Unlocking knowledge

Unlocking knowledge: NWU librarian dives into Copyright on City of Ekurhuleni Libraries Radio Connect Show.

As part of World Book and Copyright Day, which will be celebrated on Tuesday 23 April 2024, the City of Ekurhuleni Library and Information Services invited Mr Maropene Tommy Ramabina, Manager: Information Services at the North-West University Library and Information Service, Vanderbijlpark campus to participate in the Libraries Connect Radio Show on Wednesday 10 April 2024. Every Wednesday, the City of Ekurhuleni Libraries hosts an online show for the library staff and any other interested parties. This radio show, Libraries Connect Show, usually has guest interviews, informs about events and programmes in the libraries, celebrates special events, engages in microlearning, and any other segments that might be of interest to the staff for that specific week. The topic of the week (7-13 April) was Copyright.

Mr Ramabina, who recently completed his Master’s in Library and Information Science with the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN), where he researched the awareness of copyright laws in academic libraries, was invited to engage in a conversation about his experience and expertise in copyright law in South Africa. “April is the month, where we celebrate World Book and Copyright Day and is therefore an ideal opportunity to engage on the subject of copyright and what libraries can do to comply, but still deliver a service“, Ms Annamarie Goosen, Innovation Specialist at the City of Ekurhuleni LIS echoed. The issues covered were, among other things, what copyright is, how South African Copyright Law differ from other countries’ Copyright Laws, registration and duration of copyright law, public domain, fair use in libraries, Copyright Amendment Bill, etc. “Every tangible work produced (book, eBook, journal article, video, music, caselaw, legislation, computer program etc has an owner/author and libraries must always consider that when using the product“, Mr Ramabina emphasised.

Participating in a library connect show addressing copyright issues in libraries and communities is of paramount importance in today’s digital age. Libraries serve as vital hubs for information dissemination, offering resources that are often subject to copyright laws. Understanding these laws is crucial to ensure fair use, compliance, and protection of intellectual property rights. By engaging in discussions and initiatives focused on copyright issues, libraries can educate both staff and users about their rights and responsibilities, fostering a culture of respect for intellectual property. Furthermore, such participation facilitates the exchange of best practices and innovative solutions between libraries, ultimately benefiting the entire community. Through collaborative efforts and informed dialogue, libraries can navigate the complex landscape of copyright with confidence, enabling them to continue serving as defenders of knowledge and free access to information.

World Book and Copyright Day is a celebration to promote books and reading. Each year, on the 23rd of April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognise the magical power of books, a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures. On this occasion, UNESCO and international organisations representing the three major sectors of the book industry – publishers, booksellers, and libraries celebrate the day to encourage everyone to access books, the most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of humanity space and time as well as the most powerful forces of poverty eradication and peace building.

Mr Ramabina is currently reading “The Thabo Bester Story” published in 2023. What are you reading?

Blog contributor: Mr Maropene Ramabina

South African Library Week 2024

South African Library Week: Beyond the prizes, the true treasure lies in the knowledge gained and the memories created during this unforgettable experience

South African Library Week serves as an annual celebration, wherein libraries across the country commemorate their profound impact on local communities. In 2024, the theme, “Libraries Fostering Social Cohesion” resonates deeply, highlighting the pivotal role libraries play in bringing communities together and fostering unity.

On the 19th of March 2024, the NWU libraries across three campuses in collaboration with the MTN Group hosted a hub of exciting activities as students embarked on an extraordinary quest in celebration of Library Week 2024. As part of the week-long celebration, the libraries hosted an Easter egg hunt event, where the students had an opportunity to hunt for hidden chocolate treasures within various library spaces, furthermore, an Information Literacy Hunt event was organised, with the primary purpose of equipping students with skills for lifelong learning, through a series of clues designed to facilitate the retrieval of information and library resources stationed in different locations within the library spaces, and engaged students in a thrilling pursuit of knowledge, tasks, and, of course, enticing prizes.

The success of the Library Week information literacy hunt was further supported by the active involvement of staff members from various library entities (Information and Learning Services, Research and Open Scholarship, and Shared Services), and the presence of our beloved campus mascot, “HeY Eagi,” who added an extra layer of excitement and good fellowship to the proceedings. These dedicated staff members played a pivotal role in facilitating the event by providing clues to participating students and guiding them through the various stages of the competition. Their enthusiastic participation not only added to the excitement of the event but also promoted collaboration within the library community.

The tasks and challenges that were incorporated within the information literacy hunt, were carefully curated to encompass a diverse range of information literacy skills, including information seeking and retrieval and information use to get to the next clue. The incorporation of real-world scenarios and practical applications ensured that participants gained valuable insight on how to use the library catalogue, how to locate the books on the shelves and how and where to check out the books.

Furthermore, the celebrations for the week were enhanced through outreach activities, where both Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark Campus libraries reached out to their communities to share their expertise and donated books.

