Winter/Spring

Winter/Lente

2012

In this issue: / In hierdie uitgawe:

___________________________________________

Birthdays/Verjaarsdae
Julie/July
Augustus/August
September
Staff news / Personeelnuus
Did you know? / Het jy geweet?
	Extension of Library hours during the June 2012 exam period
	Function for retired and former staff members
	The first Post Graduate Forum
	Why should African academics care about Open Access & can it affect their citations?
	Publishers provide training and Information Specialists show each other the ropes
	Medical Library – (always) on the move
	Digitisation of the Woodhouse slide collection
	Chemistry Information Literacy course
	Open Collection on level 5 – new look
	Milestone for a South African diva
	RDA electronic course June/July 2012: a personal view
	New e-Books
	Dresscode
	Special Collections book of the month

If you have any feedback, regarding this newsletter, article ideas or suggestions,

please contact the editorial staff:

Indien jy enige terugvoer, artikels,

voorstelle het vir of oor hierdie nuusbrief,

kontak asseblief die redaksie:

Carin Bezuidenthout

Articles/

Artikels

carin.bezuidenhout@up.ac.za

of / or

Diana Gerritsen

Design and Layout /

Ontwerp en Uitleg

diana.gerritsen@up.ac.za

Birthdays

May this birthday be the beginning of the best years of your life.

Verjaarsdae

Mag hierdie verjaardag die begin wees van die beste jare in jou lewe.

Staff news Personeelnuus

Welcome to the following new staff members / Welkom aan die volgende nuwe personeel

Ms Lindiwe Soyizwapi has been appointed as our new Deputy Director: Client Services.  Ms Soyizwapi holds the following qualifications, which she obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (previously known as University of Natal):  BA - 1989; Higher Diploma in Library Science - 1990; B.Bibl (Hon) - 1994; Postgraduate Diploma in Adult Education - 1998; and Masters in Information Studies - 2005.  Her career as a Librarian spans 21 years.  She has worked briefly as a Resource Centre Coordinator and Information Analyst and Librarian.  She has worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for over 16 years where she is currently holding the position of Campus Librarian - Westville Campus.  Other positions that she has held at the UKZ Library include Subject Librarian, Senior Librarian, and Head Librarian: Information Services.   Ms Soyizwapi is a member of the Editorial Committee for the accredited journal: "Innovation: Journal of appropriate Librarianship and Information work in South Africa".

Clara Ngobeni was born and raised in Hammanskraal (14th March 1965).  She completed her Secondary Education Diploma at Moretele College of Education in 1987 and started teaching at Hans Kekana High School in April 1988.  In 1992 she was granted study-leave to study Librarianship at the UWC. Clara completed her studies in 1995 and returned to Hans Kekana High School once again as a teacher. She acquired her Honours in Library Science in 1999 at UNISA. In 2008 she got a position as Librarian at the City of Tshwane Municipality where she has been working until now.  Clara currently stays in the Orchards, north of Pretoria, and has three children.   She is working as Information Specialist at the information desk in the Learning Centre on level 3.

Timothy Matheba was born in Limpopo on 2nd January 1973.  He matriculated in 1994 at Sehlaku High School and completed some short courses to further his education.  He stays in Mabopane with my wife and son.  He loves soccer and attends church every Sunday.  He is a quiet person, easy to work with and very friendly.   Timothy is working from the Mail Room as a driver.

Congratulations to ....... / Baie geluk aan .......

Cora Bezuidenthout who was permanently appointed as Senior Administrative Assistant at the Circulation Desk on level 3.

Lucas Nhlangulela who was appointed at Less Used Collections

Martha de Waal    who was permanently  appointed as Coordinator of the Cataloguing Unit

We bid farewell to the following staff members / Ons sê totsiens aan die volgende personeellede

Pricilla Reetseng who resigned.

Our condolences to ........ / Ons innige simpatie aan ........

