Reimagining Libraries in the Digital Age

Insights from SCECSAL XXVI 2024

The SCECSAL (Standing Conference of Eastern, Central, and Southern African Library and Information Associations) Conference, held in Mombasa, Kenya from 22-26 April 2024 celebrated its 50th anniversary and focused on reimagining information products and services for the digital era. Over 200 delegates from various countries attended, discussing topics ranging from copyright laws to library services improvement and Sustainable Development Goals. Presentations emphasised collaboration, mentorship, and the adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence and bibliometric analytics. Key highlights included honouring former leaders, fostering networking opportunities, and planning future collaborations. Additionally, updates on universities and cultural events within the SCECSAL community were shared, with Zambia announced as the host for the 2026 conference.

Mr. Maropene Ramabina, NWU LIS Manager at Vanderbijlpark Campus, presented his paper “The awareness of copyright laws in academic libraries” on April 23rd, coinciding with the International World Book and Copyright Day. Mr Ramabina remarks as follows: “The presentation that caught my attention was on the improvement of library services. Library users are now our friends, colleagues, and partners in business thus librarians should mingle with their users in their spaces/offices“.

Mr. Maropene Ramabina

He also emphasized the importance of librarians sharing workspaces to facilitate resource sharing. Sitting together at one table fosters interaction, breaking down barriers between staff and users, and promoting inclusivity and community within the library. He also highlighted the integration of institutional repository collections with internal databases for easy accessibility. Furthermore, he noted that delegates from the conference alluded to using the NWU LIS social media platforms for benchmarking purposes, based on the content shared. “It was surprising how colleagues, especially from East Africa are familiar with our universities in South Africa through social media“, he remarked.

Improvement of library services

One compelling presentation at the conference highlighted the evolution of library services, emphasizing the shift towards treating library users as partners rather than mere patrons. The speaker stressed the importance of librarians engaging with users in their spaces, breaking down barriers and fostering inclusivity. Colleagues shared innovative practices, such as integrating institutional repositories with internal databases and leveraging social media for benchmarking and visibility.

Another topic of discussion was the “no noise, no food” policies in libraries, prompting a call for revisiting these rules in light of changing service dynamics and the predominance of electronic resources. The need for librarians to adapt and embrace change was underscored, with examples of libraries embracing new policies allowing food and drinks.

The conference also provided ample networking opportunities, leading to potential collaborations among attendees from diverse institutions and countries. Discussions ranged from joint article publications to exploring possibilities for institutional attachments, pending approval from senior leadership.

Furthermore, the concept of embedded librarianship, or “barefoot librarians,” was explored, with examples of its implementation at various institutions. This approach involves librarians actively integrating themselves within academic faculties, with some institutions even assigning personal librarians to specific lecturers or programmes, showcasing the ongoing evolution of this concept.

SCECSAL General Information:

• 25 countries make up SCECSAL, however, only 15 are active in the association.
• The SCECSAL 2024 cultural night was attended by the CEO of Kenya Heroes Council, the MEC of Education in Kenya, Member of Parliament from Zambia.
• Zambia won the best award for the best cultural presentation during the event.
• Zambia to host the SCECSAL Conference at Livingstone, Zambia in 2026
• eSwatini to host the SCECSAL Conference in 2028

Open Repositories Conference 2023

Repositories unlocked for discovery and interoperability

Open Repositories Conference 2023 (OR2023), the first of its kind to be hosted in the motherland, Africa. The theme was “Repositories unlocked for discovery and interoperability”. About 290 delegates from different corners of the world converged in OR2023 hosted by Stellenbosch University from 12 – 15 June 2023. Yes, Lungile Dlamini, Sakhile Mngomezulu and Lizwi Njani were among the esteemed attendees who enthusiastically engaged and contributed immensely to the discourse. Indeed, North-West University Library and Information Service (LIS) and Information Technology (IT) were well represented. Attendees from 41 various countries zealously listened and engaged about topics ranging from cutting-edge technologies, innovations and best practices in information and data repositories inter alia.

