I am after some advice. I have just been approached by the maths department. They wish to have their textbooks put through oasis. I know there was a discussion about this earlier in the year but I was hoping I could get your advice. I did say to them that it is extremely difficult and we could not really do it, however they are adamant that other schools are doing it successfully.
I would like to know a couple of things:
1. Who is doing it successfully? and how do you make successful?
2. Are there any other solutions to the problem of keeping track of textbooks in a faculty- they write the number down at the start of the year next to the student’s name but our maths classes are streamed and as students do well or not, they are moved up or down classes. The text books them need to be returned and reissued. Unfortunately this is where it breaks down as the new teacher doesn’t know what to collect.
Any ideas? I would like to avoid having the in the library as that would require an enormous amount of work- not to mention another area to stocktake!
I could be wrong but it sems to me that if faculty text books are accessioned through Oasis Library, gthey then become a library resource and consequently would need to be counted by the Librarian during stocktake – an administrative chaos and a relationship [with staff who may be using them] nightmare.
Otherwise they would have to be on permenant loan to the Head Teacher who would have to remember to return them when she/he moves on and those still not lost and in acceptable condition would need to be re-loaned to the incoming HT.
Faculties usually have textbook rooms of their own. I reckon they’re smart enough to set up a control system that suits them – but may well not suit us as their purpose is different from ours – quite well!
As I say: I may be wrong!
Oasis Library Blog 
As Barbara would say “this is only my opinion” but I don’t understand the hysteria created by accessioning textbooks through Oasis Library. This seems to happen this time each year – it certainly did last year (as well). Kate I don’t know who told you “it was difficult”. It’s not. You add one text through SCIS then the rest as bulk, eg. 180 books in one hit. It is successful because they borrow for two days in the first week of school – just like a normal book, write their name in your school stamp (inside front cover) and you reinforce that they need to return THEIR BOOK at the end of the year. It is extremely successful, especially when signing out Years 10 and 12. We have senior texts for several faculties accessioned through Oasis Library, some texts live with us physically and some don’t. The money that is no longer wasted on text replacement is massive and I am more than happy to be an advocate for accessioning multiple copy texts, especially senior ones, through th
e library. To answer your question about tracking Kate, it doesn’t matter if kids change classes because no matter how slack the teachers are the computer doesn’t lie. The student (changing classes) comes down with the old textbook and it is returned and s/he is loaned the ‘new’ one. Idiot proof – which is good for teachers that are hopeless with paperwork.
Debbie, I am more than happy to converse with you offline and/or your Principal if they wish to gain further information.
Noel, I do not wand the barcodes during stocktake time for faculty texts. Either they do it, my SASS lady does, or a combination of the two. HOWEVER, we do not cross-check those items that cannot be found (before finalising) that is definitely the faculty’s job.
Noel, why are the texts “on permanent loan to the Head Teacher”? This is quite perplexing. The students should be borrowing multiple copy texts under their own name. If I have misunderstood, I apologise. Yes, in theory I agree that teachers ‘should’ be able to display stock control (‘control system’) techniques, but they are not librarians, are they? Some teachers struggle to get to class on time, without being organised enough to be able to transfer and re-borrow books as accurately as a computer does. Its not a surprise that I’ve received a healthy budget considering I’ve put in a little effort to potentially save the school a several hundred dollars each year in replacement text dollars.
Please get your Principal to give me an email. The system works and works effectively and efficiently. Better than humans (and very little human error).
What works so efficiently in one school does not necessarily work so well in others. The whole concept of using the Library Management System (OASIS) to control school textbooks was not part of the planning/reasoning for the implementation of OASIS. Issues that a school needs to look at seriously before they go down such a path are many, including things such as maximum loans; overdues; stock control & circulation. The actual adding the resources to OASIS is the easy part – eg 1 entry for 100+ books.
What some schools have opted to do is use OASIS Adlib rather than “interfere” with the school’s current library management system. This operates as its’ own independent system. The textbooks are the only resources in the Adlib “library”, and the people who are operating it are the faculties whose textbooks are on the system. It is not under the responsibility of the library and/or its’ staff.