Ivy Khangale who's sister passed away.

Blok Beukes wie se ouma oorlede is.

Elsa Schaffner wie se skoonmoeder oorlede is.

Amos Lusenga (Voorklinies) wie se suster oorlede is

Refilwe Matatiele who's brother passed away

Julene Vermeulen wie se swaer oorlede is.

Het jy geweet .......

  Anthofobie is 'n vrees vir blomme

en

Apifobie is 'n vrees vir bye.

(Bestmed Top Living, June 2012 Member Edition, Vol 1)

Did you know.......

Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries.

Die goeie nuus is dat die winter sonstilstand (die dag in die jaar met die minste daglig, 21 Junie)  verby is. Met ander woorde die dae moet nou langer en warmer word. Ons is gereed vir lente en kan nie meer daarvoor wag nie!

Soos gewoonlik was die afgelope kwartaal ‘n besige tyd vir die Biblioteek, en die grootste gebeurtenis was seker die implimentering van die Biblioteek se nuwe ure tydens die eksamentyd. Lees gerus daaroor en ook ander interessante gebeurtenisse in die Biblioteek.

Onthou asseblief om alle nuus oor projekte, besoekers, uitstallings, kursusse bygewoon, besonderse gebeurtenisse ens in die Biblioteek vir ons te stuur, ons plaas dit graag in die Nuusbrief.

Groete van die redaksie

Carin Bezuidenhout en Diana Gerritsen

The good news is that winter solstice (being the day of the year which has fewest hours of daylight, 21 June) has passed. In other words the days have to become longer and warmer now. We are ready for spring and can’t wait!

As usual, the past quarter was ‘n busy time for the Library. The biggest happening was the implementation of the Library’s new hours during exams. Read about this and other interesting news in the Library.

Please remember to send us your news about projects, visitors, success stories, special events, courses attended etc in the Library, we would love to put your news in the Newsletter.

Regards from the Editors

Carin Bezuidenhout and Diana Gerritsen  

Around 14 May 2012 the Library was approached by the members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) who were mandated to request that we extend the library hours. These members were the SRC President Mr Mthokozisi Nkosi and the SRC member responsible for Academic Affairs Mr Christopher Pappas. The thrust of their request was that the Library should be open for 24 hours and seven days a week during the June and November exam periods. During other periods they want the Library to be open until 24:00 during the week and until 18:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. This request was made despite the fact that the Study Centre is already open for 24 hours for the greater part of the year, including periods that fall outside the exams. The SRC members pointed out to us that the Study Centre gets overcrowded during the examination periods.

The Library executive dealt with this matter at its meeting of 22 May 2012 and took the following decisions: 

1.      That library hours be extended to 24:00 (Mon - Friday); to 18:00 (Sat) from 06 June to the end of the June exams for the following areas:

a)      Merensky II, 3rd floor

b)      Research Commons on the 4th floor

c)      Reserved Collections

2.      That I liaise with the Department of Security regarding the provision of adequate security services during extended hours.

3.      That I liaise with the Department of Facilities regarding doing the necessary modifications that was required to make levels 1, 2, 5 and 6 inaccessible between 21:00 and 24:00, and regarding the challenge of keeping the Library clean during these extended hours.

Meetings were held with the relevant officials of these departments. These meetings were fruitful and resulted in the appropriate decisions being taken, enabling the Library to extend its hours as indicated above. The other challenging matter was that of appointing staff members who would work during these longer hours. We were fortunate in that we were able to appoint the personnel from among our current contract staff members. Even though normal library services were not going to be provided during the extended hours, except in the Reserved Collections, we felt strongly that we should leave the Library in the hands of experienced personnel during the extended period.

