Issue 32

We have a school library serving grades 7 to 12. We keep a spare copy of SCIS Subject Headings on the workstation where most of our library's OPACs are located. We find that students who have been shown its use, especially in the older grades, will use the publication as a thesaurus of search terms. Not only do they find it guides them as to the preferred terms to use in a subject search on the OPAC, but they find it helps in giving them ideas for alternative terms when they are refining their search strategy for magazine indexes (such as AUSTGUIDE or SAGE) or when using a search engine on the Internet. SCIS Subject Headings is not the only thesaurus located as a reference by the OPAC terminals. We have others also, such as the SAGE Thesaurus for student use. It is not enough just to put a copy out for student use. Students have to be taught its value and how to use it productively. So it becomes another useful element to include in teaching library-research skills, especially for grade 10 upwards I encourage Teacher Librarians to consider buying an extra copy of the book version of SCIS Subject Headings for use by their students.