SCIS at SLANZA 2011

SLANZA On the wave
The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa SLANZA 2011 conference kicked off on Sunday afternoon 17 July at St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland and SCIS is pleased to be part of this exciting three day conference.

Tricia Nathan and Pru Mitchell from the SCIS  team are at Stand 3 on Level 1 of the Information Centre Exhibition space. We look forward to catching up with New Zealand school library staff, library system vendors and presenters. There are several SCIS presentations happening throughout the programme.

SCIS at SLANZA
SCIS at SLANZA

Monday 18 July
Collection development life savers (Tricia Nathan) in the Auditorium 11.00-11.45 am

Giving your collection real authority (Tricia Nathan) in I09 2.40-3.25 pm

Tuesday 19 July
Professional learning horizons (Pru Mitchell) in the Media Lab 11.00 am-12.40 pm

Wednesday 20 July
MARC my e-books (Pru Mitchell) in I09 2.30-3.15 pm

SCIS will also be part of the conference social media stream at Twitter @schoolscatinfo and our new Facebook page.
The conference hashtag is #slanza11

OPAC enhanced

From July 2011 SCIS is pleased to announce the addition of enhanced content services to SCIS OPAC from Syndetic Solutions and LibraryThing for Libraries via a new subscription with Thorpe-Bowker.

ThorpeBowker logoWhat is enhanced content?
The bibliographic records in SCIS OPAC are enhanced to display additional detail about resources; information such as plot summaries, author notes, awards and reviews.

This content is sourced from third party services and delivered to SCIS by linked data based on ISBN.
Scroll down the page to view the external enhanced content fields which often appear slightly after the rest of the SCIS bibliographic record page loads.

Why add enhanced content?
SCIS OPAC is a valuable starting point for school staff looking to identify books, digital resources and websites to support the curriculum.
While providing catalogue records is core business, SCIS recognises the value of enhancing the catalogue record where possible with any information that may help school staff discover and review resources of interest.

What type of enhanced content is available?

Can enhanced content be added to our school library system?
Enhanced content in SCIS OPAC is a display feature only and reviews, tags and other enhanced content will not be downloaded with SCIS records. Some library system vendors have negotiated agreements to provide enhanced content in the local school library system for an extra charge. Consult your vendor if you are interested in enhanced content services for your local system.

How can I provide feedback or ask questions?
We hope you find the additional content valuable for resource selection and that it enhances your discovery of learning resources and fiction in SCIS OPAC. SCIS welcomes feedback and questions about SCIS OPAC enhanced content, either as a comment on this blog, or via email scisinfo@esa.edu.au.

Syndetic Solutions

Through the subscription service Syndetics, SCIS offers additional descriptive and evaluative information for its catalogue records where available. Syndetic logo
Features include:

  • author notes
  • awards
  • books in a series
  • fiction and biography profiles
  • summaries and annotations.

Syndetics reviews

Syndetics delivers edited reviews from authoritative reviewing sources including:

Awards for Harry Potter and the deathly hallows by J.K. Rowling
Awards for Harry Potter and the deathly hallows by J.K. Rowling

Continue reading Syndetic Solutions

LibraryThing for Libraries

SCIS is now a member of LibraryThing for Libraries, an enhancement service that delivers information created and shared by members of the LibraryThing social networking service into library catalogues.

LTFL logoCommunity generated content from LibraryThing for Libraries includes a range of features that provide additional descriptive information about resources in the SCIS catalogue.

Recommendations point to other ‘similar’ titles available within the catalogue.

Similar books to Queen of sorcery / David Eddings
Similar books to Queen of sorcery by David Eddings All rights in images of books or other publications are reserved by the original copyright owners

Links to other editions and translations are provided where applicable.

Tag-based discovery provides tag clouds for resources and tag-based search, drawn from the 75 million tags added to resources by LibraryThing members.

LibraryThing reviews are sourced from the LibraryThing customer base around the world – a diverse community of readers, taggers and reviewers.

Individuals or libraries registered with LibraryThing will be able to add their own reviews through the SCIS OPAC interface and share these for the benefit of all SCIS and LibraryThing users.

A short introduction to LibraryThing provides useful information to individuals interested in joining the LibraryThing community.

Please note: LibraryThing’s terms of use exclude children under 13 from joining. Children over 13 years of age require parent/guardian permission.

SCIS as selection aid

Next term our grade 2s will be studying Looking back: how and why things have changed over time?
The teachers already have come knocking to borrow books on these topics. Our library doesn’t have  much on this, and I would love to get some more resources for our library. (Ozge, Library Manager, Melbourne)

This is where SCIS OPAC becomes a valuable selection and collection building tool.

SubjectBrowse
Screen shots of SCIS OPAC produced by permission of Ex Libris

Browse or Search by Subject for the topic you need to find resources for.

  1. In this case ‘Australia Social life and customs’
    (but it could be Scarecrows – Fiction, or a Dewey search for more recent books ‘like this’)
  2. Then select the specific headings that are relevant to your students.
    In our ‘Looking back’ example, investigate specific decade subdivisions.
  3. If you sort the results by Published date (most recent first) you will find titles that are more likely to be available from your regular suppliers.
    **Of course, you will still need to evaluate these resources against your specific collection policy and school requirements. SCIS catalogues resources held in a large number of school libraries, and not all of these will be relevant or appropriate to your school.
Screenshots produced by permission of Ex Libris, based on Voyager
Screenshots of SCIS OPAC produced by permission of Ex Libris

New SCIS subject headings for electronic devices

The SCIS Information Services Standards Committee met by teleconference on 25 May 2011. The major outcome of the teleconference is a revision of the SCIS subject heading hierarchy covering types of computers and device names.

