School Libraries and Information Literacy FAQs

SCIS in school libraries

Contents
What assistance or training is available for using SCISWeb?
How do I download SCIS records to OASIS?
How many records can I download in one session?
What do I do about resources that cannot be found on SCISWeb?
Why do resources on the same topic have different classification numbers?
Who do I ring for help with SCISWeb?
When do you need to use SCIS OPAC?

What assistance or training is available for using SCISWeb?

School Libraries & Information Literacy runs regular courses for introductory OASIS training and teaching and learning support for teacher librarians. Current courses are listed on the Professional learning page of the site.

Curriculum Corporation provides PDF documents for sections of its SCISWeb Manual covering Ordering, Access problems, Frequently asked questions, as well as a general Introduction. Please click on the relevant topic to link to these.

How do I download SCIS records to OASIS?

To download SCIS records to OASIS follow the instructions at Loading USMARC records

How many records can I download in one session?

When ordering from SCISWeb it is suggested, initially, that you download a maximum of ten records at a time. This will allow most records to load successfully without errors occurring. As you become familiar with the product, you can increase this number to suit your needs.

What do I do about resources that cannot be found on SCISWeb?

The members of the NSW SCIS Agency in the Curriculum K-12 Directorate at Ryde catalogue resources onto the SCIS database. If you find resources that are not on SCIS and you want them catalogued for your school you can send the resources to the NSW Agency at:
SCIS Cataloguing Team
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
NSW Department of Education and Training
Private Bag 3
RYDE NSW 2112
Instructions for Submitting Cataloguing to SCIS

Enquiries can be made by phone on (02) 9886 7587.

Why do resources on the same topic have different classification numbers?

SCIS records are classified according to the Abridged Dewey Classification edition 14 and the Dewey Decimal Classification edition 22. Some of the numbers in these editions of Dewey have been extensively revised. The records you are ordering now may have different numbers to other resources in your library on the same topic.

The revisions to the Dewey Decimal Classification system are ongoing and incorporate changes in each subject area as necessary. The Dewey home page has monthly lists of new and changed numbers. These monthly lists are monitored by the SCIS cataloguers and changes incorporated into the SCIS database as they occur.

Who do I ring for help with SCISWeb?

If you need help with connecting to SCISWeb contact the Curriculum Corporation directly on 1800 337 405.

If your problem is in downloading to OASIS, contact the OASIS Technology Support line on 1800 338 483.

When do you need to use SCIS OPAC?

• SCIS OPAC is an online catalogue of all the records in the SCIS database. The SCIS OPAC includes functions for Basic Search and Guided Search that can be used to locate resources by author, title, publisher, keyword, ISBN, series and subject. It can also be used to find the cataloguing record for items that don’t have an ISBN like videos, computer software and websites. Once the record has been located on SCIS OPAC the SCIS number can be used to order the record to download to OASIS.
• More advanced uses of SCIS OPAC include identifying suitable catalogued websites, finding additional titles by a particular author, other titles in a series, checking availability of electronic resources or subject searches for recent items.

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