We say goodbye to 2 colleagues

Ms. Gloria Ramaboea joined our team in October 2018 as Librarian Undergraduate Support to coordinate services to undergraduate students in the Information Commons (Potchefstroom). The Information Commons team is responsible for the marketing of library services and resources to undergraduate students. She was responsible for the update of the online information literacy modules and teaching Information Literacy classes to ALDA/ALDE. Also to liaise with role players dealing with undergraduates, like the Academic Student Council and Disability Rights Office. Gloria, we thank you for your time and effort spent with Information Services – we wish you all the best in your new position at the University of Venda.

Mr. Siviwe Bangani was appointed as Manager of Information Services and Loan Services (Mafikeng) in November 2014 and after the NWU restructuring in 2017, he held the position of Manager Information Services. Over the years he has been involved in several activities, that include the mentoring of up-and-coming young librarians, community engagement as well as writing and publishing.

He coordinated activities that sought to alleviate the problem of shortage of libraries in the communities and schools. As a result, the NWU has set-up nine libraries in nearby schools and communities.

He was involved in the publication of 16 articles in DHET accredited journals, of which four were single-authored and the rest co-authored. He also has presented at LIASA, IATUL, and SCECSAL conferences.

In 2018, Siviwe was nominated as LIASA North West Librarian of the Year. At the 2018 LIASA Conference, he was crowned as SA Librarian of the year. The Librarian of the Year is granted annually to a real model for the library and information service community. This accolade is awarded by peers in recognition of the achievements and accomplishment of inspiring and exceptional librarians. He donated his proceeds as the Librarian of the Year to community engagement projects during 2019.

He was an asset to the LIS as department and his passion for the profession was contagious. We will miss his positive attitude and leadership.

Siviwe, thank you for your time and dedication! As you embark on a new path at Stellenbosch University Library, we wish you nothing but success for the future ahead.

LIS support during the nationwide lockdown 27 March – 16 April 2020

Loan Services

• All books (including ILL books), with a due date that falls within the lockdown period, have been automatically renewed until 24 April 2020.
• Please note that fines for overdue books, including ILL will be waived and book renewals will be allowed.
• More info about the renewal of books online, go to https://sierra.nwu.ac.za/patroninfo

Information Services

• Limited Information Services will be available during this period.
• Please make use of Ask Us on the Library web page: http://library.nwu.ac.za/,  or contact your Faculty Librarian: http://library.nwu.ac.za/information-services-and-faculty-librarians

We will unfortunately not be able to handle requests with regard to printed material, scanning of documents and interlibrary loans.

We would like to remind you of our eBook Collection http://library.nwu.ac.za/ebooks

Take care!

Long live African languages!

Are African languages dead? Long live African languages! This was the theme of a panel discussion that was organised in commemoration of International Mother Language Day, as well as Black History Month. The library had the privilege of collaborating with the Bokamoso literature club in hosting this event on the 20th of February 2020. The NWU community did not disappoint and came in numbers, both staff and students filled the venue to capacity which indicated to the organisers the need and interest of such gatherings and discussions. The four distinguished panelists that were invited were:

• Dr Eileen Pooe: NWU Setswana department
• Mr Siviwe Bangani: NWU LIS
• Ms Thulisile bhuda: NWU PhD candidate, IKS
• Mr Sello Tatai: Maftown book club founder

The programme opened with a poetry delivery from the renowned author and poet, Ms Lerato Mileng. Her poem, performed in Setwana, accompanied by Djembe Drums set a powerful tone on reclaiming heritage.

The preparation and expertise of the panel was unparalleled. Each panelist was provided with a question prior to the event which they prepared for and it was used to open the discussion. The panelist questions were set as follow:

• Dr Pooe: What is the significance of writing in African languages in a contemporary society?
• Mr Bangani: What roles do libraries play in the development of African languages?
• Ms Bhuda: How do African languages relate to IKS?
• Mr Tatai: What do you see as the role of book clubs in the promotion of African authors and literature?

