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Respect first: Understanding SCIS Subject Headings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

By Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Issue 127, Term 4 2023

The significance of using respectful language in cataloguing cannot be overstated. The SCIS (Schools Catalogue Information Service) Subject Headings List (SCISSHL) plays a crucial role in shaping the language used to describe catalogue records’ content. Given that educators and students access thes

School library spotlight special: Supporting the Cambodian Children’s Fund

By Article by the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Issue 131, Term 4, 2024

research materials, and has a central role in fostering academic curiosity, as well as the critical thinking necessary for leadership. In mid-2023, SCIS was approached by a partner library management system (LMS) vendor, Softlink, offering an opportunity to support the Neeson Cripps Academy with c

School library spotlight: Christian College Geelong

By Article by the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Issue 133, Term 2, 2025

of our LMS, provide reports and statistics to staff as needed, and catalogue our ebook collection, among other things. There is a lot to manage, and SCIS is very important in that. How do you manage that across five campuses? Cataloguing is my priority at each campus, to ensure new resources ar

Scan’s journey comes to an end after four decades

By Article by the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Issue 131, Term 4, 2024

library staff at the centre of digital literacy and ethical information practices within the school environment. (Exactly where they should be!) At SCIS, we reflect on the closure of Scan as the end of an era of thought leadership that emanated first and foremost from library services. Scan’s arc

Curating Manga with care: Guidance for school libraries

By Article by the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Issue 134, Term 3, 2025

as its own culture. What students are drawn to can shift completely from one library to the next.’ In a generous and wide-ranging conversation with SCIS, Alistair shares insights on tailoring collections to school communities, navigating manga’s unique publishing system, assessing ageappropriatene

Cataloguing standards: what you see is what you get

By Natasha Campbell

Issue 111, Term 4 2019

It’s rare to have a day when we don’t receive a small parcel or large box of books delivered to one of the six Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) cataloguing depots. SCIS cataloguers add approximately 4,500 catalogue records to the database each month, keeping it relevant and current. Th

Consistency matters

By Mavis Heffernan

Issue 108, Term 1 2019

NOTE:   D ue to some changes in SCIS standards, this article was updated from its original text on September 29th, 2021. The SCIS database is well known for its high-quality catalogue records. We sometimes receive queries from SCIS subscribers about inconsistencies in our records. However, t

Demystifying barcodes

By Julie Styles

Issue 96, Term 1 2016

we understand that it can sometimes be difficult to match the exact resource you have in your hand to one of the 1.4 million records available in the SCIS catalogue. This article will look at the identifying numbers many resources are assigned, what they mean, and how each number can be located in S

Let’s talk seriously about series

By Julie Styles

Issue 100, Term 1 2017

Feedback received through SCIS workshops and surveys indicates that inconsistencies in series statements are an issue for many of our customers. It is also an issue for cataloguers, who love consistency. This article explores some of the challenges of cataloguing items within a series. Stand-alon

SCIS is more

By Dr Ben Chadwick

Issue 92, Term 1 2015

At SCIS we're often talking about the time-saving benefits of being a subscriber. For example, a typical school of between 200 and 400 students downloads 950 records per year. If we were generous and said each record took only twenty minutes to catalogue from scratch, this school would require over

SCIS is more

By Anthony Shaw

Issue 126, Term 3 2023

Welcome to Term 3, 2023 issue of Connections. For the SCIS team, Term 2, 2023 was a great chance to learn from our subscriber base. In-person workshops, library association conferences, and the 2023 Customer Survey have collectively provided us with helpful feedback that will inform future develo

Videorecordings and SCIS

By Anne Dowling

Issue 29, Term 2 1999

SCIS records for videorecordings follow the rules for cataloguing set out in the Anglo-American cataloguing rules (1988 revision) (AACR). The AACR lists the different locations from which the title of a videorecording can be taken and ranks the locations in order of preference. The order is: th

SCIS is more

By Caroline Hartley

Issue 118, TERM 3 2021

arily talented and passionate school library community that we are honoured to work alongside. ASLA Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year 2021 SCIS is very pleased to join the Australian School Library Association in supporting the ASLA Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year 2021 award. N

SCIS Update

By Lance Deveson

Issue 10, Term 3 1994

SCIS 3rd Edition Subject Headings Book This publication is now finished and available from the publisher, D W Thorpe on (03) 245 7370. The publication is for sale at $58 not $55 as previously advertised. Voyager Implementation Curriculum Corporation will soon take delivery of the first module

From the desk of a cataloguer

By Julie Styles

Issue 94, Term 3 2015

SCIS works very hard for the fantastic hit rate we consistently achieve. We strive to anticipate the needs of our subscribers, and to facilitate this we have fostered relationships with many Australian publishers, both large and small, who send resources to us for cataloguing before they are availa

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

The lowdown on authorities and authority files

By Doreen Sullivan

Issue 99, Term 4 2016

— most often names and subjects — in a controlled vocabulary. An authority file is an index of all authority records of any given agency or library. SCIS provides authority files for Authority File subscribers. Beyond SCIS, other authority files exist, such as the Library of Congress Name and Subje

ELR – Encouraging the growth and development of Australian writing and publishing

By Ruilin Shi

Issue 110, Term 3 2019

Each year, SCIS manages the Educational Lending Right (ELR) School Library Survey on behalf of the Department of Communications and the Arts. In turn, annual payments to authors and publishers are calculated using the results of this survey, extrapolated to reach a national school score and then co

New and revised subject headings

By Cataloguing team, SCIS

Issue 108, Term 1 2019

Below is an overview of the new and revised subject headings approved by the SCIS Information Services Standards Committee in 2018. New headings HASS education Use for works of, or works about education in the humanities and social sciences in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. Use

New and revised subject headings

By Cataloguing team, SCIS

Issue 116, Term 1 2021

(S.A.) Murray River (N.S.W.-S.A.) • Added the qualifier Malaysia to the states of Malaysia, e.g. Sabah (Malaysia). The full reference structure for SCIS subject headings can be found in https://my.scisdata.com/standards .