What items does SCIS catalogue?

What SCIS catalogues

SCIS catalogues curriculum-related and educational resources, as well as resources for recreational reading and literacy programs suitable for use in school libraries.

SCIS catalogues resources that:

• are appropriate for students from pre-school to the final year of schools, (including vocational education in schools and accelerated university programs), or
• support pedagogy or teachers’ professional development, and
• are current, that is, have been published in the past 10 years.

Resources of any format are catalogued, including physical books, ebooks, audiobooks, websites, apps, digital videos, kits, music scores, maps, posters and charts, DVDs and CDs.

The following resources are given priority in cataloguing:

1. Resources published in the past year
2. Resources published in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom
3. English language resources and resources used to support the teaching of languages taught in English language schools
4. Resources created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
5. Resources that support Australian, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and International Baccalaureate curricula
6. Free government publications intended for or of potential use in schools
7. Curriculum materials distributed by education systems and sectors
8. Current reading scheme materials
9. Current educational television and streaming service programs
10. High quality online educational resources and websites

What SCIS excludes

SCIS will not catalogue:

• Resources with content of a strong sexual nature or containing graphic violence.
• Copies of resources that may cause copyright or licensing issues.
• Resources that have been classified as Restricted 18+ by jurisdictional authorities, such as the Australian Classification Board or the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification

SCIS does not catalogue, except under exceptional circumstances:

• Resources that express a clear agenda or bias in relation to a controversial issue, or (at SCIS’s discretion) whose authors express such.
• Materials published for a small audience, not for general use or limited availability.
• Resources with missing or insufficient publication details.
• Fragments of resources, such as: segments from television programs, chapters of books, encyclopedia articles, individual blog posts, single webpages, etc.
• Ephemeral and digital material of short-term value.

SCIS may also choose not to catalogue a resource on the grounds of the quality, currency, usability or authoritativeness of content. This is especially likely to be the case for online content.

SCIS catalogues all items entirely at its discretion. SCIS cataloguers, in consultation with SCIS management, exercise the final say in what is selected for inclusion in the SCIS database.

For more information on where to send your items for cataloguing please see: Where do I send my items do be catalogued?