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The importance of school libraries in the Google Age
By Kay Oddone
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
In Australia, access to the internet is almost ubiquitous. In 2014–15, 85% of the Australian population aged 15 years and over were internet users, with 99% of people aged 15–17 using the internet (ABS 2016). With such widespread access to information comes the commonly asked question: now that we
Celebrating Children's Book Week with the CBCA
By Jane O'Connell
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
Australia’s rich history of storytelling is an important part of our culture. It helps us to make sense of who we are and how we live, and the theme for Children’s Book Week 2016 captures this history beautifully. Australia! Story Country opens up a world of opportunity to engage young readers by
Libraries, languages and free resources
By Jill Wilson
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
How does your library support the languages taught in your school? How are their culture/s represented in your collection? Find out more about the Language Learning Space — a free online resource with ample materials for learning Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesian, as well as some generic material
Using social media to support school library services
By Helen Stower, Margaret Donaghue
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
Mt Alvernia iCentre was an early adopter of social media for school library services, and is now five years into the journey which began experimentally and involved a steep learning curve. Currently, we are in the process of drafting social media guidelines and strategies. If we were to embark on u
Why SCIS prefers to catalogue with item in hand
By Doreen Sullivan
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
So you have an item you’d like catalogued — maybe it’s a book complete with an ISBN. That makes it easy to track down information for it, so SCIS should be able to catalogue it without seeing the physical item or digital file, surely? But SCIS has a preference to catalogue from the original, and yo
Website and app reviews
By Nigel Paull
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
The boat www.sbs.com.au/programs/go-back-to-where-you-came-from/learn/boat This website links the award-winning interactive graphic novel The Boat with classroom activities and background information. Based on the poignant story from Nam Le, this multimedia adaptation offers insight into the
SCIS is more
By Ben Chadwick
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
SCIS has always sought feedback from subscribers, most recently through a handful of surveys. These are not hollow exercises: the aim is to better understand the needs of our subscribers and to provide solutions where possible. I want to overview a few ‘research projects’ we have undertaken lately,
Supporting Australian book creators
By Nicole Richardson, James Moloney
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
According to an article published by The Conversation last year, the average Australian author receives an annual income of AUD$12,900 (Zwar, Throsby & Longden 2015). One-fifth of authors are able to call writing their full-time profession, but most rely on other paid work or their partner’s income
Student perspectives on ebook and audiobook usage
By Tehani Wessely
Issue 98, Term 3 2016
Various studies suggest that ebook usage is suffering in comparison to its print counterpart. Franklin’s (2016) research indicates that readers overwhelmingly prefer print books to ebooks, while others argue that readers’ information retention and comprehension while using ebooks are not as strong
1,000 reasons to support Australian book creators
By Jackie French
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Dear Jackie French, What I have learned from your book is to be wary of anyone who tries to make you angry. Love James James was 14, and Hitler’s Daughter was the first book he had ever read. Yet he had found the truth behind a question I had been hunting for ever since I was ten years old: h
Library makerspaces: revolution or evolution?
By Chris Harte
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
The makerspace movement is gaining momentum in the world of libraries, although it is not an entirely new concept. One of the first makerspaces built specifically to invigorate the hearts, hands, and minds of young inventors opened in 1876. Established by Thomas Edison in the New Jersey hamlet of M
Exploring time and place through children's literature
By Tania McCartney
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Books can enrich children’s lives beyond measure. Exposure to other people and cultures, whether directly or indirectly, does extraordinary things to children. It opens their heads and crams wonderful things inside. It relaxes their hearts, softens their emotional boundaries, and enriches their m
Country to Canberra: empowering rural girls
By Hannah Wandel
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Five months ago, seven young women were sitting around a boardroom table inside Parliament House. They were laughing, chatting about life in rural Australia, and discussing the prestigious essay competition they had recently won. As these teenagers excitedly engulfed the room in conversation, it w
The professional learning hat
By Barbara Braxton
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
The core of our mandate as teacher librarians is to enable our students to become lifelong learners. By teaching students, staff and other members of the school community about the information literacy process , we provide them with a scaffold that they can use in any area. This allows them to f
What's so special about Special Order Files?
By Julie Styles, Nicole Richardson
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
SCIS subscribers looking to add digital content to their library collection have the option to download bulk records from the Special Order Files page. The Special Order Files page enables you to obtain quick access to batches of records for new digital resources, including websites, apps, e-b
SCIS is more
By Ben Chadwick
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Welcome to Connections 97. It is a pleasure to introduce a new face in the SCIS team. In March we welcomed Doreen Sullivan to our cataloguing team in Melbourne. Doreen came to us with a long career in cataloguing, including work at RMIT and DA Direct. I’d like to thank our editor Nicole Richa
Supporting Australian book creators
By Nicole Richardson
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Every year, the Department of Communications and the Arts makes payments to eligible book creators — including authors, illustrators and publishers, to name a few — for having their work held in Australian school and academic libraries. This program is called the Educational Lending Right (ELR) —
Website and app reviews
By Nigel Paull
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Amazing world atlas itunes.apple.com/au/app/amazing-world-atlas-by-lonely/id916745147?mt=8 Intended for primary students, this interactive mapping app from Lonely Planet features quizzes and games relating to continents, countries, capitals, and flags. The app can be used on its own, or as a
Finding Scootle resources that support the Australian Curriculum
By Daniel Hughes
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
The next time a distraught colleague comes to you asking, 'How on earth am I meant to teach this part of the Australian Curriculum?', consider pointing them in the direction of Scootle resources. Most Scootle resources support at least one Australian Curriculum content description, cross-curriculu
Engaging girls in STEM
By Pru Mitchell
Issue 95, Term 4 2015
It seems recently that everywhere we turn we read about girls and science, girls and technology, and girls' career choices. It is a popular theme in the media, which extends also to social media. A search of Twitter on the hashtag #stem reveals a high proportion of photos and links that relate to g