Lungile Dlamini, Sakhile Mngomezulu and Lizwi Njani

To set the tone for the conference, OR2023 started with various workshops. Lungile attending a workshop themed “Good practice to support non-English and multilingual content”. These workshops resonated with the team as NWU has a multilingual policy. Sakhile and Lizwi attended the workshop themed “Upgrade to Dspace 7”. This is relevant because the LIS and IT are currently investigating the major upgrade of Boloka from version 6.3 to version 7.6. Therefore, it was paramount for the team responsible for the institutional repository to attend the workshop. These were robust, thought-provoking and informative.

The conference commenced with extensive training on upgrading to Dspace 7. NWU is still on DSpace 6.3 and this knowledge was useful, given there is a plan to upgrade to Dspace 7. ~ Sakhile Mngomezulu

With oozing confidence from the workshops, the rest of the conference was so much enlightening, Lizwi, Lungile and Sakhile can attest that universities and their libraries do not exist in a vacuum, they operate in a competitive environment. Consequently, analysing and engaging with other global academic entities enables us to reposition and harness contemporary trends. Work done in repositories is an ever-growing work. Other countries are far more advanced in digital technologies, while others are still in the developing stages. This conference helped to keep track of where one stands regarding staff skilling, content, advancements, and application used as repositories. The reality is that digital repositories and access policies are ever-advancing. Therefore, LIS should always keep up with the latest developments and relevant technologies to constantly meet the needs of the patrons. These digital platforms must be effectively managed as they provide free access to research outputs, ensuring that valuable research is disseminated widely for the benefit of societies and communities.

This conference helped to keep track of where one stands regarding staff skilling, content, advancements and application used in repositories. ~ Lungile Dlamini

The LIS would be negating its prime role to support teaching, learning and research if access to information is restricted to the patrons. Thus, attendees learnt the indispensable role of language plays in repositories, as this determines the discoverability and use of content. When the language of the resource is correctly attributed, it allows discovery and indexing services to properly process and describe the text. Indigenous languages in academic publishing are the most important as they ensure access to information. Sometimes their importance is underestimated by libraries as a result, this prevents society from using and taking advantage of research output that would contribute to the development of society. Metadata was identified as the key component of repositories which enables access. It was highlighted that Metadata librarians in Africa should be active in subject creation. This will allow content in African languages to be properly indexed and catalogued, leading to an increase in discoverability and access.

What a perfect moment to network and build connection as LIS and IT are exploiting modern technologies. One could not miss the opportunity to learn, engage and contribute to the right cause of OR2023 community. ~ Lizwi Njani

It is verifiable that in the modern world, accessibility and discoverability of content prerequisites are to have a stable IT infrastructure and support system. Thus, the tech gurus with various IT experiences in the industry also presented ways to support repositories, accessibility and discoverability of information resources. As the current strategic plan of LIS and IT strategy fosters interoperability and integration of the system, it was also great to rub shoulders with these tech gurus, to learn and educate one another. A take-home was the importance of upgrading Dspace to the latest version, integrating ORCID and other related systems into Dspace. Indeed, one can say that LIS is ready to start with the upgrade process of Boloka.

As the theme of the conference suggests “Repositories unlocked for discovery and interoperability”, OR2023 provided an opportunity to reflect and explore ways LIS can reposition its repositories thereby enabling discoverability, accessibility and interoperability of information and data in the digital platform.

Contributors: Lungile Dlamini, Sakhile Mngomezulu & Lizwi Njani

Another successful ICIL-Africa!

The North-West University LIS hosted the 2^nd International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) with the theme: Information Literacy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution at Potchefstroom from 11 – 14 October 2022.

Attendees from the USA, United Arab Emirates, Zambia, Botswana, the Czech Republic, Oman, Switzerland, Pakistan, Italy and South Africa took part in the conference for an interchange of knowledge within the context of information literacy. Thirty-three papers and five PechaKucha’s were presented, with an average of 92 people attending in person and 42 attending online. The conference had a line-up of esteemed keynote speakers:

In his opening message, Dr. Moyo, Chief Director Library and Information Service mentioned that the LIS had envisaged having the second conference in 2020, but this was called off following the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. Although the pandemic had devastating effects on humanity, it also taught us many lessons – one of which is the ability to host conferences in hybrid mode.

