Issue 32

1. Welcome to the future ...

Well that is what much advertising and media hype would have us believe 2000 brings. I'm not sure that January 1, 2000 was much different to December 31, 1999, except perhaps for the hangover.

In the first edition of Connections last year I indicated that SCIS' 'new age' had already arrived. Last year was the first time that we offered only the SCISWeb and SCISCO products. Subscriptions to SCIS increased, and we anticipate that they will increase again in 2000, with nearly 8,000 schools expected to subscribe to SCIS. In 1999 over 4 million cataloguing records were downloaded from SCISWeb and SCISCO, saving Australian schools in the order of $30M of Teacher Librarian time. Indications are that many more schools will move from the CD product to the Web, providing real evidence that Australian school libraries are moving strongly into on line activity.

In 1999 the National Office for the Information Economy published A Strategic Framework for the Information Economy-Identifying Priorities for Action (December 1998) which stated: 'Our education and training systems must equip all Australians to be enterprising, innovative, adaptable and socially responsible participants in the information economy .... For schools, the challenge is to provide all young Australians with the general information technology skills and learning resources that will equip them to take advantage of future study and training opportunities. We need to ensure an 'information rich-information poor' divide between schools does not develop.' (http://www.noie.gov.au/docs/strategy/strategicfra mework.htm l#Title)

This is, as they say, a big ask. We see our role as supporting Teacher Librarians in this challenging task, and in particular in managing information and learning resources in a very volatile environment.

The SCIS cataloguing records are a central part of this, but we also provide support through related products and by publishing overviews and insights into contemporary developments. Last year Connections included articles on Metadata, short reviews of key library resources, and pointers to numerous relevant Internet sites, as well as support and hints on SCIS products. We will continue to provide you with similar professional support. and seek your suggestions as to issues to be covered. During 1999 we undertook a major review of the SCIS Subject Headings list, producing the fourth edition of the publication. Over 2,000 schools have placed pre-publication orders, and we expect that most school libraries in Australia will purchase the book during 2000. The review of the Subject Headings will continue this year, including subject areas that require additional headings such as Learning Technologies, Literacy and Numeracy, VET in Schools and Vocational Learning. We have placed on our website a form whereby schools can propose new or amended subject headings. As a companion the Subject Headings List, the Subject Headings Authority File on disc will be reborn Full pricing and technical details are not finalised, but the product will be priced significantly lower than the previous version, and may be produced in USMARC format as well as the previous ASCII format. Further details will be in future Connections.

The USMARC standard in general, and the SCIS Subject Headings in particular, is just one form of metadata. During 2000 we will continue to consolidate the place of the SCIS Subject Headings in national metadata developments, with the aim of having SCIS Subject Headings recognised as a legitimate schema (or list) for all State, Territory and national metadata standards. We are exploring the development of a metadata support tool that would simplify the application of SCIS Subject Headings to metadata for digital resources. Trials have been underway to create SCIS catalogue records for selected Internet sites, and to enrich SCIS records with reviews or tables of contents to improve the search and retrieval of resources. Evaluations of these trials are currently underway and the results, and any corresponding changes to SCIS records, will be communicated via Connections.

Our team

For 2000 our team remains quite stable (the staff might not be but the team is!). Cherryl Schauder is the national cataloguing and metadata coordinator; Tricia Nathan looks after marketing, customer support and client relations, and Jan Matthews deals with product development and library automation system software. Maxine Campbell left us last year and is replaced by Jenny Baran who brings considerable experience in school libraries and website development to the team. Keith Gove continues to manage the SCIS Unit within the Information Services function of Curriculum Corporation.

SCIS has been supporting Australian school libraries since 1985, before notions of information economies and digital technologies were widely known. We plan to continue that support well into the second millennium. We hope you have a very satisfying and productive 2000.

Keith Gove
Manager, Information Services
Curriculum Corporation
[email protected]

2. SCIS subscriptions for 2000

Sign up early in 2000 to take advantage of a full years subscription to SCISWeb and SCISCO.

3. Goods and Services Tax

The Goods and Service Tax, GST, has been added to your Year 2000 subscription renewal. This GST charge relates to that component of your subscription for the period July 1, 2000 to December 31, 2000. The Australian Taxation Office, ATO, have advised that GST charged on products or services acquired in the normal course of business can be claimed as an input credit to be refunded by the ATO. In order to claim the input credits your organisation will need to obtain an Australian Business Number, ABN, by registering with the ATO. For further information refer to the ATO website.

Please note:

• No action is required by any schools who are part of a government bulk deal. (The GST will be paid by the government directly to Curriculum Corporation).
• All Catholic schools will pay the GST as part of their payment to the state Catholic Education Office when monies are collected.
• Independent schools in ACT, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia will pay the GST to the State Independent Association when monies are collected.
• The Christian Parent Controlled Schools in ACT, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia will pay the GST to the Christian Parent Controlled Schools Association when the monies are collected.
• Current 1999 subscribers not involved in a bulk arrangement have had the GST added to their invoice.
• New subscribers for 2000 need to add the GST to the subscription form (10% of total amount for six months only).

 

4. Video Education Australia

SCIS has undertaken to catalogue all videos distributed by Video Education Australia. To locate and order catalogue records using SCIS record numbers we have placed a link to this list under What's New on our website.