Indeed we were able to extend library hours as indicated above from 06 June to 23 June 2012. Arrangements were made for detailed statistics to be compiled during the extended period. This statistics show that indeed the demand for these extended library hours does exist. During the first week of the examinations all the Library areas (including the Study Centre) were full to capacity. Additional study areas had to be made available in four lecture halls in the Humanities building. The Library Executive will proceed with considering the rest of the proposal by the SRC regarding the extension of library hours for the rest of the year.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those who made the extension of library hours during the June 2012 exam period a success. The SRC members have expressed their gratitude and satisfaction at the manner in which this matter was handled.

                                                                                                                               This photo was taken on 06 June 2012 at about 22:00

Contributed by Robert Moropa

Function for retired and former staff members

Retired and former staff members of UPLS recently attended a function organized for them at the Merensky Library after it was altered and renovated during the past year.  After the inauguration of the new facilities, director Robert Moropa felt the need to acknowledge the excellent work done by former staff members.  They have laid a solid foundation on which the new generation can build. 

On the 9^th March 2012 the former colleagues met in the foyer of the new training area.  The joyous cries of old friends meeting again filled the air.  Tea was served while the guests continued to catch up with each other on news.  They commented excitedly on the parking arrangements in the new parkade, as well as the awesome changes to Level 3 in general, the learning centre and the addition of the lovely auditorium. 

Robert had some difficulty in herding the babbling guests into the auditorium where he addressed them.   He shared the vision of the library and introduced the new organogram of the library management. Former staff members are proud to be connected to an institution that is still regarded as a leading library; a library that is held in such high esteem that it was entrusted with international grants to be used to enhance research and to serve Southern Africa.  Prof Gerryts had the last word.  He told the audience that thirty years ago a young Robert Moropa listened to a presentation by him. 

Afterwards Robert complimented him by saying that Prof Gerryts had inspired him.  The wheel has turned.  On this occasion Prof Gerryts listened to Robert.  He complimented Robert because the exciting contents of Robert’s speech had inspired him!

Robert accompanied the guests to the new reprographic centre and the Reserved Books section.  The modern colours used in this area, was applauded.  A visit to the scanning and preservation section followed.  Here the visitors were impressed by the modern techniques to scan and store documents electronically. The last stop in the Merensky Library was a visit to the Research Commons.  The atmosphere in this area, the furnishing and subtle interior decorations impressed the visitors.  Everybody was convinced that such surroundings will promote exceptional research. Visits to the Law Library and the Music library concluded a delightful morning. 

The former staff members appreciate the fact that they are not forgotten.  The group wishes to thank Robert Moropa and the management team of the Library Services for a delightful morning.  May the Library go from strength to strength.

Contributed by: Heidi Visser

The first Post Graduate Forum was the initiative of Prof. Stephanie Burton, Vice-Principal: Research and Postgraduate Education, in collaboration with Mr Robert Moropa, Director: Department of Library Services. It was held on 25 May 2012 in the Auditorium of the Merensky Library.  The purpose was to reach as many post graduate students as possible, give them an inspirational talk and also stimulate some interdepartmental and interfaculty relationships.

The following Faculties’ students were invited: Engineering, Built Environment & Information Technology (EBIT), Health Sciences, Natural and Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Sciences.  The reaction was overwhelming. Due to limited space more than 90 students had to be turned away.  11 of the faculty librarians also attended.

Prof. Burton’s speech was well received.  Students really needed the inspiration and the informal feedback afterwards, was very positive.

The morning also included a guided tour through the Research Commons and the facilities were admired.

Three parallel workshops were organised for the second half of the morning:

~  EndNote, presented by Bettie de Kock, attended by 36 students.
~  RefWorks, presented by Sunette Steynberg, attended by 20 students.
~  ISI, Where to publish, presented by Fiona Bester, Director of WorldWide Information Services (WWIS), representer of ISI in Africa, attended by 24 students.

Some more Postgraduate Forums are definitely in the pipeline for 2012.  The faculties which were not invited to the first forum will get an opportunity and then one would have to accommodate the students that were turned away for the first forum.