After each panelist answered their question, the Q & A session took place. The room resonated with excitement as guests were given the opportunity to direct their questions to the panel, which the panel received and responded to with the same energy. The programme ended at 13:00 with a poetry delivery from Ms Evangelist Mazibuko, a member of the Bokamoso literature club and light lunch was served.

This event is one of many ways in which the library is attempting to stay visible, relevant and be a dynamic and integral part of the NWU community, as well as the communities in which they exist. Collaborations with various organisations from both within and outside the university walls ensures that the LIS remains part of the conversations that are continuously taking place within the country and the globe, thus standing a better chance of being part of the solution, and also fulfil the LIS vision of being a leading university library in Africa and beyond.

Article written by: Boitumelo Masilo, Faculty Librarian

 

World Read Aloud Day

The NWU LIS Mafikeng campus in collaboration with Bokamoso Literature Club took part in World Read Aloud Day on the 5th of February 2020 at Solid Foundation Day Care Centre.

This is an annual celebration where reading takes centre stage in enhancing the awareness and importance of reading in a global context. This activity by the library takes cognizance of the mandate initiated by the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) to start and promote reading circles/book clubs in the province. The NWU librarians along with Bokamoso Literature Club members joined in the celebration by reading story books to the children. This movement raised the visibility of the LIS not only institutionally, but also embed the library in the community. This milestone enhanced community engagement initiatives by the LIS.

Staff members and children from the Day Care Centre appreciated the gesture and are looking forward to having the NWU LIS members again in future.

Name of Figshare Research Data Repository

A competition was launched in October 2019 to brand and name the Figshare Research Data Repository.

Congratulations to Mr Marvin Qhekwana, a Masters student in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, who won the competition with his entry Dayta Ya Rona

The name means “Our Data”, but Marvin explained the additional meaning of his entry as follows: The “day” signifies light and this can be related to openness and transparency. These two concepts are linked with academic integrity. There is generally a diversity in the way that people pronounce the word “data”. Different ethnic groups from different areas say it differently, hence the “day-ta”/ “da-ta'” pronunciation struggle exists among many people and this is a true reflection in the NWU context.

This collaborative effort between the NWU Library and Information Service, IT services and the Research Office started in 2018 as part of the eResearch initiative to test Figshare as platform to preserve and share NWU research data. The platform has now been named and branded and is available to all NWU researchers.

Datasets uploaded to Dayta Ya Rona is given a persistent DOI and can be made available to anyone or have restricted access and will increase the visibility of the researcher. The researcher has control over what can be shared when the data is uploaded. Visit https://dayta.nwu.ac.za to upload your research data.

Erika Rood (NWU LIS) and Marvin Qhekwana (Winner)

Staff News

Transfer of Vuyo Ngayeka
Vuyo Ngayeka was transferred to Potchefstroom (Library Systems) as Senior Librarian: Institutional Repository & Systems Support. Vuyo has been working at Mafikeng Campus Library for more than five years. He relocated to Potchefstroom and started in January 2020. Vuyo will continue to provide support for SIERRA and Access (EZproxy), and will also take responsibility for the Institutional Repository (Boloka).

New appointments
Emilio Stuurman was employed as Shelf Assistant at Mafikeng on 1 December 2019.

 

 

 

Simon Molebeleli was appointed as Shelf Assistant at Potchefstroom, and he started beginning of February 2020.

We welcome Emilio and Simon to the LIS. We can already see that both of you are going to be valuable assets to our team!

Staff Matters

We say goodbye to Louw Venter, and welcome a number of new staff members.

Louw Venter was appointed as Senior Business Analyst at NWU IT (Academic Office Solutions) from 1 January 2020. We will miss you Louw!

The following message from him:
The time has come for me to say goodbye to the Library. I’ve been coming to this building (Potchefstroom main library) for the past 15 years, and it has seen me grow older, grow wider, get married and become a father. And it has given me opportunities and connections to many wonderful people throughout that time which has helped shape me into who I am today.

Although I’ve been reporting to IT for a while now, I still very much felt like a part of the Library. But from January I’ll be in a new capacity with a different focus at IT and my journey will continue from there.

