Category: Connections

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).

Connections 87

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

This issue features the following articles of interest to school library staff.

Early Harvest: A literary journal made by children

Sofia Makin looks at a Melbourne after school programme, Early Harvest, which engages primary aged students in the process of creating a literary magazine for children.

Gold Coast study links school libraries and teacher librarians to literacy

Dr Hilary Hughes presents a recent study of Principals which provides a snapshot of school libraries in the Gold Coast Queensland, and their positive impact on learning and literacy.

alisoncolpoys
Titles from the Australian Children’s Classics series published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2012/2013, Australia. Photograph by Allison Colpoys

Educating the educators: a disaster resilience education project

Heather Bailie worked with Australian Red Cross and the Australian Emergency Management Institute to develop a programme to improve  teacher confidence in teaching disaster resilience.

The future of the school library catalogue

Pru Mitchell considers the future of school library catalogues and cataloging standards, linked data and the semantic web.

How to judge a book by its cover

Meelee Soorkia talks to Allison Colpoys about children’s book design and illustration and the new Australian Children’s Classics series.

You can read online or download the full edition.

 

Connections 86

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

Games and Learning

Hamish Curry constructs an argument and shares his passion for games-based learning within the curriculum. He illustrates how gaming can address learning opportunities across the general capabilities.

86.1.2 Games and learn_opt.jpg
Digital Gaming final project study – isolation team – 3 by ario,
CC-by-nc-sa 2.0

Promoting reading and literacy

Belinda Doyle illustrates how Erskine Park High School library promotes and supports literacy and learning through the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, collaborating with teaching colleagues to meet wider reading outcomes.

Living ‘appily ever after in the library

SCIS catalogues apps and has introduced the term as a subject heading. Kay Cantwell provides a timely and practical introduction to apps and their management within the educational and library context.

Making presentations pop with ThingLink

Susan Stephenson aka the Book Chook, explores ThingLink [SCIS 1591721] a new presentation tool, and provides practical examples of how the app can be used in a classroom and assessment environment.

Highlights of Connections 84

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.

Connections 83

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

Highlights of Connections 83

Ebooks and beyond in the school library

Debbie Price-Ewen discusses changes to publishing models presented by e-books, including the possibilities for literacy development and empowerment of writers through self-publishing. She advocates for creation of an Australasian e-content consortium where school libraries collaborate to support creators and users.

The philosophy of creating displays: Part 1

Anita Vanderberge shares her enthusiasm for library displays, considers the philosophy behind them and gives advice on how to create eye-catching and effective library displays.

The philosophy of creating displays

RDA: new cataloguing rules

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is set to replace AACR2 and Renata Beilharz provides an introduction to why the change and how it will impact catalogue searching results.

OZTL_NET: Building a vibrant future for school library conversations

The Australian Teacher Librarian Network assists teacher librarians  to stay up to date with emerging devices, tools, media and virtual environments. Judy O’Connell reveals changes to the OZTL_NET discussion list and a new social media portal for communication between school library staff.

The National Year of Reading heads for its grand finale

The National Year of Reading (NYR) has conducted successful events throughout the year including The Reading Hour. A legacy event in November is to be held in Canberra to celebrate achievements and influence policymakers about reading in Australia.

Connections 82

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

Highlights of Connections 82

Creative Commons and why it should be more commonly understood

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.

Digitise the Dawn website

The Dawn of a new resource

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.

Practical curriculum opportunities and the library catalogue

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.

Teaching global citizenship

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.

Ready to improve

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.

Top 100 Australian books

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)

New and revised SCIS Subject Headings List

A summary list of recently added or revised SCIS subject headings.

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Connections 81

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

Highlights of Connections 81

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.

National Year of Reading update
Sue McKerracher reports on the launch of the National Year of Reading 2012.

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Connections 80

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

National Year of Reading starts here

Authors Hazel Edwards, William McInnes and Alison Lester at Bialik College
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.

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Connections feedback survey now live

Please take a few minutes to provide SCIS with feedback on the Connections newsletter.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HMNS3GX

Connections 79

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

Teacher librarians as cultural change agents

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.

Online referencing generator

Online referencing generator home page
SLASA online referencing generator

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.

Digital literacy across the curriculum

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.

Dewey Decimal Classification – Edition 23

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.

Print the complete issue of Connections 79, term 4 2011

Connections 78

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

Seven strategies to develop your advocacy toolkit

Strategies
Strategies by Boris Drenec CC-by-nc-sa

Karen Bonanno provides a series of advocacy activities to help school library staff influence policy, advising that to bring about change requires consistent and persistent effort to shift perceptions. She advocates maintaining regular positive activity supported by strategies such as identifying a memorable message, capturing killer statistics, gathering startling facts and statements and leveraging the network.

Personal learning network put to great advantage

Leonie Dyason and Rachel Fidock, teacher librarians from Mooroopna Secondary College (MSC) share their experiences of the Personal Learning Network (PLN) program, run by the State Library of Victoria (SLV) and the School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV). They outline how their practice has changed through application in the library, in team teaching and in troubleshooting. A list of useful Web 2.0 tools is provided.

Ten reasons why Google can’t replace learning!

Bev Novak questions the idea that searching can replace learning. Her ten questions challenge teachers and parents to consider the distinction between information and knowledge, and to refine what they mean by learning and how learning is best achieved. This article is reprinted from her NovaNews blog.

The evolving role of the school library and information centre in education in digital Europe

This article outlines research by Dr Helen Boelens into the role of school libraries in digital Europe, using the Kalsbeek Information Literacy Matrix (KILM).
A poster: ‘Read’ in European language terms is provided for download.

The Hub: campaign for quality school libraries in Australia

This article by Georgia Phillips provides an update on the activities of the Hub campaign for quality school libraries in Australia, following the release of the Australian Government’s report into school libraries and teacher librarians in Australian schools. It includes an overview of the current state of school library staffing in Australian state and territory government schools.

Print the complete issue of Connections 78, term 3 2011