Contributed by: Sunette Steynberg

Why should African academics care about Open Access & can it affect their citations?

The Open Scholarship Office was responsible for organizing two Open Access events in May and June. The annual Open Access Week is usually held in October, but by presenting these smaller events throughout the year, we hope to constantly remind UP researchers of this new and very important development in scholarly research which brings about efficient dissemination of their research outputs. The goals of these events are to:

·         Raise awareness of Open Access and its benefits;

·         Deepen understanding of the concept of Open Access;

·         Share the experiences of other institution’s success stories with the green route to Open Access;

·         Inspire wider participation and support amongst library colleagues and UP researchers and postgraduate students.

On Friday 11 May, Prof Hussein Suleman, an Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Cape Town, addressed researchers on “Why should African academics care about Open Access?” Prof Suleman’s presentation focussed on: Arguments against Open Access, the Open Access movement - in South Africa and worldwide, the development of the University of Cape Town Computer Science Research Document Archive and its evaluation and lastly the benefits of Open Access and why African researchers should support it. Prof Hussein’s statistics of the Computer Science Research Document Archive prove that a repository’s content is indexed regularly and aggressively by search services and increases the visibility of research. He encourages researchers to change their way of thinking and to support the UP Open Access mandate.

On Thursday 14 June, Johanna Kuhn, Sales Executive for the Open Access publisher BioMed Central, addressed researchers on "Open Access & how it affects your Citations." The Department of Library Services has set up a Prepay Membership with BioMed Central for a year which will allow UP researchers to publish in accredited BioMed Central journals without any charge. Johanna’s presentation addressed the following aspects: BioMed Central – the Open Access publisher, an introduction to Open Access, journals’ Impact Factors, a case study of the malaria Journal, how Open Access affects citations  and the University of Pretoria membership programme. An interesting fact that Johanna mentioned is that a journal’s impact factor can also benefit by moving to Open Access as in the case with the Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. One of the UP authored articles in the BMC Malaria journal (with an impact factor of 3.49) titled Heterologous expression of plasmodial proteins for structural studies and functional annotation (from the Department of Biochemistry)  is a highly accessed article with 7223 accesses and 18 citations, showing that Open Access has a definite citation advantage!

        Prof Hussein Suleman, Elsabé Olivier and Robert Moropa                             Linda Fick, Louise van Heerden, Elsabé Olivier and Johanna Kuhn

More photographs of the events can be viewed at the Open Access Week website

Contributed by: Elsabé Olivier

Publishers provide training and Information Specialists show each other the ropes

After a year of building and renovation everyone welcomed the Library’s new look. With our new facilities in place it was decided that this is a good time to invite publishers which the UPLS use, to our venue to give the Information Specialists training on their platforms and products. During March and April Emerald, Cambridge, ISI, Ebscohost, Business Monitor, McGregor BFA and Gale visited the Library and provided training.

An important part of the initiative took place on 8^th of May with Database Day, when Information Specialists gave each other training and tips on how to use specific databases.

Database Day was opened by Prof. Fanus Venter from Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology. He talked about E-resources through the eye of the researcher, which was about researchers’ use of electronic sources.

Prof. Venter emphasised the fact that one of the big advantages of e-resources is that they can be used anytime, anywhere. When searching through Google, one can get access to the full text documents because of the Library’s subscriptions to the databases and other electronic resources.

This means that researchers don’t have to visit the Library anymore, they can reach the Library and its resources from where ever they are.

This initiative was a huge success and contributed to the progress of the Library’s E-resources services and our own staff’s use of it.

Project coordinated and article written by Chrissie Boeyens

Na ‘n jaar van bou en breek is die biblioteek se nuwe voorkoms verwelkom. Met ons nuwe fasiliteite in plek is daar besluit dis ‘n goeie tyd om uitgewers wat die UPLS gebruik, te nooi om aan die Inligtingkundiges te kom opleiding gee oor hulle platforms en produkte. Gedurende Maart en April het Emerald, Cambridge, ISI, Ebscohost, Business Monitor, McGregor BFA en Gale by die Biblioteek kom opleiding gee.