Sadly, this question comes up far too often on NSWTL. I’ll paste below some of the responses to this which I’ve given before on the list.
When I came to Colo, there were lots of textbooks on the library system and it compromised library operations HUGELY. It took over a year to get all of them off the system, many meetings, negotiations etc. If you put textbooks on your OASIS Library system, you are not only creating a burden for yourself and your staff, but one that will perpetuate to future teacher librarians at your school and compromise library operations years into the future.
Don’t do it.
You don’t have to.
Audit requirements do not require the level of accountability from textbooks that they do of library books. You will be adding to your workload and the library workload with work that can and should be done effectively within each faculty.
You’ll trash the effectiveness of your library stats.
What work will the faculty do for you, to give you back the time they are costing you?
Just don’t do it. The DET OASIS Library FAQ supports this, and you can always contact Colleen Foley.
I know some schools do this, but they are in the minority; sometimes bulldozed by the exec, sometimes mistakenly thinking this is ‘helpful’.
See more info below.
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OASIS Library involves many more fields than a textbook (which could do with less than five). And textbooks absolutely stuff up your catalogue (how many copies of Alibrandi are in the library? Which are available?) and loan stats (wow, corker of a week loan-wise; but oops, how many are textbooks and how many the result of library programs and practices?) and so forth. I had direct experience of this, and it stank. Overdues and stocktake were hellish. English, Maths, PE, Science and more all had their textbooks on OASIS Library here, literally thousands of items that had taken hundreds and hundreds of hours of library staff time to enter, repair and manage – the library was choked with them physically too, and the repair/covering costs had sucked up money from the library budget with no recompense from faculties. For the first two or three weeks of every term, most periods were gone with textbook issuing – classes couldn’t use the library AS a library. I made the case,
and persisted, to get them off, and out of the library. Nobody since has noticed slabs of time in my day when I oughta be looking after other people’s textbooks – I’m doing my own job, my own busy workload. This library is a library, not the textbook storage dump it was. My school assistant time is spent on library-related tasks.
It’s not the library’s job to track textbooks, or the teacher librarian’s. That’s a faculty responsibility. If a teacher librarian chooses to take on this responsibility, that doesn’t mean it’s a library one; it’s an extra (see the quote from the FAQ below). Sending out invoices for textbooks etc – not the library’s job. I understand why exec would love this being done efficiently by the library, but not why this is OK and a faculty being required to be efficient with its own resources is not. (Elective incompetence, when it then slides responsibility and a significant workload onto someone else, gives me the pip.).
If faculties aren’t keeping good enough records – well, there is nothing to stop them getting a cheapo barcode reader (maybe one could be shared around faculties) and setting up their own computerised system with a database/spreadsheet. The technology’s getting cheaper all the time, and OASIS Library is NOT the only option. Perhaps the front office could do it, eh? It’s not magic, or brain surgery, or something only a library/teacher librarian could do. Doesn’t your TSO have a nice little database of DER laptops, and a little barcode reader with which to stocktake them? What’s to stop faculties doing the same? That didn’t need the library database/OASIS. And I bet it doesn’t have as many fields as OASIS Library.
I’m not quite sure how the budget question affects library budgets – library budgets generally aren’t used for purchasing multiple copies of textbooks in DET schools. If one faculty has major losses in its textbooks, then surely it’s a matter for exec and that HT to be addressing, to prevent the losses and cost. I doubt other faculties would be dancing jigs at having their budgets cut because Maths (for example) was haemorrhaging textbooks and demanding more money to replace them. To the best of my knowledge (and I read the budget documents published here) my low budget figure is not due to faculty textbook loss. Building maintenance, utilities, casual relief, these are mentioned as issues; but there would be squalling if careless faculties were getting incompetence money to replace lost textbooks.
