Sydney Catholic Education chooses OverDrive eBooks from Softlink

8 May, 2013

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Sydney Catholic Education Office (CEO) has partnered with Softlink to deliver OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks to the 150 schools within the Archdiocese across Sydney.

CEO Sydney has selected OverDrive to integrate with the Diocese’s knowledge and library management solution, Oliver, to create a best-in-breed digital asset discovery and delivery solution.

OverDrive is the world’s most popular platform for digital content lending for schools. It is distributed in Australia by Softlink, the developer of leading knowledge, content and library management solutions for education.

Dr Dan White, Executive Director of catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney, revealed how OverDrive would support the diocese’s digital initiatives and National Curriculum.

“We are excited about delivering OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks for learning at school, home and anywhere, anytime, on modern digital devices,” he said.

“OverDrive will enable Sydney Catholic schools to provide students with on demand access to eBooks, audiobooks, music and videos across a full range of subjects and from a range of 2,500 publishers.”

“As we move from teacher centred to student centred pedagogy, the adoption of digital technologies such as OverDrive and Oliver will ensure our schools have the tools to engage learners in digital literacy and 21st century learning programs.

“We are committed to the continual development of digital innovations that support student and academic achievement,” he said.

Dr Doug Ashleigh, Director of Knowledge and Information at the CEO Sydney said the use of digital resources for education was escalating. “With technology in education changing at such a rapid rate, schools require scalable technologies that can meet today’s requirements and tomorrow’s emerging needs.

“OverDrive was selected for its deep integration with Oliver, innovative user features, large selection of titles and the ability to offer both a centralised and distributed resource collection.”

The project to implement Oliver across the Diocese’s schools was completed last year.

“The integration between Oliver and OverDrive will enable our school communities (students, teachers and parents) 24/7 access to library resources and learning materials at their own convenience.”

Dr Ashleigh said Softlink and the CEO Sydney have worked collaboratively for the past few years. “Softlink has been very responsive in supporting the diocese’s needs and we look forward to continuing a mutually beneficial partnership into the future,” he said.

Mr. Hillary Noye, Softlink’s Asia-Pacific Customer Relationship Director said CEO Sydney was an early adopter of leading technology to support their school network.

“Recent studies, including Softlink’s 2012 Australian School Library Survey, demonstrate a positive link between access to eResources and literacy levels,” he said.

“OverDrive helps schools to encourage reading through the ability to set age appropriate reading lists or lists based on ATOS level, Lexile measure and student interest level.”

“OverDrive eResources are available for use on iPad, iPhone, Android, Chrome Books and many other devices as well as offer browser-based reading through any device with an internet connection.”

Mr Noye said Softlink was pleased to partner with CEO Sydney to meet the Diocese’s digital resource management goals.

CEO Sydney aims to commence the deployment of OverDrive throughout the Sydney Archdiocese schools during Term 3, 2013.

Learn more about OverDrive for Departments and Education Offices