‘n Belangrike deel van die opleiding inisiatief het op 8 Mei plaasgevind met die Databasisdag,  waar inligtingkundiges aan mekaar opleiding en wenke gegee het oor hoe om spesifieke databasisse te gebruik.  

Die Databasisdag is afgeskop met ‘n aanbieding deur Prof. Fanus Venter van Departement Mikrobiologie en Plantpatologie. Die tema waaroor hy gepraat het was E-resources through the eye of the researcher. Dit het gehandel oor navorsers se gebruik van elektroniese bronne.

Prof. Venter het beklemtoon dat een van die groot voordele van e-bronne is dat dit enige tyd en enige plek gebruik kan word. Navorsers wat d.m.v. Google soek, kry toegang tot die volteks dokumente op grond van die biblioteek se subskripsies tot die databasisse en ander elektroniese bronne. Navorsers hoef nie meer die Biblioteek fisies te besoek nie, want hulle kan die Biblioteek en sy bronne elektronies bereik waar hulle ook al is.

Die inisiatief was ‘n groot sukses en het bygedra tot die vooruitgang van die Biblioteek se e-bron dienste, asook ons eie personeel se gebruik daarvan.

 Information Specialists attending training

Projek gekoördineer en verslag gelewer deur Chrissie Boeyens

Contributed by: Chrissie Boeyens

A change in the staff profile at the end of 2011 created the opportunity to re-evaluate our services and facilities, and to identify ways to align the available human- and physical resources with the demands of a changing market.  The new responsibilities lead to new challenges and we soon realised that we needed to upgrade our facilities.

We made our first change to the Study Collection. The Study collection used to be in a small triangular space between the Circulation Desk and Photocopy Section. This resulted in a small, very busy and noisy area. However, the printed journal display shelves became redundant due to the fact that only a limited number of printed journals are still subscribed to.   Consequently, on a Saturday in April five staff members (Abel Maboko, Richard Mbokane, Lucas Mmalefahlo, Lee Clough and Magriet Lee) removed the display shelves and relocated the Study Collection to where those shelves used to be. Access to as well as shelving and maintenance in the Study Collection is now much easier. Study desks are now close to the new Study Collection and books from this section are easy to locate.

With the Study Collection relocated, the space that was now empty could be used for the Photocopy Section which was also in a much too small area. The photocopy machines were so close to each other that it became a safety risk. Also, the electricity box of the library is situated in this area and it was difficult to access.  The same five staff members (with the help of Joel Sefolo, Franscios Labuschagne and Tony Edwards from Xerox) rearranged the Photocopy Section and removed all the extra furniture to the basement. The Photocopy Section is now situated in the old Study Collection area combined with the old Photocopy area. This is working very well, not to mention that it is also aesthetically acceptable and a lot safer.

As technology advanced, the formats of some audio-visual media became outdated and these unused materials were taking up much needed shelf space. Another problem was the open-plan office. The four people sharing the office didn’t have any privacy and the furniture was in a bad state.   These two areas – the audiovisual space and the open-plan office – definitely needed attention. The weeding project started at the end of 2011 and went on till the end of April. Redundant books, journals and audiovisual material were weeded from the collection and with all the unwanted materials out of the way we were ready for action. On 30 March the four staff members moved to new offices and work stations. The contractors moved in and started with the alterations in the open-plan office.  The new lay-out and furniture provide privacy and a professional look to this office. The new facilities in the audiovisual space were installed two weeks later.

We are now in the final phase of the project.  The furniture for two offices and the final installations in the audiovisual section will be done within the next week.  All the changes were financed by the UPInfonet programme.

We are receiving positive feedback from our users, commenting on the Photocopy- and Study Collection areas now being quiet and the open spaces creating the feeling of a bigger library.

