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Dear Readers
With this
issue of Bibnuus we, once again, share a few titbits about
new developments and activities at the Library. We also invite you
to share your viewpoints and suggestions about the Library with us by
means of the Library's new blog,
BiBlog.
Best wishes
for the mid-year exams and the delightful winter holidays that will follow.
Lucia
Schoombee (Editor)
New staff
Welcome with us three new staff members who joined the Circulation Division on 1
April. They are (below from left):
Paulette Taljaard, Laurinda Kleynhans and David Adams.
Alta Stone wins an iPod nano in the Library's competition for new students
The Library
offers a welcoming programme for new students each year. The
programme comprises a library tour, exhibitions about library services, the
distribution of information brochures and freebie's such as water
bottles with the slogan "Info on Tap - drink it in the Bib". This
welcoming programme is followed by in-depth training on using the
catalogue and other information sources.
Because new
students' attendance of the welcoming programme is so important to us, we
decided to offer a prize in order to encourage students to participate in
the programme. The Library offers a magnitude of information
resources; information literacy training and a large variety of services
and if students are not aware of these, their academic performance may
suffer.
The prize did
indeed serve as encouragement as 964 students participated in the
programme this year in comparison to 838 students in 2006. This
indicates an estimated attendance figure of 47% of new students, with the Faculty of Science
holding the highest attendance figure, namely 68%.
In total, 705
students entered the competition.
Ellen Tise (Senior Director) and Elda Nolte (Assistant Director:
Client services) of the Library with Alta Stone, winner of the iPod nano
in the competition for new students
New
initiatives
Metalib
The new Metalib
search facility allows library clients to search for
information in more than one database at a time. The multiple search
facility covers more than 60% of the databases for which the Library holds
active subscriptions. Click
here to perform a search in
multiple databases.
SFX
The
SFX service was implemented this year
as well. By means of
this service library clients can gain access to available full-text versions of
articles in databases. With SFX it is also
possible to retrieve a high percentage of the Library's resources by means
of Google Scholar. A "Full text @ Stellenbosch" button appears in
the Google Scholar's search results list of clients who use campus
computers. By clicking on this button the library client retrieves
the full-text version of an article.
Electronic theses database
An electronic theses database,
constructed on DSpace software, has been
developed and was implemented for a period to test the uploading of open
access theses and dissertations. Several theses were uploaded and
were indexed and made retrievable by search engines such as Google and
Yahoo. The correct submittance procedures for theses and
dissertations (with due observance of embargos and publisher agreements)
are currently receiving attention after which the database will finally
become operative.
Research output
A database for the storage and retrieval of research output of the Centre
of Excellence for Invasion Biology was developed and implemented
successfully. This database, also constructed on DSpace software,
will serve as an excellent guide to improve the management of institutional
research output in future.
Library homepage
The library homepage has been given a facelift. This is aimed at improving
access to information sources and to create a client friendly image.
Concurrent to this, a blog was developed to award clients the opportunity to make
suggestions for the improvement of service delivery at the Library. An "RSS feed"
was also created in order for clients to stay abreast of new developments
at the Library.
Ellen Tise nominated for IFLA president
Ms Ellen Tise who took over the reins at the Library and Information
Service in 2006 has been nominated as a candidate for its presidency
(2009-2011) by the International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA).
Ms Tise is currently a member of the IFLA Standing Committee for Africa
and she is also the chairperson of the National Committee for the IFLA
World Congress which will be held in South Africa in 2007.
The nomination in itself is an honour for the Library as well as for the
Library and Information Association of
South Africa (LIASA) which Ms Tise represents.
Please click
here
for more information on the nomination and Ms Tise's election manifest.
Library staff at conferences
Library staff will make contributions at the following conferences during
the first semester:
"International Conference on Postgraduate Supervison: The State of the Art
and the Artists" (23 – 26 April 2007) at the Stellenbosch
University.