In his welcoming message, Prof Jeffrey Mphahlele, NWU DVC for Research and Innovation, confirmed that the 2^nd ICIL Africa 2022 is a testament that the NWU is willing to continue to play its part in the pursuit of the Africanisation strategy and global citizenship.

Dr. Daisy Selematsela (left), Prof Bosire Onyancha (middle) and Prof Judith Mavodza (right)

The following theme ran as a golden thread through most of the conference papers: the coronavirus pandemic forced institutions to adapt to a new method of instruction and to offer services by adopting new technologies. This sudden change had an impact on the information literacy approach. Lecturers had to prepare work in a way that would motivate students to learn, encourage critical thinking, and adjust the manner of deliverance. Teaching on online platforms posed a challenge not knowing whether the students were taking in the knowledge. To encourage active learning, illustrations were used to help the students to remember the concepts. The use of questions stimulated student engagement and promoted critical thinking when applying the knowledge.

Dr. Mathew Moyo and Prof Johannes Cronjé

Academic libraries were directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and were challenged to change their modus operandi and adopt methods to fit the digital transforming era of the 4IR. During this critical time, academic libraries had to readjust their operational procedures, enforcing librarians to furnish remote services to students, researchers, and academics. Limited resources were a major constraint for some universities and some librarians utilized their devices to ensure that the library remained relevant. This good example of adaptability was motivated by understanding the importance of information literacy, especially for undergraduate students.

During the COVID-19 pandemic global phenomenon, librarians had to adopt a multi-modal method of offering services, particularly for the orientation of undergraduate students and the delivery of the information literacy programme.

Librarians are responsible for training individuals in the skills required to interpret and use information. Information literacy is central to other literacies such as digital literacy, media literacy and computer literacy. The content used in information training must complement the 4IR era in academic libraries. Information literacy skills are a prerequisite to making use of the advancing technological practices. Due to the importance of these information literacy programmes, some universities appointed an information literacy coordinator and formed an information literacy committee to help students achieve academic excellence.

However, the traditional face-to-face approach is still deemed effective and efficient as proven by the attendance statistics of the information literacy training sessions during the COVID-19 period. Other contributing factors to the inadequacy of training on the virtual platforms were load shedding, connectivity issues such as bandwidth and broadband limitations, data shortages and very low student attendance of training. To illuminate these constraints, some universities escalated their efforts by purchasing devices and data for students to ensure that the learning process was not compromised.

The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 accelerated the digital transformation journey for many institutions. Adapting practices to enable quality service has been a challenge but it has also strengthened adaptability skills. It enabled growth opportunities for staff members and improved productivity and efficiency. As a result, both staff and patrons acquired tech-savvy skills and are now exposed to the online platform in its extended capacity. This contributes to the alignment of information literacy training with the 4IR era.

But it was not ALL work and NO play – on the first evening delegates were entertained by a marimba band at a cocktail function in the NWU Botanical Gardens.

On the last evening of the conference, a gala dinner was held at Roots where delegates had the opportunity to relax after all the hard work.

Dr Mathew Moyo, Prof Johannes Cronjé and Prof Judith Mavodza

The Black Note Ensemble and Sydwell Sithole entertained the guests with lovely music, and guests had the opportunity to enjoy the music on the dance floor.

During the closing ceremony, a special word of thanks was expressed to all the presenters for the major addition to the knowledge base of the attendees. Gratitude was also extended to the Conference Organising Committee, the Programme Committee, IT members, Logistics members and Fundraising Committee.

This was indeed a LIS team effort!

COMPILED BY: LINDI MAHLANGU AND LOUISE VOS
Reporting will also be done on NWU News on 26 October 2022.

