Staff News: New Appointments

We welcome two well known colleagues into new positions at Information Services – Potchefstroom

Magrieta Afrika was appointed as Assistant Librarian in the Information Commons and commenced duties on Monday the 3rd of June. Magrieta has extensive experience working in community libraries and has been working in the Ferdinand Postma Library since 2007.  She worked in different departments gaining experience in the academic library environment.  She completed B Inf in 2016 through UNISA.

Katlego Chiya was appointed in the position of Faculty Librarian and will join the Potchefstroom team on 1 July 2019.  After completing his BA in Media Studies at the University of Limpopo, Katlego completed his Higher Diploma in Information Studies at the same institution, where he also gained his first year of experience in an academic library.  He worked as Librarian at the South African Biodiversity Institute before joining the NWU LIS as Assistant Librarian (Information Services) at Vanderbijlpark in February 2015 . Katlego is currently busy with his MA in Information Science via UNISA.

We wish both colleagues all the best in their new positions!

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LIS involvement in Campus Open Days

During the campus Open Days in May, LIS (Library and Information Services) had the opportunity to be visible and proudly showcased our spaces and services.  After liaising with the NWU Marketing and Student Recruitment Office, all three campus libraries were an integral part of Open Day activities for the first time.  Online applications could be done in the libraries while Admissions staff assisted, and information stalls with the latest LIS marketing material were placed at strategic points in/near the libraries.

Feedback from Potchefstroom staff

LIS staff welcomed prospective students and their parents to the library on Saturday 11 May.  Tarentaal training room and the Information Commons were available as online registration facilities.  The library was a buzz of activity and guests had the opportunity to relax in Ferdi’s coffee shop.  Besembos training room was used by the Theology Faculty to provide information sessions to prospective Theology students.

Vanderbijlpark Library

The NWU Open Day for prospective undergraduate students at the Vaal Triangle Campus, were held on 18 May 2019. LIS grabbed the opportunity to portray the significant role that the library plays in the successfully completion of students’ studies.

An information stall were set up next to the Library entrance. Upon visiting the stall, prospective students were organised into informal groups, before proceeding on an accompanied tour throughout the Library. LIS pamphlets were handed out to undergraduate students as a supportive aid to the tour.  Crossword games were also on offer for students looking for a bit of fun. Lollipops were handed out to the participating game players as a small gesture of appreciation.

Just over 2 000 students visited the Library on the day.

Open day at Mafikeng campus

The Open Day took place on the 25th of May and the library was a central part of it.  The library stall was decorated beautifully and placed strategically next to the ramp that leads to the library. The training room was used as one of the venues to facilitate applications, which gave librarians an opportunity to facilitate library tours to prospective students. Librarians were very helpful in assisting the learners with the application process as some were computer illiterate. It was a great experience as the library had not previously been involved with the open day for undergraduates.

This also gave an opportunity for the current students to engage with librarians and to know more about the services available to them as most indicated that they hardly visit the library. The planning process for the Open Day also enhanced stakeholder relationships with relevant departments in terms of involving the library to be a part of pertinent events of the university in the future.

Contributions by Boitumelo Masilo, Gloria Ramaboea and Martie Esterhuizen.

 

Book exhibitions at Mafikeng

Each year the Mafikeng library organises book exhibitions that are aimed at encouraging the involvement of the academic community in the development of the collection. The event grows bigger each year as it is becoming a norm that the academics not only look forward to, but plan on as well. This is also an opportunity for the faculty librarians to engage with the faculty members in terms of identifying their information needs and the gaps in the collection.

To ensure Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA), students, particularly Masters’, Doctoral and Post Docs are also invited to participate in the selection of books related to their areas of study. The vendors who exhibited their collections and supplied books focusing on various disciplines included Van Schaik Bookstores, Vuga, Best Books, RexReg Express and AMS. The book exhibitions continue to demonstrate a true spirit of collaboration within the various units in the library as well as the embodiment of embedded librarianship under the leadership of Ms Molly Kekana. Colleagues really pulled together in organising and participating in this event.

The exhibitions in April and May were a great success despite sharing dates with the Graduation ceremony and Research day. The library is looking forward to many more.

Boitumelo Masilo and Dina Mashiyane
Faculty Librarians: Information Services (Mafikeng)

Author workshop for researchers

The Mafikeng Library hosted an author workshop for researchers on 3 May 2019. The workshop was hosted in the library conference room and was facilitated by Emerald Group Publishing and WWIS (on behalf of Web of Science). The presenters were Mr Sibu Zondi (Emerald) and Ms Zanele Magoba-Nomvete (WWIS). The purpose of the workshop was to share knowledge of publishing with emerging researchers. Among the areas covered were the publishing process, ethics of publishing, choosing a journal to publish, the importance of publishing in quality journals, bibliometrics, EndNote online as well as the impact of research. The workshop was well attended and interaction of NWU researchers were quiet impressive. The researchers commended the library for hosting such workshops and requested more workshops of this nature in the future.

