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Issue 23

Term 4 1997

New Generation SCIS Products

By Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Connections is pleased to provide further details, and the enclosed 1998 Subscription Form, for two new products: SCIS Downloading CD ROM and SCISWeb, the new generation of SCIS. Curriculum Corporation believes that these two products greatly improve the service that we provide, assisting schools and Teacher Librarians to more effectively manage their information resources. We encourage principals, too, to consider the cost savings possible using SCIS cataloguing records instead of original cataloguing.

Many schools have been asking for the ability to download SCIS records, rather than wait for them to be delivered. Now you can! Many schools have also asked for access to SCIS via the Internet. Now there is!

Curriculum Corporation is pleased to introduce two new and exciting SCIS products for 1998: SCISWeb and SCIS Downloading CD ROM. These two products will not only provide schools with easier access to the SCIS bibliographic database of approximately 600,000 records, but also enable the downloading of unlimited SCIS cataloguing records in USMARC format. For further information, please refer to the 1998 SCIS Subscription Form.

Changes to 1998 SCIS Subscriptions

As part of the strategic review process that Curriculum Corporation has undertaken in conjunction with the introduction of two new products for 1998, we have streamlined the SCIS invoicing and billing process. In essence, we have moved away from the complex (for us and for you) process of charging per record ordered to an annual subscription fee, graduated by school size, which will give our customers access to unlimited SCIS cataloguing records.

We provided advance notice of the proposed pricing structure in the previous issue of Connections. Curriculum Corporation received a lot of feedback about these proposed changes. Some felt that the pricing was too high. Others felt that if you took into account the cost of the time taken to do original cataloguing, then the SCIS subscriptions were value for money. While the initial cost may appear high, in comparison with current costs (ie, subscription plus per record charges), the total cost for a year is comparable with 1997 costs.

SCIS is not a subsidised service. The only revenue it receives is from subscriptions. We have moved to the proposed pricing structure in order to recover development and other costs, and to ensure the continuance of SCIS.

However, we are pleased to announce that as an introductory offer, the pricing for 1998 has been reduced from that indicated in the previous issue of Connections, and a special offer has been introduced.

Where Do You Fit?

In light of the new 'student number' based SCIS pricing structure, we have provided an explanation to assist SCIS customers in identifying their own school situation. Please contact SCIS Customer Service staff should you need assistance.

Schools with only one library

School size will be based on the number of students who have access to the services of the library named on the 1998 SCIS Subscription Form.

Schools with more than one library

Schools will have a choice of either:

  • individually subscribing each library site to a product, in which case school size will be considered to be the number of students who have access to the services of that library site; or
  • schools can subscribe the whole school to a product, in which case school size will be considered to be the total number of students who have access to the services of all the libraries of the school named on the 1998 SCIS Subscription Form.

Non-schools

Organisations other than Australian schools (including overseas schools) will need to contact Curriculum Corporation for pricing details and a separate Subscription Form.

How Will I Use ... ?

To assist schools with the use of various SCIS products in 1998 following is a brief outline of the procedures for obtaining SCIS cataloguing records. All details will be provided once you subscribe to the products. Only schools using ASCISRECON /RR or with a 1998 subscription to a SCIS product (ie, online, CD ROM, microfiche) will be able to order SCIS cataloguing records.

New Downloading Products

SCISWeb

  1. Access the SCIS database through Curriculum Corporation's Home Page on the Internet (you will need a modem and access to the Internet via an Internet Service Provider).
  2. Insert a floppy disk into your disk drive.
  3. Option 1: Search individually for the resource/sand click on a button to immediately download that cataloguing record to your floppy disk. Option 2: Select 'Keypunch Order File' and either scan ISBNs or manually enter them into Voyager. The order numbers are automatically checked against the SCIS database and the matched cataloguing records are immediately downloaded to your floppy disk. Option 3: Create a word processing file of ISBN /SCIS Order Numbers offline before uploading the file into Voyager (online). This reduces the time that you need to be online, thus reducing your costs. The file is automatically checked against the SCIS database and the matched cataloguing records are immediately downloaded to your floppy disk.
  4. Download the cataloguing records from your floppy disk (saved in USMARC format) into your library automation system.

SCIS Downloading CD ROM

This replaces the previous SCIS On DISC (CD ROM) which did not allow downloading of records.

  1. Search the CD ROM for the resource/s.
  2. Insert a floppy disk into your disk drive.
  3. Click on a button to immediately download that cataloguing record to your floppy disk.
  4. Download the cataloguing records from your floppy disk (saved in USMARC format) into your library automation system.

Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

SCIS