Take care of yourselves and each other

Louw

New appointments

Winnile Dlamini started on 1 January 2020 as Assistant Librarian, Information Services at Vanderbijlpark Library. She previously worked at UNISA Library.

 

 

Helah van der Waldt was appointment as Assistant Librarian in the Interlibrary Loans Unit (Potchefstroom). Helah assumed her new role on the first of January 2020. Prior to her appointment, Helah was Senior Library Assistant in the Circulations Unit. Helah holds a degree in Information Science and a Diploma in Archival Studies. She has vast experience in different sections of the library.
Dineo Boutlwanye has been appointed as Faculty Librarian at the Education Sciences Library. Dineo received her BTech (Library and Information Science) in 2014 and her Honours in Information Science in 2017. She has worked at the Rustenburg Local Municipality since 2002 – as Junior Branch Librarian for the last six years. During this time she also assisted UNISA students.

We welcome you all as part of the LIS team. Good luck in your new positions!

We say goodbye to two Potchefstroom Colleagues

At the last staff meeting for 2019, the Potchefstroom Library said goodbye to Mietsie Harman and Zain Claasen.

Mietsie Harman is retiring at the end of the year.  The following message from Mietsie: Although I am not a dinosaur, I had the privilege to experience the evolution of  libraries from wooden cabinet catalogues with cards to  modern online cataloguing of today.

After completing my degree in 1976 (long before many of you were born),  I started my career in the Acquisitions Section of the Ferdinand Postma Library.  I worked here for two years and completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Library Science part-time.  We then moved to Koster and I became an English Teacher at the Koster Secondary School till the birth of my first baby.  For the next 10 years I stayed at home, bringing up my three kids and then I returned to the Library profession for a temporary job at the Merensky Library (University of Pretoria).  In 1990 we relocated to Zeerust, where I became the Librarian at the then Lehurutshe College of Education.  I worked there for 7 years before returning to Potchefstroom in 1997 to work at the Agricultural College Library.  In 2007 the circle was completed when I returned to the Acquisitions Section of the Ferdinand Postma Library where I have been cataloguing for the past 12 years.

Zain Claasen has resigned end of December.  The following message from him: I started working at Loan Services in Jan of 2010. I was appointed as a Clerk, responsible for inter-campus resources sharing, as well as circulations desk duties.  In late 2014, I registered for my Bachelors of Information Science degree, which I had successfully completed in 2018.

My work portfolio changed in 2015 (till current) when I was appointed as Assistant Librarian at Loan Services, where my duties comprised financial administration of our unit, thus working with the processing of lost books, fines cash register etc.  I am grateful for the support received by my fellow circulations staff members and by my Managers, Mr Njabulo Makhathini and Mr Martin Nokoane during my studies, as well as the opportunity granted by the institution to do so.  I have gained a good deal of experience at the Circulations Department over the decade of service, for which I am also thankful.

I will leave the country in Jan 2020, along with my family to start a new life abroad.

Mietsie and Zain, we are going to miss you.  May you both find joy and fulfillment in your different journeys!

LIS Annual Planning Session 2019

Senior LIS staff had a planning session on 6-7 November 2019 at the NWU Business School in Mafikeng.  The main aim of the workshop was the development of a LIS Annual Performance Plan for 2020.  The motivational speaker was Prof Yvonne du Plessis who set the scene for the two days.  She stressed the importance of an inspirational library – not only in terms of inviting spaces, but also in terms of innovative services and a positive staff culture.   Mr Shakes Scott, IT Director: Academic & Office Solutions also attended the workshop and provided valuable input together with Prof Liqhwa Siziba, Senior Lecturer in Academic Literacy, Mafikeng.

On the first day, there was an opportunity for Managers and Directors to reflect on 2019 and to assess the milestones achieved and challenges experienced.  Presentations were delivered on research support, library systems, outreach, projects and quality, Client Services and Shared Services.  Dr Moyo then set the scene for 2020.

