Our Library – The Father Gerry Remie Centre
Our library is a relaxing space for collaborative learning or individual study or reading. It features comfortable and quiet spaces, with second-story views of the college and the surrounding landscape through the floor-to-ceiling windows which make up most of the outer walls. There are abundant resources available to assist with your studies or to enjoy at your own leisure. Our Library Manager Mrs Shirley Donnelly is available to assist you with all library-related matters.
Our library would very much appreciate donations, both financial and by way of books and resources. Please contact us if you would like to support our library. Volunteers are also welcome.
Recognition of the late Father Gerry Remie’s work
Fr Gerry Remie was instrumental in the development of the Catholic faith in Palmerston and the surrounding rural areas. His love and support for children were legendary. Fr Gerry was a committed educator of the Catholic faith for the children of Palmerston and Humpty Doo. He tirelessly sacrificed himself building these foundations with the vision of a Catholic Secondary College in mind and heart.
Fr Gerry’s outstanding achievements:
- Founding Parish Priest Humpty Doo Parish;
- Founding Parish Priest of Palmerston Parish;
- Raised funds to build Our Lady Help of Christian’s parish presbytery and church;
- Established Sacred Heart Primary School building fund and built Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School;
- Raised funds to build the St Vincent de Paul Centre in Palmerston;
- Gained the respect of many throughout the Palmerston Community;
- Taught Religious Education in schools around Palmerston – welcomed and respected at government schools; and,
- Many government ministers sought Fr Gerry’s counsel regarding the Euthanasia bill in late 1990s
Reader Advice
Classifications
Our library is classified into two main areas, Fiction and Non-Fiction.
Fiction books are arranged alphabetically, by the Author’s surname. Some books have genre labels to inform borrowers about their main subject, as shown below:
Non-Fiction books are arranged in numerical order according to the Dewey Decimal System which organises books according to their subject matter.
Borrowing from our Library
MacKillop students are able to borrow textbooks, fiction and non-fiction books. Officially fiction and non-fiction books are borrowed for three weeks but may be kept for longer depending on the type of resource. However if another person requests to read an already borrowed book, the library may require the borrower to return it. Textbooks are lent for a semester or a year, depending on the curriculum subject requirements. Students are responsible for any books lent. Any books returned damaged in a way that renders them unusable for future borrowers, will be charged to the borrower’s account. Books non-returned or lost will also be charged to the borrower’s account. If a charged book is returned in good condition at a later time, a credit may be issued to the borrower’s account. Resources listed as Teacher Resources are only able to be borrowed by staff.
Researching
Staff and students are welcome to ask for help locating resources in the library or when researching online. Our library resources can also be searched online at the MacKillop Library Catalogue.
Trove
National Library of Australia’s database relating to Australian records and digital content from libraries, museums, galleries, universities, archives and other data collection organisations. Consider obtaining their library card which will give you full access to their eResources databases. Membership is free, however you can still access many of their eResource databases without having a library card. The National Library of Australia also offers a comprehensive collection of Research Guides.
Northern Territory Library
The premier public research library for Northern Territory’s culture and history. Search their digital depository, NT public libraries catalogue or access eResources with your NT public library card.
Free Resources
Australian National University
ANU also provides an extensive range of subject guides for public use; some are easily accessed, some are restricted to university staff and students
Browser searching tools
Narrow down your search to a particular domain
Add site: and a domain name
Educational site eg. ancient Rome site:edu
Government site eg. ancient Rome site:gov
Australian sites only eg. ancient Rome site:edu.au
| Examples of domains include | 2 letter domains for countries |
| gov – Government go – some countries use .go only edu – Educational org – Organisations (non-profit) mil – Military com – commercial net – Network organisations |
au – Australia uk – United Kingdom cn – China in – India ie – Ireland |
Website analysis
To determine if a website is a credible and valid source, apply CARP principles:
To delve deeper, consider using lateral reading to evaluate whether a website is real, fake or credible.
Using Boolean Searching
Use quotes to minimise results
“Ancient Rome” will return results where those words are side-by-side only
Use AND to limit your results
Air AND pollution “ancient Rome” should return results where both Air and Pollution in ancient Rome are mentioned in the same article
Use NOT to limit results in a different way
Searching for – “Air Pollution” NOT sky – should force Google to return results without any mention of sky pollution
Use OR to expand your results
Searching for – Global OR worldwide “Air pollution” – should force Google to return results for both Global and its synonym, increasing your results.
Please note that some Boolean search tips will not work well for Google. Click here for Google search tips.
Referencing
What is referencing?
Referencing is the documenting of any sources you read, watch or use in writing your assignments. A source can include:
- an image/graph/chart/table
- a book
- an article (in print or from a website)
- video
- an interview with an expert in the subject you are writing about
- emails or blogs
- statistics
Why reference?
Referencing your work:
- shows that you have researched your subject
- gives credit to the people with the original thoughts and ideas
- allows your teacher to see where your knowledge has come from
- allows your readers to do further research
- helps you to avoid plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the using (or copying) of other people’s ideas or work and claiming it as your own. If you paraphrase (reword someone else’s work) without referencing it then that is also plagiarism. When deliberately quoting someone’s work, you must reference it both in the text, and in the bibliography at the end of your assignment.
What is a bibliography?
A bibliography is a list (in alphabetical order) of all the sources you used when creating your assignment.
Referencing styles
MacKillop Catholic College students are required to use APA 7 referencing style. A simple guide to using APA 7 can be found at this link:
https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2025-03/APAGuide_January2025.pdf
The SACE guide below offers a complete referencing guide:
Referencing tools
The document above explains how to download and use Zotero – a free app to collect, organise and cite your references. This link provides you with a full guide on how to use Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/support/
To manage your website searches, use our guides:
Copyright
Australia has copyright laws that automatically protect any material item created by a human. Generally the creator is the owner of that copyright unless they sell the rights of use for that item. As a student, you can copy and use a certain amount of people’s material without having to ask their permission, for the purpose of your study. You must, however, acknowledge the use of that material through your referencing. Click here to further understand what copyright is, and what the limits of use are.
I.T. Advice
Printing at MacKillop
Microsoft Word
Handy Microsoft Word keyboard commands
- Open a new blank page: Cntrl+N (PC users) Command+N (Mac users)
- Highlight a word: Double-click on a word
- Highlight a sentence or paragraph: Triple-click anywhere within the sentence/paragraph
- Find and replace word/s: Cntrl+H (PC users) Command+H (Mac users)
- Don’t forget to save regularly: Cntrl+S (PC users) Command+S (Mac users)
Digital Resources
ClickView
Log on to ClickView
Email the Library if you can’t log on or require a password reset.
Issues in Society
Our library has numerous books from the Issues in Society series. This series provides facts, opinions and analysis of current Australian topics. A search in our OPAC will bring up all the print copies we have. We also have digital PDFs for online reading. Any titles listed as a Teacher Resource will not be available for students. Please email the library with the title of the particular issue you would like to read online and it will be emailed to you.
Subject Guides
Our subject guides provide links to curriculum-related websites.