We’ve learned that by carefully identifying and investigating the potential of each space and matching the staff members to new responsibilities and physical areas, we were able to make huge improvements. By redeveloping some problematic areas the users are now in a better position. With the new look and feel of the library, the staff gained new responsibilities and competencies, adding to more job satisfaction.

Contributed by:  Magriet Lee

Pictures from top to bottom: The new Study Collection;  The new Photocopy Section; Relocating and under construction

The Team

Digitisation of the Woodhouse slide collection

For more than 30 years Herbert (Bert) Charles Woodhouse (* 1919 Stockport, England; † 2011 Pretoria, South Africa) established a detailed photographic record of the rock art of Southern Africa, thereby making a massive contribution towards preserving a copy of a finite heritage resource.  Woodhouse’s interest in rock art dates back to 1957 when he and his friend Neil Lee systematically started to photograph and record rock paintings and engravings (also known as petroglyphs) throughout Southern Africa.   

The result of this endeavour was a very large collection of photographic slides, as well as extensive field notes and maps indicating the respective locations of the sites.  The University of Pretoria acquired this collection, which is located at the Africana Special Collections, level 5 in the Merensky library.  The UPLS is currently busy with the digitization of the collection for display on the Institutional Repository (UPSpace - http://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/77).   

Woodhouse has published various books and more than seventy articles on the subject of rock art, using many of his photographs as illustrations.  His large research output proves that he became one of the leading connoisseurs in the field.

The image depicts Mr. Bert Woodhouse together with his wife Shirley, whom he married in 1947.

Contributed by Ria Groenewald

~  What was the origin?

~  What did it consist of?

~  Evaluation of students

~  Lessons learned

~  Recommendations and conclusion

What was the origin?

While doing my internship at Purdue University libraries in Indiana, USA in 2011, I have seen Chemistry Information Literacy taught as a compulsory credited course.  At the year end function of the Dept. of Chemistry at UP, I discussed this with the professor responsible for the honours students for 2012 over ‘braaivleis and pap’.  He was very keen on the idea and agreed to give me a 2 credited course that would be presented over the first two weeks of the academic year.

What did it consist of?

Each lecture lasted 1 ½ hours and consisted of a lecture and practical exercises.

Lesson 1

What is information literacy?
Introduction
Finding your way around the UP library web site
Interlending

Lesson 2 & 3

SciFinder Scholar
~  Registration
~  Searching according to topic, author, substance, structure, substructure
Here I made use of the short interactive training material available on SciFinder’s website to illustrate the structure searching.

Lesson 4

Scopus
~  Searching
~  Setting up alerts

Lesson 5

Internet searching
Evaluation of websites
This lesson was based on Prof Ina Fourie’s course, which all the information specialists attended.  I also incorporated three YouTube videos to make it more interesting.

Lesson 6

Patent searching
This one was based on a lecture Prof. Jeremy Garritano from Purdue University library shared with me.

Lesson 7

Refworks
This one was based on a presentation I received from my colleague Sonto Mabena.

Evaluation of students

Students had to search for information on any research related problem that interested them.  In this search they had to use as many of the research tools demonstrated to them as possible.  They had to present a short research report containing all elements of a proper science research report.  They also had to include screen dumps of their searches in order to show their search strategies and results.

Lessons learned

~  More group work during practical exercises should be allowed.  Students find it enjoyable and stimulating.

~  Patent searching is not that important to the honours students at this stage.  Still, for future reference a chemist should know about patents, their elements, how they can be obtained and how they can be used as information source. 

~  I found it extremely hard to evaluate and rate the research reports.   Eventually I allocated an amount of marks for specific things, such as search engines used, keywords used, citations and bibliography, style of the report, etc.

Recommendations and conclusion

~  All the lectures were made available on ClickUP - students need something to refer to. 