LIS Staff Attended the 15th International SAOIM Conference

The relevance of Libraries in a digital age remains a provocative topic to many, if not questionable. This was further exacerbated by the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) in the mid-1900s. As novel as AI sounds, it is however not new. The term itself was coined in 1956 in a proposal by an elite group of computer scientists and mathematicians who organized a summer workshop called the Dartmouth Conference. The magnitude of the AI “turmoil” resulted in some within the LIS fraternity and affiliates fearing it will be the end of the Libraries. Some felt that this developing technology will replace human resources, however, that’s not the case. The technology aims to advance efficiency, therefore we can say it complements the work of librarians and does not complicate it as is presumed. The NWU LIS states clearly on its objective goals that it wants to be a leading LIS locally and in the globe at large. This goal may not be attained if we do not embrace ever-evolving technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and many others. This moved a team of dedicated Librarians to attend the 15th SAOIM Conference on 08 – 10 June 2022 in Pretoria. This conference empowered the attendees with the necessary skills to strive and prosper despite the precarious industry in which we operate. This conference was also a platform to share common hindrances that prevent the implementation of AI in academic libraries and possible strategies that could be employed to mitigate these challenges.
Ntobeko Sikhakhane (Manager: Information Resources)

Feedback from the LIS staff who attended:

Lizwi Njani:
As a novice professional with limited experience in the academic library, it was an exceptional experience to rub shoulders and engage with great experienced leaders, librarians and specialists with varying experiences in the academic world. Most of the presentations resonated with me as some of the presentations related to the project I am currently busy with. Artificial Intelligence in practice was demonstrated, the interesting ones were presentations relating to Digitisation. It was as if the presenters knew that I and my team were still in the investigative stage of the project. Tips and guidelines were shared and I believe that they will assist the team to complete the project. The presentations also focused on leadership and self-development. Connecting in a disconnected world and thriving in an uncertain world was the cherry on the top of an already rich information conference.

I grasped this mantra from the conference: Live at the edge of your comfort zone, learn to live with 15% more risk; fail fast, learn fast, and Be the one that gets things done (Ellen Bates).

Sakhile Mngomezulu:
The 15th International SAOIM provided insight into the exciting extent of growth and activity taking place in the information industry. Access to information, 4IR, and innovative ICTs were some of the aspects which speakers alluded to at the conference. Coverage also included ways to keep the library operational during Covid19, aligning services with the information needs of the users. Optimizing the process for open access, commitment to an open paradigm, organising investments around open access were some of the issues the presenters touched on during the conference. Sean Kruger from the University of Pretoria asserted that reviewing skills needed to leverage 4IR technology to remain relevant insights from a maker space which is the area of my interest. It was also stipulated that open access publishing needs conditions that are globally equitable. In conclusion, the conference was informative, mind-opening and a lot of knowledge were shared amongst colleagues.

Maggie Melk-Sindwa:
In Colleen Campbell’s presentation on the impact of the transformative agreement on subscription paywalls, she has gone into detail about Open Access 2020 and how it should be considered in libraries and should also be marketed to researchers. According to her transformative agreement is proving to provide a scalable, sustainable, and cost-neutral way for research organisations and publishers of all sizes and types to transition their workflows, processes and financial streams around scholarly journal publishing support full and immediate open access. She has pointed out that Elsevier has a larger subscription on scholarly publishers that can be converted to Open Access. She urged libraries to be responsible for the financial portion of Open Access, as authors are paying a lot for journal subscriptions. In her conclusion, she said Open Access is growing rapidly, though most researchers continue to publish behind paywalls, and that Open Access objectives will not be achieved with this status quo.