Joanne Arendse, Melinda Heese and Henriëtte Swart will participate in the
following panel discussion at this event: : "Adding value: a discussion on the academic librarian’s
role in supporting postgraduates and researchers at Stellenbosch
University".
"2nd International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and
Training", Nairobi, Kenia (28 - 30 May 2007). Joanne Arendse
and Pieter du Plessis will deliver the following paper at this event:
"Challenging times: information literacy, librarian/lecturer partnerships
and e-Learning".
"Scholarship of teaching & learning conference" (22-23 May 2007)
Technopark, Stellenbosch. Elbie van Wyk will deliver the following paper
at this event: "Librarian/Lecturer partnerships and e-learning: 'taking'
the library resources to the students".
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From left is: Johan Engelbrecht (Deputy Director), Marié Roux
(Organiser of the fundraising) and Ellen Tise (Senior Director),
all from the Library, Lorenza Williams (Watergarden), Jerome Slamat (Director:
Community Interaction) and Jan Bodenstein (Watergarden)
Community interaction
At the end of
2006 the Library's
traditional Christmas fundraising effort collected R2000-00
with which ten gazebos could be purchased for the Wartergarden project.
Gazebos were a
special need identified by the project leaders for the facilitation
of
outdoor activities with the children in the project. Other items
that were also donated to the project included shelves, compact discs and a
digital camera.
The Library is
very proud and thankful towards staff members who supported the project with
such enthusiasm and who continue to do so with donations that are still
coming in.
Read more about
the Watergarden project
here or contact
Marié Roux for more information.
Name changes
Die SU Library
Service has been renamed the SU Library and Information Service to
reflect the diversity and scope of services that are offered.
Librarians at the JS Gericke Library who render subject specific
information services,
previously known as subject librarians, are now called faculty librarians.
The staff members concerned are:
Melinda Heese – Faculty of Law
Elbie van Wyk – Faculty of Science
Carine Tymbios / Hanlie Strydom – Faculty of AgriSciences
Niel Hendriksz – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Naomi Visser / Marié Roux – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Marleen van Wyk – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Sarie Wilbers – Faculty of Education
Pieter du Plessis – Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Joanne Arendse – Information Literacy Librarian
Tracy Britz – Distance Students Librarian
Thea Basson – Government Publications Librarian
The name of the
division, managed by Delene Pretorius, has also been changed to
Information Services Division.
Prof Jannie Hofmeyr accepts a gift for participating in the "Library Celebrities"
initiative. With him is Lucia Schoombee (Web
Services and Communication) and Ellen Tise (Senior Director) of the Library and Information
Service
Library Week celebrations
Library Week took a festive, celebratory tone at Stellenbosch
University Library and Information Service this year. Since the theme of
South African Library Week, "Libraries: your key to the future",
corresponded so well with the Library's mission,
it was taken as a carte blanche to reaffirm the Library's presence and
role on campus in an entertaining way.
In the run-up to Library Week, seven Stellenbosch campus "celebrities"
were approached to pledge their support for the Library publicly, each
promoting a specific service which they found especially helpful, after
which posters were produced depicting each celebrity with his/her
supportive quote.
The "Library Celebrities" are: (click on image to view name and
quote)
In another attempt to attract as many students as possible in order to
focus attention on the Library, a well-known Stellenbosch band was invited
to perform concerts in the open air amphitheatre at the entrance of the
Library. In blazing heat the band Clark & Van der Hoven piped up folk-rock
music – interspersing songs with slogans about the good of the Library.
In more traditional fashion, André P Brink, well-known South African
writer, was invited to the Library to discuss his book, The Ambassador,
which has been a prescribed book for Afrikaans and Dutch students for many
years.
Other activities included an exemption from fines and exhibitions on André
P Brink, on the fine line between books and works of art and on Stellenbosch
writers. These exhibitions livened up the interior of the JS Gericke
Library and highlighted some of the Library's hidden treasures.
Clark & Van der Hoven performs in front of the Library |
