Interactive white board sites

While demonstrating SCIS Monthly websites to a school the other day, I noticed this record with suggestions for links to sites to use with interactive whiteboards, which was serendipitous as the day before a teacher had been asking me for recommendations for the same... Adding SCIS catalogued websites is a great way to enrich your library catalogue and searching functionality.

Interactive White Board sites : Avenel Primary School in Victoria has compiled an extensive array of links to websites suitable for interactive whiteboards. Topics covered include space, story writing, games and activities, whiteboard tutorials and symmetrical patterns. SCIS No: 1448628 http://www.avenelps.vic.edu.au/interactive_whiteboard_sites.htm

EPIC's Britannica Online would also be a useful resource to explore with students on an IWB...
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/epic/

SCIS websites

Following on from the demo of SCIS websites at the network meetings this week, here are the notes FYI - I've emailed them to you as well with screen shots included...

SCIS stands for Schools Cataloguing Information Service. As well as catalogue records for books, SCIS has catalogued websites which can be easily added to a library catalogue, or browsed by teachers looking for websites on a particular subject.

Go to http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/home.html and then click on to My SCISWeb (blue box, top right corner) to log in with your SCIS username and password. Tick “Save this password” box. If you don’t know your user name and password, contact your National Library adviser.

To search for websites by subject :

1. Click on OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) and then on to Guided Search
2. In the top FIND box type in your focus area, eg weather, pirates, insects…
   
3. In the top IN box scroll down and click on Subject.
   
4. In the second FIND box type in the word website
   
5. In the second IN box, scroll up and click on Title
   
6. Click on the Search button to view your selection of websites that match your subject.
   

• You can click on Sort by and scroll down to published date (most recent first).
  
• Browse through the websites – click on the links to look at them, then go Back to get to your list. Tick the websites you are interested in – right level, appealing etc
  
• If you click on a link it will open the record for that website. Here you can see the unique SCIS number (which you can use to process an order), the URL which you can click on to visit the site to evaluate it, the subject headings which have been used to help you check for relevancy and refine your searches if necessary, and any other information eg a summary…
• Save options : either print out the entire list or ones selected, or, to email the whole list or selected records (click in the left hand box by each site to select that site), scroll to the bottom of the page, enter an email address and click the email box.
  
• Searching for your topic by Subject will give you the most specific and relevant information. If you are not sure if the term you are using is a SCIS subject heading, then you can search by Keyword anywhere.

To search for a website from SCIS monthly lists of websites :

1. Log on to SCISWeb
2. Go to Special order files
   
3. Click on Monthly website lists available here
   
4. Select a year and a month, and browse the lists of websites catalogued by SCIS.
   

• The lists are in Dewey order, with a tick box on the left hand side. The SCIS record number is also listed. All the links are live – so to go and look at a website, just click on the title. Once you have had a look, click Back to go to the SCIS list again. Most automated library systems are able to import SCIS catalogue records for websites into your Library catalogue.

For library staff : to import SCIS Websites catalogue records into your library catalogue :

1. From the SCIS Websites list, tick the left hand box of relevant websites to select them.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Submit.
3. Select and copy (Control C) the list of SCIS record numbers.
   
4. Click on Create Orders at the bottom centre of the page.
   
5. Click your cursor into the Create orders box and paste the list of SCIS record numbers into the box Enter orders here (where you usually scan ISBNs), and then Process the order as usual, save the results USMARC file, import into your library automation system.

SCIS Connections newsletter

Don't forget to check out the free SCIS Connections newsletter published each term - (you don't have to log in to SCIS to get it). This term's issue features RFID (Radio Frequency Identification System), a Library trainees scheme, an article Seven skills students desperately need, and reviews of websites which have been catalogued on SCIS - if you subscribe to SCIS then do make the most of the websites to enrich your catalogue and enhance search results.
http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/four_functions_in_one_label.html