Few of the new things to do:

• Negotiate Open Access – for cost neutral
• Transformative Agreements – to commit to an open paradigm (Libraries should show that they want to move to a future where Open Access is default and with the integration of authors)
• Organise investments instead of paywalls

Few publishers that have committed to Open Access so far are as follows:

• Cambridge University Press
• Royal Society
• EUA European University Press
• SANLIC

Few challenges and opportunities in the transition from subscription to Open Access

• OA is publishing under conditions that are globally equitable
• There is closer alignment among stakeholders
• It is fostering a diversity of venues and services of scholarly communication

Adrienne Warricker and Viveka Pillai did a presentation on the establishment of a Book Nook at the Merensky 2 Library. The BOOK NOOK is an initiative between UP Library and UP Faculty of Humanities, to create a leisure reading corner in the library. The Book Nook corner was launched in November 2021. It is separated from the study areas, is stocked with fiction books (titles were identified and selected by students and academics), has comfortable seating and encourages leisure reading.

Jonathan Nyebeleza:
The goal of the 15th International SAOIM is to provide insight into the exciting scope of growth and activity in the information sector. The conference served as a place for exchanging knowledge about recent discoveries, applications, and prospects in the rapidly growing field of online information. Topics discussed included the impact of transformative agreements on subscription paywalls whereby the speaker highlighted challenges in scholarly journal publishing, inhibited by subscription paywalls. The speaker also provided remedies to subscription paywalls. Additionally, with regards to AI and the library, several universities have adopted AI in the form of chatbots and AI assistants to aid with customer service.

Carine Basson:
In total, 27 papers were presented. It was good to see “old” colleagues and vendors and to meet new colleagues.

We need to take note of the following:

• We need to support our users as authors as well as researchers
• Flip the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) world to rather stand for Vision, Understanding, Clarity & Agility
• Remember AI is supplementing humans, not replacing them
• Create Makerspaces in libraries to stay relevant to our users
• Using Chatbot enhances the jobs of librarians
• Buildings and spaces need to adapt to be spaces of/for kindness and the place to practice being a human being
• Implementing a Book Nook (leisure reading area) can promote reading among students
• Digitization should not be seen as a replacement for preservation, but as enhancing discovery and protecting physical materials
• WorldShare has a mobile app for inventory control
• Librarians should stay agile, our impact is not in what we do, but in how we do it and how we package and present information to users.
• The use of 3D scanning can be good in preserving artifacts.

Some inspirational quotes:

• The best way to predict the future is to create it.
• Feel fear and do it anyway.
• Live to the edge of your comfort zone.
• Fail fast, learn fast.

SANLiC Conference 2021

A number of LIS staff had the opportunity to attend the recent virtual SANLiC Conference, #SANLIC2021. The advantage of virtual attendance was that about 330 attendees, national and international, could attend this year. Physical attendance of the conference amounted to only about 150 attendees in the past.

The primary objective of this conference was to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and information in support of scholarly electronic resource management among member institutions.

Keynote speaker

On day one, Prof Tawana Kupe, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria was the keynote speaker. In his presentation about sustainability in the Higher Education Sector, he mentioned that Universities face a threat in this age of ongoing disruptions. It does not have to be so, as opportunities beckon of universities to re-imagine themselves as drivers of impactful and transformative change. Attendees reacted very positively to his statement that “Academic libraries are among the unsung heroes of the pandemic“.

Prof Tawana Kupe

Exploring digital disruption (COVID-19)

As the first few presentations focused on understanding the impact of COVID-19, some highlights of these presentations will be shared.

Mr Abdullah Verachia, a Golbal Future Strategist from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, delivered an interesting presentation on the post pandemic bloom – how will the next 10 years be impacted by the events of today; how will the future of work look like; and what does adaptibility look like in a post COVID world?

He concluded with this slide on what Covid had taught him:

Two Years, two disasters was the title of a presentation by two staff members of Cape Town University Libraries – Jillian Clark & Caroline Dean. They first focused on the unanticipated outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the switch from physical to virtual operations. The shift to virtual resulted in a greater demand for access to online material.

Then, in April 2021, UCT was rocked by a second disaster: the fire that destroyed the Jagger Library’s African Studies Collection. The presentation focused on the work done by the Acquisitions Department in response to two disasters and the responsive and supportive role that the publishers and vendors played through generous remote access to databases, journals and e-books. Caroline Dean ended the presentation with what they’ve learnt during the disasters – BE KIND to one another.

