From drab (or rather lab) to fab

 

By Shorba Harkhu

The Life Sciences Library staff room kitchen (Pietermaritzburg) recently had a much needed makeover. A brand new sink with white cupboards and black granite counter tops were installed. I must say that the kitchen looks very posh and modern. We just had to cope with not having water for a few days, as the sink tap had to be shut off while the pipes and sink were being fitted. Every day we used to go pass and check in on the progress. Once the renovations were completed, we were called in by the carpenter to ask if we were happy with the outcome. We were delighted as the cupboards were clean and the counter tops were sparkling. Nicky Pitout (assistant librarian) and I fussed over it as if it were our own, and even did a quick spring clean of the contents of the other existing cupboards. Simon Shezi (subject librarian) was so thrilled with the new kitchen and the new table and chairs, having been on leave during the renovation.

Our previous kitchen resembled a lab (and I think at one stage it was a laboratory) with heavy brown wooden countertops and a laboratory styled sink. It didn’t have proper tables and the chairs were a mixture of old typist chairs, as well as what we had salvaged from the common seating areas in the library. The kitchen was also becoming a dumping ground for all sorts of things.

We are very grateful for this transformation. It has truly uplifted our spirits. Have a look at the before and after photos.

Before

After

Open Access Initiative at the University of KwaZulu Natal (October 2022)

 

                                                                        By Mfezi Mjwara

“There is vast literature about the awareness and access of open access resources. Research studies are conducted to understand the importance of Open Access Resources in different fields of life, especially in the field of education” (Shadzai and Hussain 2019: 19).

Ezima and Oyancha (2017: 97) states that the increasing interest in Open Access Scholarly communication is because of the great opportunities which open access initiatives provide for wider dissemination of research findings, particularly among the developing countries.

Since the development of Open Access Initiative, the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal has recently adopted this initiative through working in correlation with South African National Library Consortium (SANLiC) https://libguides.ukzn.ac.za/blog/Publishing-in-Open-Access-hybrid-journals.

What is Open Access?

Bailey (2017: 43) Open Access (OA) to literature, means its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the Internet itself.

 

Open Access is a set of principles and practices through which research outputs like journal articles, e-books, law reports, government gazettes, etc. are distributed online, free of cost or other access hindrances https://laneguides.stanford.edu/openaccess.

This programme/initiative allows publishing and vast access of important online sources and for UKZN students, academics and researchers at a very low cost if not for free, on a daily basis, for both scholarly and recreational purposes.

In brief summary; Open Access strives to make research publications or e-resources more transparent and easily accessible meaning they can be retrieved by more people at once at no cost to whoever needs to use them.

For more information on the Open Access Theme October 2022 – Please follow this link: https://www.openaccessweek.org/theme/en

List of references

Bailey, C. 2017. An introduction to Open Access. Information Studies. 4(1): 43-52. Available: http://eprints.rclis.org/32502/. (Accessed 30 September 2022).

Ezima, I., Onyancha, O. 2017. Open Access Publishing in Africa: Advancing Research Outputs to Global Visability. African Journal Library, Archives and Information Science. 27(2): 97-115. Available: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAQQw7AJahcKEwiQ5cy2kp77AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ajol.info%2Findex.php%2Fajlais%2Farticle%2Fview%2F164661&psig=AOvVaw3kPLWhqnf_JrLTSlImeawU&ust=1667981766183707 (Accessed 07 November 2022).

International Open Access Week. Open for climate justice. October 2022. Available: https://www.openaccessweek.org/. (Accessed 30 September 2022).

Shahzadi, U., Hussain, Bhashir. 2019. Awareness and Access of Open Access Resources by

Teacher Educators and Student Teachers: Potential for Reflection. Pakistan Journal of Distance & Online Learning. 1(1): 17-30. Avaiable: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAQQw7AJahcKEwjo_PKRkp77AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjdol.aiou.edu.pk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F07%2F2-Awareness-and-Access-of-Open-Access-Resources.pdf&psig=AOvVaw2wm0-sZvD8hN_3DPpvshOu&ust=1667981688639630 (Accessed 07 November 2022).

Stanford Medicine. Understanding Open Access. Califonia: Lane Medical Library. September 2022.  Available: https://laneguides.stanford.edu/openaccess. (Accessed 31 October 2022).

 

Book review: The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynnis Ridley

 

By Shorba Harkhu

It is not often that I get a chance to read a book ordered by one of the academics. However, I decided to give this book a read as it is based on the story of a remarkable woman and it came highly recommended by the academic. It is always so rewarding to have academics who have such a passion for the books they order, and who are willing to share the knowledge of their reads.