~  Most of the students used their topics of research for the first semester as their research problems and therefore found these lectures extremely useful.  They had to do a literature survey and write a research report and now they knew exactly how to do that.  Both the students and their lecturers were extremely pleased by the outcome of this course.

Contributed by: Sunette Steynberg 

Open Collection on level 5 – new look

During the past few years a fair number of books were weeded in the open collection on level 5 of the Library. Because of the weeding the collection started to appear untidy and disorganised with shelves half full or empty. I decided to do something about this and initiated a project to move and re-shelf the collection in order to create a more professional look. The first phase of the move included the cleaning of the shelves, the actual relocation of many books and updating the signage. This took me and seven young men two and a half weeks to complete. The result was worth the effort – it looks very neat and professional.

The second phase of the move is planned for later in the year.  I would like to thank the men who offered their time and energy in order to complete this task in an astonishingly short time.

Contributed by:  Faan Naudé

Milestone for a South African diva

The exhibition of Mimi Coertse memorabilia currently on display on level 3 in the Merensky Library is the same as the one that was mounted in the foyer of the Mousaion to coincide with the gala event with which the University honoured the famous coloratura soprano on her 80^th birthday on 12^th June 2012.

For Eridine Roux, Curator of the Library’s Mimi Coertse Collection, the past few weeks have indeed been something of a “Mimi season”.  In between cataloguing the more than 400 Mimi Coertse recordings recently transferred from tape to dvd, she had to prepare the exhibition and host – and be interviewed by – a KykNet television team which filmed a documentary about the diva in the Mimi Coertse room in the Old Merensky.

The programme formed part of the series “Formidabele vroue” and was broadcast on 12^th June.

Mimi Coertse has a long association with the University of Pretoria. A bursary founded by her in 1959 to assist students with their studies abroad, has benefited people like Johan Botha, Gert Potgieter, Carla Pohl and Michelle Breedt. She performed at the opening of the Aula in 1958 and again at the Amphitheatre in 1962. In September 1998 the University conferred on her an honour’s doctorate. In the same year she donated her personal collection of music and memorabilia to the University. The collection consists of original compositions dedicated to her, CD’s, awards, photo’s, paintings, programmes,  a bronze bust, recordings of her own performances and dresses she wore in operas, including her role as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Although she is chiefly associated with the Vienna State Opera where she had a successful career spanning more than two decades, Mimi also performed in many other European centres, including Covent Garden, Brussels, Barcelona, Athens, Salzburg, Stuttgart, The Hague, Linz, Graz and Aix-en-Provence. Perhaps her most memorable performance was as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. A depiction of her in this role forms part of the display.

The Mimi Coertse collection can be viewed by appointment in the Old Merensky.

Contributed by Eridine Roux and Pieter vd Merwe

RDA electronic course June/July 2012: a personal view

Background

In the late 20^th century (late nineties) work was begun on what was called the “AACR3” cataloguing standard, especially to accommodate the various electronic media, archival and other material. As new theoretical frameworks were developed, the name was changed to RDA (Resource Description and Access). The main reason was to accommodate the whole world, all kinds of material and languages. The word itself and the “Anglo-American” content were too limiting. The Library of Congress and other national libraries tested RDA and LC decided to implement it in 2013, with the UK following in 2014.

In 2010 the South African RDA Steering Committee was formed, consisting of representatives from the National Library, LIASA interest groups, the provinces, different kinds of libraries, library schools, Sabinet, and people representing electronic media, metadata and library software. At the beginning of 2012 it was decided that South Africa was going the RDA route, although no library would be forced to adopt the new standard. Training and implementation are two aspects the Steering Committee will now have to decide on. The chairperson of the Committee “gently coerced” every member of the Committee to enrol for the course: Planning and preparing for RDA. That is how I, the representative of LIASA Igbis (Interest Group for Bibliographic Standards), came to be involved in the course. The Dept. of Arts and Culture provided the funding.