The New South Wales SCIS agency prepared the original paper which was raised for discussion in February 2011.  As the paper was complex and included many aspects of the subject area of computers and related devices, further discussion and consultation, particularly with the WA SCIS agency was required before the proposal was approved.

New headings for the following categories of devices are now available:

Digital media players
E-book readers
Interactive whiteboards
Laptop computers
Pocket computers
Portable computers
Smartphones
Tablet computers

Most of these headings allow for the construction of further headings for specific devices, such as iPad (Tablet computer) and Kindle (E-book reader).

Further details of the changes will be announced in the term 3 2011 issue of Connections (issue 78).

SCIS NZ workshops

SCIS is pleased to offer the following workshops in New Zealand in July 2011

Click here to register for SCIS NZ workshops

North Island NZWELLINGTON, TUESDAY 12 JULY 2011 9.00am-12.00pm

National Library NZ Training room, 77 Thorndon Quay

HAMILTON: WEDNESDAY 13 JULY 2011 9.00am-12.30pm
Melville High School, 6 Collins Road

AUCKLAND: FRIDAY 15 JULY 2011 9.00am-12.30pm
St Cuthbert’s College, 122 Market Road, Epsom, AUCKLAND – NOTE venue change

SESSION CONTENT

This half day workshop is open to all school library staff and provides an understanding of how SCIS cataloguing services can assist to provide a more effective library service to your school community. Participants will enhance their understanding of SCIS as a database of consistent catalogue records for education resources created to agreed standards.

Learn how to customise your SCIS profile, and make the most of book cover images, catalogue records for digital resources, educational websites and e-books.

Find out how to use SCIS Authority Files to save time and enhance your library catalogue.

Presenter: Pru Mitchell, SCIS Subscriber Support Coordinator

Many thanks to the National Library of New Zealand Services to Schools for assistance in organisation of venues for SCIS workshops.

How do I register?

You will need to complete the online registration form in order to reserve a place at the workshop.

If your school requires other documentation beyond a printout of the online form, please register online and then email scisinfo@esa.edu.au with what you require.

SCIS will invoice participants after the workshop. The cost per registration will be AUD$50.00.

What about the South Island?

We look forward to planning workshops for other regions in 2012, so even if you are unable to attend the July 2011 sessions, you are invited to indicate your interest in future workshops on the online registration form so we can contact you when these are organised.

Feathers for Phoebe

‘We find stuff’ for Australian Library and Information Week, 23-29 May 2011

The aim of LIW is to raise the profile of libraries and information service professionals in Australia, so check out the myriad of ideas on the ALIA website and take time this week to tell your teachers, students, parents and community what school libraries do!

We catalogue stuff!
We look up stuff!
We research stuff!
We know stuff!

National Simultaneous Storytime

NSS 2011 logo
National Simultaneous Storytime, 11am Wed 25 May

NSS is one of the highlights of the week for school libraries.

At 11am on Wednesday 25 May 2011 everyone stops to read Rod Clement’s colourful, creative story Feathers for Phoebe [SCIS No 1487992].

Register your storytime to join in the fun and add your site to the national map.

Phoebe at Marryatville PS
Marryatville Primary School's Phoebe (created by Tsam)

e-book versions
PowerPoint, PDF and podcast versions of Feathers for Phoebe plus interactive whiteboard activities are available to registered participating sites.

Teacher’s notes
Christine Sarandis provides links to author information, reviews and activities to use this week.

Blog posts with more ideas
Auburn North Primary School
Book Chook
Book Crowd
Ian McLean
Kids Book Review

Read and enjoy!

Connections 77

You can now read the latest issue of Connections online. Copies have been mailed to all Australian schools.

Teacher librarians and the networked school community

Everyone knows everyone!
Everyone knows everyone!, image by arianamedstudent, licence: CC-by

Mal Lee and Lyn Hay present their view of the evolution facing schools and the role of the information centre professional.

Schooling worldwide is in the process of evolving from a traditional paper-based operational mode to one that is digital and networked. The opportunities being opened daily for the astute, proactive information professional prepared to embrace and lead ongoing change are immense.

Natural disasters and disaster plans

In recent months many areas of Australia and New Zealand have experienced very serious natural disasters. These natural disasters have had significant impact on schools in the affected areas. Many schools continue to operate in difficult conditions or are temporarily operating off site. This article raises the timely question of school library disaster plans.

Behaviour

Adam Le Good explores the reasons behind unacceptable behaviour (of students and staff) and what we can do to minimise its effect.

Schools and social media

An article adapted from Denis Masseni’s report of a 2010 survey of Victorian school principals entitled ‘Why schools are spooked by social media‘. It discusses the benefits of social media for schools and security and protection issues.

From little things big things grow

The fifth instalment of Nigel Paull’s account of a new BER library at South Grafton Public School, New South Wales in which he describes the enthusiastic response of students to the finished library.

Print complete issue of Connections 77, term 2 2011

SCIS workshops

In the 2010 SCIS Survey there were requests for access to SCIS training from a significant number of respondents. In response to this, the SCIS Subscriber Support Coordinator role has been designed to provide increased training and professional learning opportunities in the use of SCIS and its value to the school library community.

The following half day seminars are available to Victorian library staff in Term 2, 2011.

‘Making the Most of SCIS’ workshops for Term 2, 2011

Register online for either workshop at: http://tinyurl.com/scisPDVIC

Cost $85 per person includes materials and light catering. Payment on invoice

This training will highlight how SCIS cataloguing services can assist staff to provide a more effective library service to their school community. Learn how you can customise your SCIS profile to optimise your use of SCIS. Make the most of book cover images, and catalogue records for learning objects, video files, educational websites and e-books. Find out how to use SCIS Authority Files to save time and to enhance your library catalogue.

If you would like to discuss hosting a SCIS training seminar in your region, please contact Pru Mitchell.