Prof Ruth Hoskins (UKZN) discussed the influence of COVID-19 in meeting library users’ online information needs. Many academic libraries had to embrace the concept of the digital library and the adoption of Library 2.0 tools to support the information needs of their users. She focused on the challenges of providing a remote online service and the accessibility of online resources for users, and also strategies to improve service delivery.

There was ample time for lively discussions, and attendees had access to a comment box where they could share their opinions or chat with one another.

Full conference programme at https://www.sanlicconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SANLiC-2021-Virtual-Conference-Final-Programme3-5August2021.pdf

In total, there were 27 presentations on the following themes:

• Exploring digital disruption (COVID-19)
• Informing, measuring and demonstrating value
• Building trusted relationships
• Open scholarship and the library
• Tools, skills & competencies for e-resource librarians.

Please have a look at the conference programme. The complete presentations are available on the conference web page – unfortunately only to staff members who attended. But you are most welcome to contact Carine or me, should you be interested in some of the topics.

Virtual attendance

Joining this conference was very exciting and showed that virtual attendance can be meaningful and has great advantages in terms of accessibility, ease of attending and no cost attached in terms of travel or accommodation. The only downside is that it lacks the intimacy of a physical gathering, and also the networking opportunities. It seems however, that virtual events are going to dictate the conference landscape in the unforeseeable future.

Our exhibition was the winner!
Like with real conferences, universities and vendors had the opportunity to have exhibitions – but this time in the form of a virtual stand. The LIS took the opportunity to make our library visible, but especially to create awareness about the International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) that we will be hosting in 2022. Much to our surprise, our exhibition was voted number one by the organizers! The banner in the stand linked to the ICIL 2022 web page.

Thank you to our webmaster, Elize van Eldik for her assistance in creating this web page within a short time frame. On the stand, there was also room to portray our brochures for the different user groups, and we added the

• Undergraduate survival guide
• Postgraduate support guide
• Academic staff guide

I believe all staff members enjoyed this conference, as it was well organized, stimulating and has given us food for thought.

LOUISE VOS
SENIOR MANAGER: OUTREACH, PROJECTS AND QUALITY

A successful ICIL 2019!

Dear colleagues

The NWU LIS has hosted a successful International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) in Vanderbijlpark from 23 – 26 September 2019.  All the months of hard work and preparations have paid off.

Monday morning started with the NWU Vaal Choir welcoming all the guests at the Samancor building.  You could feel the excitement amongst all attendees, especially when the choir accompanied the guests into the auditorium while singing.  Dr Moyo, Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee welcomed everybody.  In his opening remarks, he explained that the conference represented an international co-operative endeavour, with the NWU’s Library and Information Service taking hands with Prof Jako Olivier, the current UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources (OER) and the Unit for Academic Literacy in the Faculty of Humanities.

The theme of the conference was: “Information Literacy in all spheres of life”, and delegates included researchers, library and information services professionals, media specialists, academia and policy makers from around the globe.  The conference furthermore had an international line-up of keynote speakers. These speakers included Prof Serap Kurbanoglu (Turkey), Prof Irina Zhilavskaya (Russia), Prof Trudi E Jacobson (USA) and Prof Thomas P Mackey (USA). The national keynote speakers were Prof Bosire Onyancha (UNISA), Prof Karin de Jager (UCT), Prof Ina Fourie (UP) and Prof Jako Olivier (NWU).    A diverse group, 138 delegates from 10 countries, attended the conference and about fifty papers were delivered over the four days.   Some presentations are already available on the ICIL web page: http://library.nwu.ac.za/icil-presentations

Between the hard work, there was time for fun and relaxation.  On Monday evening, attendees were treated at a cocktail function at the Lapa on campus, next to the Vaal River.  Prof Daryl Balia did the official welcoming and guests were entertained with talented singers who are all NWU students.

As Tuesday was National Heritage Day, attendees had the opportunity to wear traditional attire to the gala dinner and traditional dancers welcomed everybody upon arrival.  Prof Jako Olivier was an exceptional and entertaining MC and everybody was in a festive mood.