Mahikeng Campus staff members advocated for libraries through a presentation at Library 600 at Ramatlabama Village in partnership with North-West Library, Information and Archives Services. Amongst the various stakeholders who shared their experiences of how libraries have contributed to their empowerment were local authors, pupils from local schools, Dr Lefenya Motshegare (Director of Community Services), UNISA Library, and the Ward Councillor. Furthermore, two colleagues, Ms Maphefo Maake and Mr Kgasane Seemela gave two radio interviews at NWU FM and Mahikeng FM as part of celebrating South African Library Week.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the dedicated NWU LIS staff members whose unwavering commitment and enthusiastic participation made each Library Week event a resounding success. Your passion for serving our community shines brightly, and we deeply appreciate your invaluable contributions.

Blog contributors: Miss Xolile Vilakazi, Lindi Mahlangu, Tshimbiluni Mamedzi, Kgashane Seemela & Maphefo Maake.

Annoucement: Library Servcies

Notice: Limited Library Services due to water shortage on the Potchefstroom Campus.

Due to the water shortage on the Potchefstroom campus, we regret to inform you that the campus libraries will only be providing limited services until further notice. Effective immediately, there will be no seating available in the library premises. However, circulation services will continue to operate as usual.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Despite these limitations, electronic resources remain accessible, and we encourage you to make use of our extensive online collection during this time.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work to manage this situation.

Click here for the NWU Notice.

Oral History Dialogue

On 28 February 2024, the North-West Provincial Archives hosted a dialogue that was centred on using Oral History practices and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in bridging generational gaps to foster moral regeneration. According to Mr Mojuta Motlhamme, an NWU lecturer, “oral history is a method of conducting historical research through recorded interviews between a narrator with personal experience of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of adding to the historical record”. This dialogue saw different practitioners from traditional healers, provincial librarians, IK scholars and a Christian leaders taking to the stage and sharing their knowledge with the youth from different schools, students, lecturers, and the community at large.

Addressing the theme, motivational speaker Ms. Feni Nkhumisang drew upon her Ph.D. literature review, emphasizing the utilization of oral history practices and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) to bridge generational gaps, foster cohesion, instill respect, and cultivate a positive self-image. Her literature review revealed that the predominant themes regarding the role of indigenous games in children’s skill development primarily centered on social skills, progressing towards specialized life skills.

In conclusion, speakers challenged young people to decolonise their perspective towards indigenous games by demonstrating some opportunities and benefits associated with professional development and prospects of indigenous games as advocated in the IKS Act 6 of 2019.

Contributors: Mavis Nani, Dikeledi Modise

Springer Nature Open Access Publishing Summit for SANLiC South Africa

This Open Access Publishing Summit on March 26 will cover all topics you need to know about Publishing your next Open Access article by SANLiC Agreement and why publishing Open Access is beneficial for researchers. It will present an overview of Springer Nature Open Research strategy, benefits, and reasons for Publishing Open access and the ‘why’ specific to Springer Nature.

Date: 26 March 2024
Time: 10:00 – 13:00 SAST

To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclcuqppjkiHdS-fq3mxihy0w20-eJ7-Xj_

Unlocking Open Access at the North-West University: embracing the future with Transformative Agreements

In today’s rapidly evolving scholarly publishing landscape, transformative agreements stand out as a beacon of innovation and progress. These agreements represent a transformative shift towards sustainable, open access publishing models that benefit researchers, institutions, and the wider academic community. Re Transformative agreements offer a win-win solution for researchers and institutions alike. By transitioning towards open access publishing, these agreements ensure that research findings are freely accessible to readers worldwide, maximizing the impact and visibility of your work. Moreover, transformative agreements provide researchers with greater control over their intellectual property rights, fostering a more equitable and inclusive publishing environment.

How they work?

Transformative agreement is when a consortium or institution enters a partnership with a publisher to enable a large-scale transition of journals towards open access. These agreements provide researchers (faculty academic staff, researchers, research fellows, post-doctoral fellows, postgraduate and undergraduates students) with unrestricted reading access from our journal subscriptions, along with financial support to cover article processing charges (APCs).

Researchers don’t pay APCs

Researchers at NWU can publish articles open access at no cost to them from the hybrid open access journals negotiated by SANLiC of which NWU LIS is part of. Our agreement with Elsevier is on hybrid open journals not gold open access journals. Researchers who choose to publish in Elsevier’s’ gold open access journals will be required to cover article processing charges (APCs), with Elsevier offering a 15% discount.

Postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, early career researchers, eminent researchers and extra ordinary professors, including support staff at NWU have the opportunity to publish their articles open access without incurring APCs through journals negotiated by LIS via SANLiC from the listed publishers:

• Cambridge Journals Online
• Emerald eJournals Premier
• SAGE Premier
• BioMed Central (BMC)
• Wiley Journals
• IOPscience Extra
• Oxford University Press Journals
• ScienceDirect( Elsevier)
• Springer Nature
• To view the Title list for all transformational agreements click HERE

Key steps to get published:

• Choose the right journal for your article
• Check if the journal is in the Transformative Agreement A-Z integrated list or publisher journal list
• Search the publisher lists using journal title, or keywords or synonyms
• Publish articles in accredited journals. Search if the selected journal is in the latest accredited journal list
• Select the right license for your article
• Open Access options: make your article open access. Read more about open access such as green and gold here
• Make sure your affiliation is North West University
• Use NWU institutional email address

Communicate science to the public:

• Reach and engage your audience by creating communication assets like infographics, video abstracts, visual abstracts, podcasts, short videos, and republish it in the https://theconversation.com/africa.
• Disseminate your article including communication assets wider through open repositories and research(er) profiling tools to maximize research visibility and impact
• Get noticed and increase the impact by sharing your work using identifiers like DOIs, ISBN’s, handles….

Key Benefits for Researchers, departments, faculties, and institutions:

• Transformative agreements facilitate unrestricted access to research articles by making findings more visible and discoverable to benefit the public
• Open access publishing promotes collaboration and knowledge-sharing among researchers, leading to greater interdisciplinary insights and discoveries.
• Many funding agencies now require researchers to publish their findings in open access journals. These Transformative Agreements ensure that researchers meet these requirements without compromising on the quality or prestige of the journals they publish in.
• Researchers who participate in open science practices, such as publishing open access, are in accordance with the recommendations outlined by UNESCO regarding Open Science.

Case Studies:

• NWU researchers have published their articles openly accessible via transformative agreements at no cost to them, and the following are the top 5 articles that garnered the highest scores and attention from the general public.

The adoption of transformative agreements marks a significant step forward in unlocking open access at NWU. By embracing these innovative open access publishing models, the university demonstrates its commitment to advancing knowledge dissemination, promoting equity in access to research, and fostering collaboration within the global academic community. As NWU continues to navigate the evolving landscape of scholarly publishing, transformative agreements offer a pathway towards a more inclusive and sustainable future, where research outputs are freely accessible to all, driving innovation and societal impact. Let us embrace this future together and propel NWU to the forefront of open access scholarship, shaping a brighter tomorrow for generations to come.

Contributor: Veliswa Tshetsha

Library Week 2024

Eggsplore the Knowledge Nest: Information Literacy Hunt- Crack open curiosity and hatch a world of wisdom

• Join us on a journey of discovery and cultivate your information literacy skills.
• Knowledge is power – empower yourself with the tools to navigate the sea of information. Dive in, explore, and let curiosity be your compass.

Date: 19 March 2024
Time: 11: 00

Giveaways are up for grabs!

Click here to register and to read more about our programme for the week.

#InformationLiteracy #ExploreLearnGrow #nwulibraries #LibraryWeek

New Intern

Mr Kelebohile Setai is the newly appointed Communications and Marketing Intern at the North-West University Library and Information Services (NWU LIS), Potchefstroom Campus, under the Outreach, Projects, and Quality office. This exciting internship opportunity, which falls under the administration of MICT SETA, marks a significant step in Mr Setai’s career journey.

Mr Setai holds a BA Communication degree (2023) from North-West University and is pursuing an Honours degree in Advanced Corporate Communication at the same institution. His academic background reflects his passion for marketing, communications, and active participation in community outreach programs.

With a deep-seated belief in the positive impact he can make at North-West University, Mr Setai is enthusiastic about the opportunities that lie ahead. His eagerness to contribute meaningfully to the university’s goals and his commitment to excellence showcase his readiness to embark on this new chapter.

As he takes on this role, his dedication to leveraging his skills and knowledge in communications and marketing and his interests in community engagement promises an impact within the NWU LIS.

Here is to an exciting and successful journey ahead for Mr Setai as he begins his tenure as a Communications and Marketing Intern at North-West University.

New Staff Member

Ms Noxolo Sifundza has been appointed Assistant Librarian: Research and Learning Services at the North-West University Library and Information Service (Vanderbijlpark Campus) effective from 01 March 2024. Noxolo studied and obtained her Honours Degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Limpopo in 2022.

She worked at the University of Limpopo library as a Library Assistant between 2022 and 2024, where she gained experience in the LIS field. During her time as a Library Assistant, she served various library sections, from the technical services, where she was responsible for cataloguing and classifying books using the Dewey Decimal Classification, AACR2, RDA, Marc21 and the Library of Congress Subject Headings, to uploading Theses and Dissertations on the Institutional Repository.

She further went on to work at the Information Desk, under the Information Services division, where she assisted with research queries, mainly conducting literature searches for postgraduate students, digitizing and uploading previous question papers and offering information literacy to library users, participated in library orientations for first-year students and Open Days. She also worked in the client services section, where she was responsible for circulation activities.

Ms Sifundza is passionate about Information Sharing and Accessibility, Information Literacy, Open Access, Open Science, and Open repositories.

All the best with your appointment, Ms Sifundza

Webinar: Crafting compelling case studies: From concept to publication

Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3060354713716571735