Clarkson Community High School

About Clarkson Community High School 

Clarkson Community High School is an Independent Public School in Clarkson, Western Australia, catering for students from Years 7 to 12. The school has around 400 students and 50 staff, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality teaching and learning in a supportive environment. Facilities include a commercial training kitchen, industry training programs, and co-location with the TradesNorth training institution, providing excellent opportunities in vocational education. Technology is integrated across the school, with Apple MacBooks available to students, ensuring they are well-prepared for future study and work.

The Clarkson Community High School Library

I work across a few schools, but my main school is Clarkson Community High School. I am their three-day Library Officer and work alongside Rhian Rees who is our Wednesday Library Officer. We work collaboratively with the Careers and VET team who also reside in the Library space, along with the Heads of Learning Areas and our Executive team to provide excellence in our school Library. Our goal is to create a welcoming environment in the Library which encourages a love of reading and seeking out accurate information.

What challenges did your library have before using Oliver?

Prior to upgrading to Oliver v5, our community was unable to access records for our resources as the system previously used wasn’t user-friendly. We struggled with being able to easily account for resources and we didn’t know what we had available to use which resulted in over-purchasing and many resources getting lost. 

Why did your school choose Oliver?

I was introduced to Oliver v5 in 2019 after having the opportunity to work with many other Library Management Systems. I found that Oliver v5 was very easy to use with procedures being intuitive, clear and concise and with staff and students frequently being time poor, having an easy-to-use system was important. From a Library Officer’s perspective, I love how customisable the system is. We can make it as complex or as simple as we need which future-proofs the system for new members of our community, taking out the guess work for them which also increases efficient time management. No more searching through user manuals that list the step-by-step processes as you just need to write “go to New Resource and then fill in the blanks.” Brilliant!

What are you favourite Oliver features?

As previously mentioned, I love how customisable the system is. This is also a benefit when communicating with our users as we can put promotions up on the Oliver v5 News page and we can automate overdues and reservation notices. The ability to have users create Lists is beneficial as well because teachers can work from anywhere with an internet connection and create book lists relevant to their course work. Those lists can then be shared with one another, and with the Library staff who can then pick the lists and have the books/equipment ready and waiting for them when they next visit the Library. This helps to ease the teachers’ workloads. Bonus, the lists can be saved and added to when new relevant resources are added to the Collection and can be used time and time again. 

The introduction of allowing book reviews is also great, because it means the students are able to see that they are a part of the Library. We don’t limit the number of reviews students can make, and found that when the students see their name on the Search, they feel included and listened too. We’re still at the early stages of Oliver v5 integration at Clarkson CHS, but we are looking forward to the students (and staff) customising their user-experience by changing the background and Me Icons when they log in. 

Personally, I like that the genre and GMD icons can be updated to match what the Library uses. We have introduced Senior Fiction resources which have a 16+ sticker on the spine. This is now one of our GMD icons which appears on the OPAC when titles are searched. We have utilised this feature to differentiate between different Collections such as Graphic Novels, our Aboriginal resources, and auto/biographies. Using the stickers allows users to quickly identify the books and having them match on the search creates a visual flow from screen to shelf.

How has Oliver v5 helped your library better support students and teachers?

Being able to easily search our school’s resources has meant our community can easily find what they need quickly and easily. As the Library is only staffed four days a week, increasing this accessibility has been really important. One of the features I was quick to utilise is Oliver v5’s Map feature. Libraries are constantly evolving and for some, keeping track of the changes can be difficult. When I showed the staff the Show Me Where feature during a staff briefing, they thought it was amazing and were calling out things to search for during my demonstration.

As I am new to the school, it has also meant I’ve been able to familiarise myself with our resources far quicker than with other Library Management Systems, which in turn means I can support our staff and students more effectively. 

We have introduced an OPAC access point in our school at the Library Circulation Desk by means of an older model iPad. The fact that the OPAC can record search history is also a great benefit as often things are searched for which might be sensitive topics for some. I’m able to utilise this history to see what our users are looking for and it helps identify gaps in our collection – something that can be quite difficult in Libraries. Oliver v5 makes working in the Library far more efficient than previous systems I’ve used in the past 20 years, increasing my enjoyment working in the role.

What changes have you seen since using Oliver v5?

Whilst the initial set up can be time consuming depending on how customised you want it, once it has been achieved it has sped up all elements of workflow from chasing up overdues (now automated), to cataloguing new resources (fill in the blanks) to creating interactive digital promotions where users can click on a picture and a map appears to show them where to find it! 

With many library staff having limited experience with libraries, having an easy to use system makes the work a lot easier.

What would you say to another school considering Oliver v5?

Do you value your time? Do you want to have access to everything at the click of a mouse? Do you want to reduce the number of places resources are managed? Oliver v5 does all of it. It simplifies often complex processes, can be used as an assets register, booking system, reservations and lesson plan place holder. There are so many elements of Oliver v5 that are more than just ‘for the Library staff’ – it is a system that can be easily used by all. Book a preview, visit a few schools who currently use it and then dive in. 

Read more case studies

• Jane Burrows, Library Manager at Truganina College reflects on how Oliver v5 helps meet the needs of a busy school library.
• Marianne Van Niekerk, Head of Library Services at The Knox School, discusses their smooth transition to Oliver v5 and the benefits it’s brought..
• Susan Grieve, College Librarian at Tarneit P-9 College, discusses Oliver v5's flexibility, easy-to-use interface, and support and training.