had the same dedication to literacy we share as professionals across the world. We finished the day with a keynote message from Judy Blume who, in keeping with what seems to be an ongoing theme, has over the years also had her books banned. She delighted the audience with a passion for ensuring teenagers access books which represent real problems.

After the joy of observing the practice of others, the next morning it was my turn to share. I presented on ‘Finding a New Normal: Library Policies and Practices’, sharing the pivots we took as a school library during the pandemic and the enduring legacy of these changes. I shared that many opportunities had opened up for invigorated programs and practices, but the pandemic also unearthed inequities within our services. No longer will we assume equal access to books and online resources in the homes of our students.

I spent the rest of the conference attending presentations and workshops on topics as diverse as supporting social development with literature, cataloguing, digital literacy and community connections.

Catherine sharing SCIS’s Connections magazine at Francis W Parker School in Chicago

There were many highlights of my trip, presentations on the breadth of library topics, meeting the Librarian of Congress, Rick Riordan, and even visiting the Field Museum. I left the conference and the country with a suitcase full of new release books from publishers, along with a box mailed home, but also a toolbox of knowledge and experiences I can draw upon for my career. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an international conference, I encourage you to seize it. Our practice is not a solo act – we are better when we draw on the knowledge and experiences of others, and a global worldview can only enrich this further.

Exciting news from SCIS: Automatic Authority Files import for Accessit users!

Accessit users can now automatically import Authority Files into their library management system via our API. This new feature saves time for library staff who no longer need to manually import the files.

Authority Files enhance your catalogue records by incorporating “see” and “see also” references. These references serve as a helpful tool for you and your school community, facilitating easier discovery of relevant resources. It’s like adding an intuitive search assistant to your catalogue!

Our team of expert cataloguers create name, subject, and series linkages, thereby broadening your search results to encompass resources that may not directly match your search term but are still relevant. For instance, when searching for “Stars,” you might also come across resources related to Astrophysics, Nebulae, Planets and Solar Systems . This expanded search experience empowers your school community to find more specific or related resources on the topics they search for.

If you’re an Authority Files subscriber and already use the SCIS API, setting up the new automatic import is straightforward. See the instructions below:

Navigate to Cataloguing -> Imports -> Import MARC Authorities
Select option ‘Import from SCIS API’
Select ‘Authority Type’ – (Subject / Name / Series)
Click ‘Start Import’

If you don’t yet use the SCIS API with Accessit, contact Accessit customer support for assistance setting it up and activating the automatic import.

Once the setup is complete, manual imports become a thing of the past, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of Authority Files effortlessly. In Accessit, these benefits are immediately evident in the ‘See Also’ tab of your search display, as depicted in the screenshot below:

We’re thrilled to offer Accessit users the opportunity to enhance their catalogues with our automatic Authority Files import! If you’re an Accessit user and an Authority Files subscriber, we highly recommend setting up the automatic import today. SCIS extends its gratitude to Accessit for working with us to implement this feature, which helps simplify library management.

Don’t subscribe to our Authority Files yet? No problem! Our friendly customer service team is here to help. Contact us at help@scisdata.com or any of the phone numbers listed on our website to learn more about the benefits and how to get started.