On day two, Dr Moyo did a review of the LIS goals and stressed the importance that in our planning, we need to link to the NWU strategic goals and the 2020 NWU Annual Performance Plan.  During a World Café session, highlights for the LIS Annual Performance Plan were identified and developed in terms of objectives, achievement targets, role players and time lines.

During the closing session, Dr Moyo confirmed that goals were also identified to embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution.  We further need to attend to the Ideas Store, as populated by LIS staff.  The new initiatives will add value to what we do.

NWU LIS celebrates Open Access Week 2019

The LIS took part in the international Open Access Week from 21 – 26 October with the theme “Open for whom? Equity in Open Knowledge”. This is an annual global event which entered its tenth year with the aim of advocating and raising awareness of the benefits of open access. Sessions were held at all three campus libraries, and participants from the other campuses were able to connect remotely via Adobe Connect.

The launch of Open Access Week was at Potchefstroom.  The Chief Director: LIS, Dr Mathew Moyo did the welcoming address, where after Prof Nnenesi Kgabi, Director: Research Support, officially opened the Open Access week at NWU.  She elaborated on the state of Open Access in general and particularly at the NWU, and stressed the need for the development of an NWU Open Access Policy.

Launch of Open Access Week at Potchefstroom.  Prof Jako Olivier, Dr Mathew Moyo, Dr Pierre de Villiers, Ms Valencia Wagner and Prof Andries van Aarde.

Dr Piere de Viliers, Managing Director of AOSIS, paved the way for the speakers with a discussion of the current state of Open Access Scholarly Publishing and mentioned the progress and challenges being experienced.  Prof Andries van Aarde, Commissioning Editor: AOSIS Scholarly Books, is well known by NWU researchers who publish with AOSIS.  He discussed the value, opportunities and the role of peer review of Open Access in the Humanities.  Books are valued and recognized as modes of research dissemination in the Humanities, and generates three times more citations than journal articles.  Citations to books take longer to register, but have a longer active citation life.   In line with the theme of Open Access Week 2019 on the equity of open knowledge, the presentation of Prof Jako Olivier, UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources at the NWU, was “Towards equity: the language of open knowledge”.  Prof Jako addressed the nature of language as a barrier for open access, including academic language and the hegemony of English in science.  He left us with some ideas on how to broaden the access to scientific information and research by promoting African languages and engage in the Plain Language Movement.  Mrs Valencia Wagner (SADiLaR) gave a live demonstration of CATMA (Computer Assisted Text Markup Analysis) which is a free open source application / tool used to do research on texts. It can be used by literary scholars and students of literary studies as well as by Linguists and Social scientists.

At Mafikeng Campus, the library had two speakers for the day:  Prof Mpine Makoe from UNISA, who is the Commonwealth of Learning Chair for Open Educational Resources (OER), and Prof Simeon Materechera from the NWU’s Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems. This was a platform for students, academic and support staff, and also researchers to engage on aspects related to OER and the benefits and challenges of open access for Indigenous Knowledge. Prof. Materechera advised that when it comes to open access to indigenous knowledge, we need to ensure that the knowledge benefits the indigenous communities. Prof Mpine Makoe pointed out that with the massification of higher education, universities have no choice but to embrace OERs for the benefit of the students. The presentations sparked interesting discussions amongst the audience, especially on issues relating to language, particularly within the academic landscape.

Prof. Materechera addressing the audience at Mafikeng Library

The event at Vanderbijlpark Library took place on 23 October 2019.  There were three expert speakers who shared their knowledge.    Prof Andries van Aarde from AOSIS had a discussion on Open Access in the Humanities, and Prof Verona Leendertz and Dr Clarise Mostert discussed how Open Education Resources (OER) are incorporated within a Business Management Module at NWU.  The event was well attended by researchers, postgraduate students and library colleagues, also from other campuses.

Prof Andries van Aarde (Commissioning Editor: AOSIS Scholarly Books)

Dr Clarise Mostert (NWU Economic and Management Sciences, Vanderbijlkpark)