 

The central character of this true story is Jeanne Baret, and the setting is mid-eighteenth century France. Baret, a peasant from the Loire valley was an illiterate herb woman, who was well-read in the oral tradition of the healing properties of plants. Just to give you an idea of the fate of the peasantry during this period, Ridley (2011) states that the local manor “owned the collection of rotting wooden shacks where his workers slept, owned the land and the produce they harvested.” Barets’s parents knew little of the outside world and nor did she.

 

Baret’s path crossed with that of the aristocrat and botanist Philibert Commerson. Soon she became his mistress and housekeeper. Commerson was offered a chance to circumnavigate the world for a period of three years to study, explore, and collect plant life wherever the ships anchored. He needed an assistant, and the only person qualified to do so was Baret. However, according to French law, women were prohibited from being on board naval ships. Baret therefore disguised herself as a teenage boy by having linen bandages wound tightly around her upper body to flatten her chest. Imagine the discomfort she must have endured. Rumours concerning the presence of a woman on board did circulate and her identity was eventually revealed towards the end of her journey.  Baret worked tirelessly and performed tasks that would have outdone any man. Perhaps her best known discovery was that of the bougainvillea, but the plant was named after the expedition’s commander, rather than her. Throughout the book we see the egostistical urges of Commerson to name species after him rather than Baret.

 

Today not a single genus or plant species commemorates the work of this incredible botanist. This book at least does justification to her work. Baret is also credited with being the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.

 

The book is extensively researched and although one can be caught up in the historical nitty-gritty, it is still worth a read.

 

 

 REFERENCE

Ridley, G. (2011). The discovery of Jeanne Baret : a story of science, the high seas, and the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. New York: Broadway Paperbacks.

 

 

#SpringDay2022InTheUKZNPmbLibrary

 

By Jillian Viljoen

In collaboration with the UKZN Pmb library colleagues

1 September is traditionally known as Spring Day. The day that replaces our winter blues and fills us with hope and expectation of warmer days and a brighter tomorrow. Sounds very promising and inspirational, doesn’t it?

 The UKZN Pmb libraries embarked on a Spring Day initiative which celebrated the day and highlighted the library resources.

 There were 2 competitions; 1 on the blogs and 1 on using the library resources. There were 5 prizes altogether. There were so many correct entries that selecting 5 winners was a bit of a challenge.

 A display was created and students were encouraged to take selfies with the hashtag in this blog’s title.

 Spring Day display

Students taking selfies

                                                                                                               

Dr Siyanda Kheswa, from the Information Studies Department, presented a talk on the importance of libraries and library resources. Attendees at the talk got freebies which they were excited about. The prizes for the competitions were presented to the students by Siyanda after his talk.

The library staff also had fun celebrating Spring Day by having competitions and taking lots of selfies. Guess who was the most excited about Spring Day? It’s kind of hard to tell, right?

 Main Library

Life Sciences Library

Law Library

                                                                         

Our library staff competition winners. Aren’t you glad you joined in the fun!

                

The staff also had a tea which was really yummy. Doesn’t the colour scheme look festive? Don’t you wish you were here?

Spring is sometimes viewed as a new beginning or a cleansing or refreshing. Let’s hold on to happy thoughts and be thankful for blessings and positive experiences. Most of all, let’s have fun on Spring day, and every day, and make it memorable. Hope your Spring Day was as much fun as ours. The best is yet to come!

Your academic archaeological footprints within library resources

 

By Jillian Viljoen

The Oxford English Dictionary defines archaeology as the “study of ancient cultures, esp. By the excavation and analysis of physical remains.” This concept can be metaphorically applied to your academic life. I bet you’re wondering if I misunderstood the definition as we do not fall into the category of ancient cultures which are usually extinct.

Here’s the correlation. When you travel your academic journey, you leave footprints which can be discovered by anyone who endeavours to investigate your academic life, long after you have exited the institution. These footprints can be discovered through the library resources. The library is an invaluable resource for searching for information from undergraduate to postgraduate level.

When you register at the institution, you get a student number and that student number is your username. When you login via the off-campus access, your student number is recognised and you are granted access to the library resources. When you request a book via My Library Account, your student number grants you access. The library books that you borrow are issued on your student card, attaching the record of those books to your student number. When you return books at the library, you receive a confirmation email to your student email account. Every time you enter and exit the library, you tap your student card at the turnstile and you are granted access.

At postgraduate level, when you submit your completed thesis or dissertation, that document is submitted on ResearchSpace where it is accessible worldwide. When you publish articles in journals, those articles are accessible via the databases which the library subscribes to.

Every step that you make academically can be traced via the library resources long after you have left, either by your student number or your name. When your academic journey has run its course, what will be discovered about you? What will the excavation uncover? A student who regularly used the library resources? A Masters and PhD thesis or dissertation on interesting research topics? Or perhaps a well published researcher with a high h-index?