Had a new HT come here recently, from a school accessioning textbooks into the library. When I explained why this wasn’t what happened at Colo, was against DET recommendations, adn how it had negative consequences for library workload, operations and efficiency, the HT saw my point and went back to his/her faculty (which had a perfectly efficient system anyway, and is still in use).
Here’s what the DET School Libraries and Information Literacy FAQ says about OASIS and textbooks:
” What about text books?
OASIS Library can cope with class sets of text books. However, it is not compatible with the teaching and learning role of the teacher-librarian.
If large numbers of class sets of text books are added to OASIS Library, this would have the overall effect of creating problems with loan limits for students, overdue management, stocktake, and statistical reporting.
This will create problems in providing students and teachers with efficient access to resources supporting the teaching and learning program of the school.
It would also be a source of frustration for users where large numbers of such resources are not available for loan. Issues of responsibility for, and workload engendered, in processing large numbers of resources not available to day to day users would also need to be addressed.”
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Apart from the wise words on the DET School Libraries FAQ, here’s a reason to run a mile from putting textbooks on OASIS: you won’t be able to use the library stats with nearly the same effectiveness. If you look at stats in B2, it tells you raw numbers. Inflate them with texts, and you lose the chance to see how your library work is going. I’ve been keeping an increasingly beady eye on these, to see how our changes/improvements are having an impact, and if there were texts going through – couldn’t tell. I looked at a sample report for usage, and it was completely contradictory as to loan numbers. Maybe there is an easy report to give a breakdown by location (if so, tell me where it is)? Even so.
Also, I had texts on this OASIS when I came here and fought a long, difficult battle to get ’em off – texts from four or five faculties, and it took up huge amounts of library time, made the catalogue’s usefulness plummet, and was a nightmare for all sorts of reasons. It’s not what OASIS LIBRARY is for, and compromises the library work to a significant extent.
*****
There’s an FAQ answer in the School Libraries pages on the DET website which discusses this.
I fought hard to remove textbooks from OASIS here – it distorts it, it isn’t your job, the data entry takes library time, who’s paying for the barcodes, there are so so many downsides. Please think very carefully about this. It’s not what the library catalogue or OASIS Library is for. It also bungs up library time in the loans/returns etc. Teachers are well able to keep sufficient paper records for this – needs much less detail than library loans/resources.
Just my 2c worth…but talk with Colleen Foley, perhaps, before you take an irrevocable step.
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Don’t.
The English faculty doesn’t have the right to compromise library operations in this way. Their audit requirements for textbooks aren’t nearly as rigorous as library ones. They can record a textbook with less than five fields: look at the number required for a library book on OASIS.
Nor does any other faculty have that right.
Also, it shifts work from their staff to yours, generally from a large staff to what, two people? I’ve never heard of ‘accessioning the textbooks through the library’ also meaning ‘oh and we’ll give you lots more staff…’. And money for barcodes? And of course you’ll be covering and repairing the textbooks, won’t you? What? That costs time and money? Well, YOU have a budget…. And you won’t mind if we put the rest of the textbooks in the library storeroom/workroom/wherever, will you, because that’s so much more convenient….
I’ll give one example, knowing that others have gone into much more detail.
Without textbooks accessioned: how many copies of Alibrandi do you have? Two?
With textbooks accessioned: how many copies of Alibrandi do you have? 125? Oh, so are there any IN THE LIBRARY for the kid who wants to borrow one from you?
It trashes your loan stats, sucks up immense amounts of library staff time, occupies library space for loan sessions rather than learning in the library, and is not recommended in the DET School Library FAQs.
I fought long and hard to get the textbooks off the OASIS system here when I came, and it took two years, and it was difficult, and it was worth it. And golly gee, all those head teachers and faculties seem to be managing to loan/return their textbooks just fine without OASIS Library, thank you.
Maybe it’s the e-textbook that will suck the oxygen from this discussion, which comes up so often and seems, sadly, to very often involve situations that have a nasty whiff of bullying about them, even if they wrap it in a paper-thin veneer of ‘responsibility’ and ‘audit’ and so forth. That aspect of this discussion really bothers me.