Issue 104

Welcome to the first edition of Connections for 2018.

We have another exciting and busy year ahead of us — and it has already started. By the time you read this, we will have completed the first SCIS webinar for the year, with more scheduled. We are also hosting workshops in Perth and Melbourne in Term 1. For details and registrations, visit the ‘Professional learning’ page of the SCIS website. We will be planning more workshops and webinars to showcase the new SCIS Data platform, so keep an eye on the page for more announcements.

In recent issues of Connections, we introduced the new-look SCIS website. Here are a few highlights to remind you of the ways in which the site can help you in your day-to-day work.

Cataloguing services

SCIS Data makes access to cataloguing services much easier. When you request ISBNs to download, any unmatched records are listed for you. Your unmatched orders can be automatically checked against the SCIS database for up to eight weeks from when you placed the order. Notification of successful matches will be emailed to you. Alternatively, you can easily complete an online request for SCIS to catalogue these items for you. Check that a valid email address is included in your SCIS profile so that you can make use of these services.

Material selection

SCIS Data can be a useful tool for the selection of material. With the inclusion of enriched content from Syndetics and LibraryThing for Libraries in the catalogue, you can easily view additional information including plot summaries, author notes, awards and reviews.

Where to find help

There is easy access to help, via a link on the bottom of each page. You can search for help on any topic, view any of our help articles or send in a query. There are some very useful short tutorials in the SCIS Vimeo stream.

Keep in touch with all things SCIS by following us on any of our social media accounts. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter under the handle @SCISData, at LinkedIn, and on the SCIS blog.

Connections

Our team has been very busy with the back collection of Connections. The complete set is now online — from the very first issue in 1992, through to the current one. Please visit www.scisdata.com/connections to check out the history of this publication.