When your academic journey is over, you may be gone but not forgotten. Your academic footprints will remain and will be discovered by future generations of aspiring researchers. You could be an inspiration to students and researchers locally and internationally without being aware of the impact you have made.

Did you know that library resources could be so interesting? Go ahead and try to discover the academic footprints of your lecturer or supervisor. You might be surprised by what you find.

LEARN IN THE LIBRARY

 

                                                                  By Desmond Beharilal

The World map known as the Globe.

In many schools the world map was displayed in the form of a globe, and it was aptly referred to as such. I used to be very impressed watching the teachers carry the globe from one classroom to the next for different subjects such as history, geography and the guidance class which is comparative to the current Life Orientation lessons. Teachers used to gather the class around the globe and point out each country as per their lesson plan and further enticed scholars to visit such countries if such opportunities did arise. Over the years, some of us could not remember the contents of such lessons and the position of the various countries but took the opportunity to travel to some countries.

At UKZN Library Services one finds large world maps on frames or on charts which can be borrowed from some libraries. The reason I write about such lessons regarding the globe, pertains to the requests from students regarding the current situation between Russia and the Ukraine My writing has nothing to do with the actual invasion or war but simply to inform our potential library users to familiarize themselves with the locations of various countries by using the maps available at UKZN libraries which will equip them with the required information for their academic work and in their discussions regarding such topics.

I had a request for information about the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on the economy of the United States of America. The student thereafter asked me about the locations of these three countries and their main source of production. I recalled the geography lesson and the globe, whereby the teacher pointed out the countries and their main sources of production, but I could not recall such details.

Fortunately, the Edgewood campus library has a large collection of charts and maps of the world, which I could refer the student to for such details. While searching for the world maps, I was asked about my views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as it is a trending topic of discussion in the academic arena and on social media. I simply replied that the focus should be on the academic arena and not social media as I did not perform my tasks with personal preferences on any issues.

 I was under the impression that libraries and librarians were very neutral in their political views, hence, over the years library staff were not allowed to become actively involved in, represent or promote their political views or partake in student protests to show support to any political party.  Librarians tried to maintain the historical impression of both public and academic libraries with such a neutral stance especially in South Africa, due to our historical past which I will not go into details about.

I was pleasantly surprised when librarians from various countries that are affiliated to International Library Associations decided to share their political views publicly in support of a specific country during a so called “war or invasion”. Such international library organisations expressed their intention to call for peace and end to any wars or invasions. Such international associations focused on the preservation of libraries and museums rather than political engagements. As a graduate in Political Science, my view of international library organisations and libraries should be the hosting of seminars and discussions regarding the impact of such wars or invasions on library services and the preservation of materials and collections both nationally and internationally. I still do not see the correlation between librarians and politicians in the decision to wage war amongst or within any country.

Some South African universities do have memorandum of understandings with their counterparts in Russia and Ukraine and therefore the sharing of library resources or information could be affected. Universities in other countries could also have such MoUs and their librarians should maintain their neutral political stance and focus on the impact of such on their libraries.

I still firmly believe that librarians should not publicly share their political views and maintain the libraries as apolitical environments and assist library patrons with the necessary political information as required in their academic work. Library users are from across the political arena and should not feel intimidated using the libraries due to their political affiliations. Information on politics, politicians or political parties should be offered without any prejudice.

Please comment or share your views regarding librarians or libraries engaging in politics.

Thank you

IN CELEBRATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN LIBRARY WEEK

 

                             

By 

Claudette Kercival

The week of March 14-20, marked the celebration of South African Library Week (SALW).  Libraries, public, special and academic around the nation, hosted various events to commemorate this event.

Owing to the pandemic, libraries continue being impacted in numerous ways and have had to adapt to respond appropriately to its different types of users. It is evident that with this re-adaptation and re-configuring of library services, our users need to RE-DISCOVER all that we have on offer.

 

This week-long series of activities, presented library stakeholders with an opportunity to:

·       Reimagine their services and their ability to render those services whilst carefully considering the myriad of changes thrust upon libraries because of COVID, 

·       Repurpose both their spaces and their services to continue being effective in the communities that they serve, and in this way allowing users to 

·       Rediscover the library and the ways in which it benefits them.

ABOUT SOUTH AFRICAN LIBRARY WEEK

The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA), initiated SALW in 2001 as a commemorative period, when all types of libraries, across the country use this time as an opportunity to market their services and create awareness of the important role that libraries play in a democracy. The central focus of activities embrace: advancing literacy, making the basic human right of freedom of access to information a reality and the promotion of tolerance and respect in society.

