Fun avatars and backgrounds for Orbit help engage students

Do you use Orbit junior and middle school interface with your Oliver v5 library management system?

The colourful, interactive Orbit interface is a great way to share the joy of discovering books with younger students and help them learn the skills to independently navigate the library catalogue. Watch this short video for a sneak peek at Orbit in action.

Targeted teaching with Orbit

We’ve heard from many school librarians and specialist educators who find Orbit to be a valuable tool for targeted teaching, in particular for literacy and information literacy lessons in the early years.

You can read more about schools benefiting from the engagement that Orbit provides in this case study from Sha Tin Junior School in Hong Kong, and this case study from Our Lady of Good Counsel in Perth, Western Australia.

Library adventures begin here

Did you know logged-in students can have fun personalising their own Orbit interface?

There are lots of backgrounds and avatars to choose from, including seasonal and special-occasion themes like Easter, ANZAC/Remembrance Day, Halloween, Christmas and more.

Students can explore these on their own, or you might want to introduce them to seasonal themes as a basis for, or complement to, your library lessons and activities. Here are some examples:

An exciting new world to discover

With Orbit, students will enjoy being able to choose from a variety of avatars. Students will be able to select their favourite avatars from categories such as people, animals, superheroes and emojis. Students can also discover library posters and bookmarks that encourage reading and engaging with the library. You can download and print them here.

Many library worlds to share

We hope you enjoy these resources, and your students have fun using Orbit. Let us know what your students think of the avatars and tell us how you’re using Orbit in your school library.

Email communications@softlinkint.com or tag us on Twitter @SoftlinkEdu to share your library adventure stories.

Learn more about Orbit:

• See Orbit in action with this short (2:47 min) video
• To learn more about the new-look Orbit interface, read this blog
• This Orbit guided tour video gives students a step-by-step walkthrough

Editors note: This blog was originally published in April 2019, updated in October 2021 for freshness, accuracy, and relevancy.