During the closing ceremony, there was a presention with pictures portraying the highlights of the conference.  You are welcome to access this item with accompanying music by legend Johnny Clegg (The Crossing), at R:\Gebr\Staff photos\ICIL 2019\Closing ceremony.  It takes some time to download.  Go to Slideshow to start the PPT and music (this is only available on the staff intranet).

For a more formal NWU News report by Annette Willemse (NWU Corporate Communication Practitioner), link to:  http://news.nwu.ac.za/icil2019-highlighting-importance-information-literacy-all-spheres-life

The LIS feels proud that we have hosted this conference – the first of its kind in Africa.  According to feedback from attendees, they would like to attend a similar event in the future.

We thank the conference chairs and LIS staff for their hard work!

International Association of University Libraries (IATUL) Conference 23 – 27 June 2019

Report by Siviwe Bangani, Manager Information Services (Mahikeng)

On 23 to 27 June 2019, I attended the IATUL conference co-hosted by the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Curtin University in Perth, Australia. The theme of the conference was “shifting sands and rising tides – leading libraries through Innovation”. The sub-themes included library spaces, information and digital literacy, FAIR principles, next generation information discovery, and library value and analytics. The 4th Industrial Revolution and its ramifications for the academic libraries was well captured in many papers in this conference.

Prof. Dawn Freshwater of UWA opened the conference and reminded the delegates of the important role that librarians play in the research eco-system as spiritual and intellectual custodians of knowledge and knowledge spaces. Professor Seongcheol Kim of Korea University talked about how, as the director of the library in Korea University, they managed to transform the library through social innovation.  The Professor advised that due to the large number of students with mobile phones, mobile should be the first consideration in all academic libraries. Libraries should build spaces that create social value for the library. Among other innovations at the Korea Library is an open library. Books are placed on shelves in strategic spaces around campus and students can take the books and use them any time with no control by the library or librarians. Famous authors are also invited to talk about books to students. There are also poster sessions held inside the library.

Gerald Beasley of Cornell University Library pointed out that some users come to the library to use it as a resource while some come to take refuge from the world of misinformation. Not every university needs a great library but every university needs an innovative library. As such academic libraries should support risk and experimentation by staff. They should always be responsive to the needs of the communities they serve.

On Tuesday, 25 June 2019, I presented a paper co-authored with Dr Mathew Moyo and Dina Mashiyane on the utilisation of library spaces by postgraduate students at NWU in a session chaired by Ms Lucille Webster (Secretary of IATUL and Director at the Durban University of Technology Libraries). The engagements with attendees after the presentation helped us to identify weaknesses of the paper and strengthen it further. This paper has since been sent to an international journal for consideration for publication.

Another interesting contribution was Ms Margie Jantti, director of libraries at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Ms Jantti presented a Council of Australian University Librarians’ report about the role of academic libraries in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). What was more interesting about this presentation is that the Australians have managed to identify the role of academic libraries on all SDGs. IATUL conferences are also famous for their study tours.

On Wednesday, 26 June 2019, we went to a study tour around Perth. I selected a study tour that involved Australian wildlife, indigenous art and bush braai. For the first time in my life I tasted kangaroo meat. We were also able to take some pictures with Australian wildlife.

ROI for NWU and LIASA from this conference

 I approached Ms Jantti to find out if she would be willing to present a webinar for the LIASA Higher Education Interest Group members on the role of SDGs in academic libraries to which she agreed. This successful webinar happened on 31 July 2019 and it was attended by over 30 individuals. The paper presented at this conference is currently under review by an international journal. I have already sounded colleagues about the possibility of us having poster sessions in the library.

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)

LIASA Conference 8 – 12 October 2018

The opening of the conference was graced by the presence of Mr Nathi Mthethwa – Minister of Arts and Culture, who expressed his support for libraries. He paid tribute the libraries for their role in information dissemination and community development contributing to the African Union Agenda 2063.   During the conference, there were various inspiring papers that were presented by librarians from different sectors and institutions. The networking opportunities offered by a conference of this nature cannot be overstated. Throughout the LIASA 2018 Conference there was a mixed bag of events.  This word cloud shows the prominent words, nouns, verbs and phrases which dominated the conference.