The choice of the date memorializes the establishment by proclamation of the first public library, the South African Public Library, now the National Library of South Africa (Cape Town Campus), on 20 March 1818. Furthermore, on 21 March, we celebrate Human Rights Day and our Bill of Rights recognises the freedom of access to information as a basic human right. An important historical event is thus linked with a crucial date in our democracy.

 

In keeping with the 2022 theme for SALW: Re-Imagine, Re-Purpose and Re-Discover …Libraries! Howard College Libraries chose to host a virtual quiz, aimed at all its library users, testing their knowledge with questions about the various libraries, its resources and services. The quiz attracted a spectrum of staff and student participants across all four colleges and five campuses.  Ten correct entries received were from participants pictured below including Ms Saabirah Rizvi from the College of Law and Management (not pictured upon request).

UKZN Library extends sincerest congratulations to its worthy winners and is indeed grateful to all participants and our several vendors for their generous sponsorships thereby contributing to the success of UKZN SALW celebrations.

 

Dissecting EBSCOhost

 

                                                                        By Shorba Harkhu

As a die-hard fan of the Life Sciences, I am more biased towards databases like ScienceDirect and the Web of Science. During the recent round of FYE (First Year Experience) library training sessions on EBSCOhost, it felt like we were dissecting EBSCOhost piece by piece. We learnt something new from every presenter and every presentation was better than or different from the last. I now have a new found respect for EBSCOhost and I will rightfully acknowledge this database by its proper name, which is EBSCOhost, from now on (not Ebsco in future for me). That is correct, I am now a convert!

 

I have realised that EBSCOhost is one of the most user-friendly databases. In addition to this, this database is multidisciplinary, in that it includes in its collection a plethora of databases such as Academic Search Complete (which is claimed to be the world's most comprehensive scholarly and multi-disciplinary full-text database), as well as other subject-specific databases such as ERIC and GreenFILE.

 

You can set up a personal account in EBSCOhost to save search results, search alerts and journal alerts to your MyEBSCO folder. You may also choose to create an account using your Google account credentials.  

 

Needing help on how to use any aspect of EBSCOhost, all you need do is click on the question mark next to the Create Alert button, and you will find a comprehensive help menu popping up with topics

that are hyperlinked. No need to go to the EBSCOhost landing page to add another database, just click on the Choose Databases link on the basic or advanced search page, and a list of databases will pop up for you to choose from. 

Need a quick preview of an article or ebook, click on the magnifying glass icon.

 
 As you are scrolling through your results, why not add your selections to a folder.

 
Do you require more results per page, then click on the Page Options tab at the top of the results page.

 

 EBSCOhost also has this feature where you can include an HTML or PDF attachment to an email. There’s the added bonus of choosing to have result details delivered to you in one of several referencing styles when saving, emailing or citing an article or ebook.

 

 

Finally, here comes the drum roll moment, and this is where you can bring out the popcorn. You can have the full text of an article read out to you!

 

Which database do you enjoy using or presenting? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

 

 

The jigsaw puzzle of research … demystified

 

By Jillian Viljoen

Have you ever tried completing a jigsaw puzzle of 1000 pieces? When I opened the box of my first 1000 piece puzzle, I looked at the beautiful countryside scenery image on the box, then stared at the many tiny puzzle pieces, and thought “What were you thinking?” It was a daunting reality that I had to now make sense of the disorder of pieces to create the end result on the box.

 As with any jigsaw puzzle, you usually sort the pieces with straight edges into one pile, and create the frame, and then you put pieces with similar colouring together and add those in the frame to complete the picture. But how do we know to use that method to get the end result? We were probably shown by someone when we did our very first jigsaw puzzle, right?

 

Sometimes, conducting research is like a jigsaw puzzle. We have the final picture which is what we hope to achieve based on the topic, research questions and objectives. But we need to fill in the blanks and add substance to the research by finding information to substantiate or expand on the topic, apart from the data collection and analysis. That is where the library comes in.

 The library has many online and print resources which include print and ebooks which can be found via the library’s catalogue and electronic articles which are found on the databases which the library subscribes to. The information that you require for your particular topic is contained within all the resources at your disposal. You need the skills to identify and extract that particular information. Learning how to access and effectively use these resources for information searches can either be done by using the step-by-step guides on the library training LibGuide or by contacting a subject librarian for assistance. The subject librarians provide training and skills necessary for you to focus your searches specifically on your topic and how to then collate everything into a comprehensible arrangement; much like someone showing you how to complete your very first jigsaw puzzle.

 

Once you have learnt and mastered the information searching skills, you are well on your way to being a productive, independent researcher. These skills are the foundation of all research endeavours.

 If you are currently experiencing difficulties with information searches for your research, contact a subject librarian today. After all, the completed jigsaw puzzle of your particular research provides valuable insight for other researchers throughout the world.