Issue 129

SCIS Product Manager Anthony Shaw and Colin McNeil, Program DIrector, Product Data and Insights at the School Library Association of NSW Professional Learning Summit in March.

Did you know that there is a very special birthday this year? No, I’m not turning 21 again, SCIS is turning 40! That’s right, SCIS has been serving the school library community for four decades this year. Keep an eye on our social media for posts highlighting our rich history and for details about how SCIS will be celebrating such a momentous birthday.

As Term 2 kicks off across Australia and New Zealand, albeit at different times depending on whether the holidays coincided with Easter or not, SCIS is embarking on our annual customer satisfaction survey. SCIS wants to hear from you!

Why does SCIS survey its customers? Because we value your feedback. 

We want to understand how our users are making the most of SCIS; what you like about our services; what improvements we can make to our products, services and communications; and better understand the needs of school libraries. It’s also a great way for us to ensure that our development and product enhancement plans are in line with what you, our customers, are needing.

In 2023 we had an unprecedented response to our customer survey. The positivity of the responses we received was a clear indication of how SCIS is valued by the school library community.

The 2023 customer survey revealed to us that customers believed that we needed to make our online product-based professional learning more affordable. We have listened and in 2024 our product training is now free for all subscribers.

SCIS has been overwhelmed by the response to this change and literally hundreds of users who had never attended a SCIS professional learning session have now done so in Term 1. Thanks for your feedback via the survey – we’re thrilled to be connecting with more users.

While I’m mentioning our free professional learning sessions, here is a plug for the three upcoming Term 2 sessions. Session 1 is ‘Free digital resources in SCIS’, which we’re running twice (Tuesday 14 May, 10:00 am AEST and Wednesday 15 May, 3:00 pm AEST). Session 2 is ‘What to do when SCIS doesn’t have it’ (Tuesday 4 June, 2:00 pm AEST) and Session 3 is 'Unlock the potential of SCIS: Check your set-up’ (Tuesday 11 June, 2:00 pm AEST).

To book your spot, click on the link and sign up for one, two or all three sessions. Remember, all webinars are recorded and registered participants will be able to access session recordings and any associated handouts.

With the 2024 survey open for responses until May 22, we invite all users to tell us what we're doing well, what we can do better and what you would like us to be doing in the future. Please click the button below to complete the survey. We will share what you have told us later in the year.

Please note, the stated survey is now closed to new submissions.

At SCIS we are committed to fostering diversity and respect within the educational community. The SCIS cataloguing team has recently started to include AustLang terms within catalogue records. You will soon start to see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language codes in MARC field 041 as a subfield $2. Please talk with your library management system vendor to ensure that the language field, including subfield, are being imported and can be displayed in your catalogue.

During Term 1, we had the pleasure of attending the SLANSW professional learning summit, Piecing it together: Voice, choice and connection. It was a fantastic day with engaging presenters and workshops. As always, it was wonderful to connect with so many SCIS users and learn more about how you’re using SCIS to promote better outcomes for your school communities.

Have a wonderful Term 2 and we look forward to meeting you in person at TLPLC, SLANZA, SLAV and other conferences throughout the year.