New sharing platform for NCRCN

NCRCN shares their resources and ideas and collaborates online via the NCRCN Google+ community.

Go to this link to request to join:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/114215528916579404304

Members and other connected Catholic Resource centres are welcome to join on request.

Sandhurst Diocese Library Learning Centre

LIBRARY LEARNING CENTRE - Sandhurst Diocese. 

Situated in Bendigo we service the Sandhurst diocese of Victoria.
Our membership is open to ANYONE in the Sandhurst Diocese (and beyond) so we have a wide collection;
Mainly religious, but also educational.
Mainly Catholic, but also multi-faith.
Mainly books, but we are growing and changing,
Mainly faith, but we are also about life in all its sadness and glory.

An important part of our role is to support the Religious Education program in the Sandhurst Diocese - The Source of Life.
An important part of our role is supporting Tertiary students in their quest to become; accredited, ordained, more knowledgeable about their faith and replenish at the wellspring.
An important part of our role is to support Catholic Education office staff in the work they do in our schools.

We believe that a library is so much more than a place that stores and lends books.
We offer Christian Meditation Sessions, an adult book club, spirituality group, meeting spaces, and love to celebrate all that reading, education and spirituality bring to our lives with special events such as;  National Simultaneous Story-time, Book Week,  Library Lover's Day , Come and See Morning Teas etc.

We are constantly changing and growing 

"Never see a need without doing something about it. "  

St Mary of the Cross 

Resource Link Brisbane - NCRCN conference visit

First session of the NCRCN September 2015 conference was a visit to Catholic Education Office'  - Brisbane resource centre  - ResourceLink.

The Resource Link centre is a multifaceted resource centre that provides and creates resources to support learning across the Brisbane diocese.  A team with diverse skills relating to libraries and education and multimedia work together to deliver information and resources and to meet 21st Century learning by:

• Creating best practice videos
• Developing online modules for teachers to support curriculum integration
• Utilising concept design guidelines with educators to create best practice resources
• Value adding to resources 
• Providing advice and expertise on the best technology option to provide professional learning
• Professional learning workshops - Big Day Out for Teacher Librarians

Spaces
The Library has an inviting open learning hub of multipurpose spaces where staff can meet, collaborate, brainstorm or just quietly read.
In addition there is a high end video editing suite with access to video camera's, lighting, mixers etc.

Resources
Professional learning module resources are available generally on their staff intranet only for Brisbane professional development.
However the centre does have a valuable web presence/resources with Religious Education resources accessible to the general public and other education organisations at:
http://www.rec.bne.catholic.edu.au/Pages/default.aspx
as well as a blog at https://resourcelinkbce.wordpress.com/
They also have a Google+ community
Apart from video creation they work with a range of Web 2.0 technologies choosing the best tool for the task.  Some examples are Videoscribe, Padlet, Flipboard and Piktochart.

Online learning pedagogy
Their online learning pedagogy is driven by work from and with Dr Hilary Hughes
and Dr Mandy Lupton.

This first session of our conference was a very valuable one in looking at 21st century library services and connecting with the creative, intelligent and skilled staff in Kerry Rush's team.

Tceo iLibrary

Tceo iLibrary

Townsville Catholic Education Office 

The iLibrary is part of the Religious Education, Curriculum, and Indigenous Education Team of the Townsville Catholic Education Office.

      One of its main aims is to support those involved in Religious Education and Personal Development Education in the schools, parishes and homes by providing appropriate, good quality resources supported by professional consultancy services. The iLibrary also supports the resource and information needs of those undertaking Religious Studies, and the staff  and initiatives within the Townsville Catholic Education Office itself. Some of the collection focuses include Christian Meditation, Inquiry Based Learning, Student Support Services, Student Protection and School Improvement.

New Direction since 2013

Since 2013 the iLibrary has been overseeing the implementation of a unique project to provide a cloud-based, centralised library management solutuion which connects the iLibrary and our 28 school libraries together, using Destiny Library Manager as an efficient resource management tool and a portal for our staff and students to access quality print and online resources.

An important part of the project is the  development of a collection of online resources to support our schools in the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. This collection can be accessed by iLibrary and school library account holders 24/7 through the Destiny District portal in the Find a Resource section of this website.

Staff and students can also access the Destiny District portal and our other online resources - eLibrary Australasia, Britannica, the Language Market, EnhanceTV Direct, Scootle, Liturgy Planning and the RE Database - through the Resources Tab on their school intranet page.

The Collection

The iLibrary houses a collection of about 15,000 physical and digital items in a variety of formats including:

• Books
• Magazines and Journals
• Digital - ebooks, pdfs, websites, media files 
• Databases - eLibrary Australasia and Britannica
• Dvds 
• Kits
• Compact Discs
• Posters
• Realia
• Games

The physical resources in the iLibrary are primarily in the area of Religious Education but the collection also contains resources available for Personal Development Education, Indigenous Education and some other KLA areas. While the main focus is on resources for the staff and students of our schools, there are titles for parish and other Catholic agencies use and for all age levels.

Find out more about the iLibrary and it's services on the Townsville Catholic Education website

 https://www.pinterest.com/ilibrary/