Glenda Makate
Senior Librarian: Information Services (Mahikeng)

Research day 2019 at Mafikeng

On the 26^th of April 2019, the library was part of Research Day, an event organised by NWU, held at the Mmabatho Convention Centre (MCC). The theme of the day was: Benefiting society through knowledge: research for socio-economic advancement. The library was invited as a research partner to showcase the innovative ways in which it supports research. There were several stalls at the MCC from various departments and entities of the university that showcase ways in which they support research. The library stall was furnished with posters on EndNote, ORCID, as well as an array of leading research books that are available in the library. On the day, the librarians also assisted researchers with creating and checking their ORCID status. The LIS Postgraduate Support brochure was distributed, together with other promotional materials. This was also an opportunity to promote an author workshop to be presented by Emerald and WWIS on the 3^rd of May 2019.

Many researchers were not aware of the LIS services and research resources.  The response of researchers and the university community was positive and this was indeed another good example of how the library is a collaborator in the research community.

Boitumelo Masilo (Faculty Librarian: Humanities & Theology, Mafikeng)

Staff News – Resignations

We say goodbye to two staff members

We regret to inform you that Mr Njabulo Makhathini and Mr Kabelo Kakole have resigned and will be leaving the LIS end of April.

Njabulo Makhathini started 1 March 2015 as Manager Loan Services (Potchefstroom). Njabulo guided the Loan and ILL section for four years. He was professional and focused on his work and it was a privilege to work with him. We wish to thank Njabulo for his leadership, contributions, support and kindness.

 

 

Kabelo Kakole joined the LIS on 1 February 2015 as Institutional Repository (IR) Librarian. During this period the IR (Boloka) has grown significantly. Due to Kabelo’s hard work and good work ethic, the IR are on par with the Repositories of other major SA Institutions. He brought a positive energy into the Information Systems section.

 
The LIS wishes Njabulo and Kabelo best of luck in their new positions. We know that they will be successful in everything they do.

NWU Librarians attended DHASA 2019 conference

The International Conference on Digital Humanities of Southern Africa was held at the University of Pretoria from the 25th – 29th March 2019. Representing the NWU LIS from the 28th -29th March were Ms Boitumelo Masilo, Mrs Anneke Coetzee, Mr Vuyo Ngayeka and Mr Malose Langa.

The conference had an array of presentations, both national and international that shed light on how Digital Humanities (DH) is shaping the discipline in data curation, preservation and as a methodology. Presenters shared with the attendees various projects around the world that are elevating Digital Humanities. Franci Greyling and  Gustaf Tempelhoff  from NWU gave a stellar presentation on Multi-sensory experiences: site-specific digital literature for and with persons with visual impairment. This multisensory garden consists of concrete and digital user interfaces constructed in braille, signs with QR codes and a digital interface with speech technology.

There were numerous presentations by librarians from various institutions sharing their involvement in various Digital Humanities projects. This was especially exciting because it gave librarians present an opportunity to understand what role/s they can play in the DH.

It was truly a well of information and inspiration, from which the true spirit of collaboration will be drawn and shared in all our various corners and institutions.

Boitumelo Masilo, Faculty Librarian: Humanities and Theology (Mahikeng)

Feedback – SA Library Week: 18 – 22 March 2019

The LIS celebrated National Library Week from 18 – 22 March 2019 with the theme collaborate @ your library.  The libraries organised a number of activities with the aim of promoting library week and portray the importance of collaboration to develop better relationships and partnerships.

2.  Library activities
As part of the celebrations, all libraries had a fine-free week, giving amnesty to those with overdue library materials. During the week, library materials could be returned without fines and no questioned asked.   The library partnered with Van Schaik Bookstore who promoted their new App to library users throughout the week, and also gave away freebies to participants.  The libraries had different activities according to their capacity and user needs.

2.1.  Mahikeng

The library hosted an event to launch the annual SALW.  To align the launch with theme “collaborate @ your library”, various stakeholders have been invited to celebrate with them. The topic of the day revolved around the preservation of indigenous languages in alignment with the International year of Indigenous Languages as declared by the United Nations. A guest speaker from the Faculty of Education (Setswana Department) Mrs Nkwe gave a presentation on the importance of preserving and raising awareness of indigenous languages. A Setswana poem was also recited by one the members from Bokamoso Literature Club which is an initiative to enhance the culture of reading in the university community in collaboration with the SCC.