Week 1

Introductions: We started out on a very congenial note – introducing ourselves, what our responsibilities were, and the reason for doing the course.

A shocking revelation!! Our “lecture” consisted of 182 slides with comments at the bottom of each slide. It was a massive task to go through them all, but worth the effort. I printed them to review in future and to share the knowledge they entail. There are just so many hours in a day!!

AACR2 vs. RDA: Sorry – I used a Latin abbreviation and that is a no-no in RDA. Our young colleagues don’t know the first thing about Latin, although they actually use it every day. Many English words are derived from the Latin language. If you do not believe me, peruse the notes in an English dictionary. That is only one of the changes that will happen in RDA. The other big (and controversial) change is the disappearance of the GMDs (general material designations) which indicate in the title field whether something is an electronic resource, a map, DVD, etc. Now the acquisitions people (sorry guys!) will have to read further down in a record to find three MARC fields (336, 337, 338) to find out what they are ordering. Another horrific change the poor work-logged cataloguers will have to deal with, is that most abbreviations accepted in AACR2 must now be written out in full. Yes, “p.” will now be “pages” and “col. ill.” will be “colo[u]red illustrations” – it hasn’t been decided whether it will be English or American spelling as yet. The Americans will definitely use “colored” whereas other countries may go for the English spelling. South African libraries will probably do what the Americans do!!

Week 2

The second week consisted of two sets of lectures (fortunately fewer slides than Week 1), and two assignments: drawing up a draft cataloguing policy for the implementation of RDA in one’s own library/institution and designing a training plan for RDA.  Some people gave a detailed plan with dates, etc., but we in South Africa still have little to go on, so we could only use the little we knew and try our best.

No other information was given, although there were many links to relevant articles. Students could also look at the work of other students and incorporate some aspects into their own plans.

Weeks 3 & 4

During Week 3 we had to write a draft plan for the implementation of RDA in your library/institution, while the assignment in Week 4 entailed the writing of a draft plan for communicating RDA throughout your library/institution.

Aftermath

This was an amazing experience for me as it was the first electronic course that I attempted. RDA is something that is not as foreign as it used to be and I do not feel so alone anymore. Everybody across the world is battling with the same problems. The social aspect of the course, posting your assignments and other comments on the forum and getting responses, was networking on a new scale, communicating with colleagues from all over the world.

Future cataloguing: with all the effort the Library of Congress, the American Library Association and other national libraries have put into this standard, I really doubt that cataloguers will be out of jobs soon!!

Contributed by Annette Ingram

If you ever feel that we’re not making progress in the work place, just look at the dress code (Right) of 1987 for ladies in the Library. 25 Years ago, ladies were only allowed to wear trousers during winter! And not any trousers, it had to be a suit, or trousers with a long kind of jersey or jacket.

Contributed by Ria Groenewald

'n Tikkie rooibos  © 2009  / [redakteurs Gerda de Wet & Daleen van der Merwe]

Hierdie versameling uitsoekresepte, wat deur sommige van ons land se bekendste sjefs geskep is, weerspieël die beste van Suid-Afrika se kookkums.  Die goue draad wat deur die boek loop, is Rooibos - die wonderbestanddeel wat 'n gewone resep in 'n buitengewone een kan omtower.

Ervaar die merkwaardige verhaal van Rooibos.  Ervaar die ongelooflike geskenk van Rooibos deur meer as 100 resepte van 14 van Suid-Afrika se bekendste sjefs wat Rooibos as bestanddeel gebruik om die geur in kos uit te bring, kleur en diepte by te voeg, en gewone geregte in onvergeetlike disse te omskep.

Hierdie resepte wys jou hoe om uitsonderlike disse, drankies en lekkernye te herskep met 'n eg Suid-Afrikaanse bestanddeel - Rooibos.

Die kookboek is die resultaat van 'n jaar se werk agter die skerms om aan jou die beste van ons land se unieke kookkuns te bied.

Contributed by: Katrien Malan