NWU LIS staff attending the LIASA Conference.  Ishe Muzvondiwa, Danny Moloto, Glenda Makate, Siviwe Bangani (our own Librarian of the Year) and Boitumelo Masilo.

 

Two LIS staff members made the NWU visible and delivered a presentation and poster at the conference.

Presentation
Mafikeng colleagues Glenda Makate and Boitumelo Masilo presented a paper and poster.  The title of the presention was  Are some more official than others? Languages represented in the collection of North West University Library and Information Service.  This presentation was part of research that sought to establish and analyze the languages represented by books held by the North-West University libraries and to further establish the strategies used by the libraries to develop, preserve and promote African languages in support of the university’s language policy. The paper revealed that, despite the best efforts of the library, English is absolutely dominant in the collections of NWU LIS followed by Afrikaans.  Afrikaans, however, also showed signs of decline.  Setswana and Sesotho remain marginalised.

Poster
The poster was titled: The practical role of LibGuides in collection development: The case of North-West University.  In conducting this study, they identified books listed in all LibGuides in the country and selected titles that we did not have in NWU libraries to be purchased. After receiving books purchased from LibGuides, they analyzed their usage in terms of checkout and the group that uses them the most, as well as publishers that supplied the most.  From this information they designed a poster with the information presented as graphs. This poster and study was well received by academic librarians because they had an understanding of the work that went into compiling it, as well as the implications of the study in collection development methods in the library.  Colleagues were overall impressed with the poster.

Mr Siviwe Bangani assisted with the compilation of the presentation and poster – both were developed into papers and were sent to peer-reviewed DHET approved journals for possible publication.

Librarian of the Year award
There was a feeling of great honour and pride when Siviwe Bangani, Manager for Information Services  (Mafikeng), was announced as LIASA Librarian of the Year for 2018.

SAOIM Conference 2018

NWU LIS staff attended the bi-annual SAOIM Conference at the CSIR from 20 – 22 June 2018.

The theme of the conference focused on the future and trends in Library and Information Science field and practice. This was an informative conference with very diverse topics, from collection building, applying library skills in the corporate world, using social media platforms in library service delivery, authorship ethics (which was very interesting to me), MakerSpace in libraries, knowledge sharing in libraries, to artificial intelligence (which is awesome but also a little bit frightening). In between all these interesting presentations was product reviews from all the different vendors (which was like ad-breaks) who also had stalls for their products.  The closing speaker, Siphiwe Moyo was the highlight of the conference with a very lively, funny and inspiring presentation about you as individual are the maker of your own destiny – you have to go out there and make things happen for you.

There were also sessions on Information security (When more devices are connected into the net, the more opportunities for cyber-crime), Disruptive innovations, Information fluency, the Robot librarian and MOOCs

Further highlights:

• What is the Future of Academic Library Collection Development?
• “Social Media” or “Seriously Maligned”: why don’t people like Twitter and Facebook (and why they should)
• Connect, collaborate and communicate – marketing an academic library – the UP perspective
• Existence of academic libraries- Why are we here? Do we know what our values is? Is Library no longer a primary place to find Information?
• If we all stay on top of things we will still be viable as a library
• There is always fear when information becomes digital, the same goes to information fluency, we just need to be prepared, get training and move with things
• We need to focus on our customers not our job description

“I am very thankful for the opportunity to have attended this well organised conference.” – Anneke Coetzee

“The overall conference was very informative, very well organised, the venue, the food was just on par.” – Tiny Moripa

“This conference provided us with opportunities to network with colleagues from different libraries in South Africa. This was also an opportunity to benchmark NWU LIS services with other academic libraries. There are two initiatives at the Mafikeng Campus that will come about as a result of this conference. We would like to thank the North West University LIS for affording us the opportunity to attend this conference.” – Siviwe Bangani and Dina Mashiyane