Mahikeng campus library celebrated day two of Library Week at Koi-Koi Primary School where they assisted in setting up a school library and donated shelves,  educational materials and books to the school.  Van Schaik bookstores also participated in this initiative. The National Librarian of the Year, Mr Siviwe Bangani used proceeds from his 2018 award to purchase the donated resources as part of his community engagement initiative.

In celebration of Human Rights month, the library gave away copies of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Recipients had to reflect on what the right to information access means to them as stipulated in the Bill of Rights, to get copies of the constitutions. The feedback was very positive.

2.2. Potchefstroom

The Information Commons ran a competition where students were invited to give their ideas on how the library could curb noise in its spaces. The winners were awarded with some prizes, other students got prizes hidden underneath their tables.

The Information Resources section assisted on Tuesday 23 April and launched an activity in showing students how to arrange books according to the Dewey system.  Students then had to sort an unorganised bookshelf.  Suzette Janse van Rensburg and Mietsie Harman took the lead and they reported that the students learned, while having fun.

2.3.  Vanderbijlpark

As part of the launch of Library Week in Vanderbijlpark,  Ishe Muzvondiwa (Faculty Librarian) went to River FM, NWU Vaal Radio station to market the library services and activities.

 

Students were asked to give suggestions on how the library can minimize the noise level in the library.  There also had word puzzles where students had to identify words relating to the theme of the library week – relationships, collaboration, library week, teamwork.  Students worked in teams to search for the words.  Whoever finds the words the quickest was entered into a daily draw where they won prizes at the end of the day.

ALDE/ALDA training sessions were provided from Monday to Wednesday, during this time 1290 students received training.  The aim of the training was to share knowledge, get groups to visit the library and to empower the students with long life skills.  An exhibition was also prominent in the library with a book display on the theme of Library Week.

 

Staff Matters – New Appointment

Congratulations to Maggie Melk-Sindwa who was appointed in the position of Private Assistant to Dr Moyo, Chief Director LIS. She is a familiar face in the library as she worked in Loan Services, Potchefstroom from 2009 – 2014. She then relocated to University of Pretoria Library where she was Assistant Information Specialist until 2016. When she returned to the NWU, she worked as Human Resource Intern at People and Culture.

We welcome Maggie back as part of the LIS team, and wish her the best in her new role!

NWU Libraries Celebrate Library Week : 18 – 22 March 2019

In Celebration of Library Week

Library week competition
(Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom)

Help us reduce the noise at our libraries.

In a group of 3 students come up with ways that the libraries can curb the noise levels. Your group could win NWU corporate freebies.

To enter the competition, leave your comment on the NWU Libraries Facebook page with the #HelpUsHelpYou

Competition Rules

• Participants must be registered NWU students.
• A team must consist of (3) three students.
• The closing date is 19 March 2019 at 10h00.

Fine free week

In celebration of SA Library Week the LIS promotes a fine free week to all users. Do you have long overdue library books on your study desk or in your office? Return them between 18 and 22 March 2019 – no questions will be asked and no fines will be added to your record.

Mafikeng: activities

• Tell us what collaborate @ your library means to you and stand a chance of winning NWU corporate freebies. Winners to be announced on the 18th of March 2019.
• Monday 18/03: Library week launch
  There will be a book launch, and a poetry recital between 10:00-12:00.
• Tuesday: 19/03: Koi Koi Primary School visit (community engagement project)
  The Mafikeng staff members will set up the library at Koi Koi primary school and donate children’s books as part of Librarian of the Year community engagement initiative.
• Wednesday: Know your right to information access!
  Tell us what the right to information access means to you and stand a chance of getting yourself a copy of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
  NB: The first 96 respondents will get the constitution booklets.
• Collaborate with your shelves
  The library staff members will partake in shelf reading activities for the month of March.
• Book Drive (throughout the week)
  There will be a book drive that will run for the week, asking users to donate Setswana books in recognition of the declaration by the UN declaring 2019 as the International year of indigenous languages.

Potchefstroom: actvities

Monday 18 March

• Van Schaik Gazebo at entrance of library
• Sorting and shelving books according to DDC
• Book Exhibition in the library foyer

Tuesday 19 March

• Van Schaik photo booth
• #HelpUsHelpYou (FaceBook page)
• Competition Draw @12h00

Wednesday 20 March

• Book Exhibition in the library foyer

Vanderbijlpark: activities

• Exhibition stand in the Library.
• ALDE/ALDA training from Monday to Wednesday.
• Cross-word puzzle with Van Schaik.
• Competition of the Best Group Picture with Van Schaik.
• “Help us to Help you” on how to minimize the noise level in the Library (FaceBook page).