BIBnuus

The Library and Information Service received the Justice Edwin Cameron Collection in 2021. The collection is housed as part of the Special Collections of the Library and is now ready to be used by researchers.

Justice Cameron was installed as Chancellor of Stellenbosch University in 2020. Edwin Cameron SCOB, born 15 February 1953 in Pretoria, is a retired judge who served as a Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He is well known for his HIV/AIDS and gay-rights activism. President Ramaphosa appointed him as Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services from 1 January 2020.

Cameron’s early career combined academia and legal practice. Cameron practised at the Johannesburg Bar from 1983 to 1994. From 1986 he was a human rights lawyer at Wits’s Centre for Applied Legal Studies, where in 1989 he was awarded a personal professorship in law. His practice included labour and employment law; defence of African National Congress fighters charged with treason; conscientious and religious objection; land tenure and forced removals; and gay and lesbian equality.

Justice Cameron is an alumnus of Stellenbosch University. In his installation speech he spoke about the “joy of being associated with the University that is so clearly on the way up – up in intellectual output, up in teaching skills, up in research and scholarly publications, up in international renown, up even (though this counts the least) in international ranking. Joy particularly in being able to preside over quite a number of graduation ceremonies over the last two and a half years. It has been an honour to confer degrees and witness elated students graduating, some the first in their families to attend a tertiary institution” (Cameron, 2022).

The Cameron collection takes pride of place next to other collections of SU Chancellors such as Frederik van Zyl Slabbert. The collection has been sorted and indexed and an inventory for the collection is available here. The collection contains publications and lectures by Cameron as well as material on his voluntary community service. Importantly, it also contains material on his career and his years as Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. We invite students, researchers and members of the public to peruse this unique collection, which will be formally launched on 6 December this year.

For enquiries on the collection, please contact Ms Marieta Buys, Head: Special Collections (hmbuys@sun.ac.za).

Bibliography:

Cameron, E. 2022. Stellenbosch University deserves to be free from hate and degradation. News24. [Online]. Available from https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/edwin-cameron-our-dignity-demands-we-have-capable-institutions-and-a-capable-government-20220518.

The Stellenbosch University (SU) Library and Information Service is an advocate of open data as demonstrated by the fact that it hosts SUNScholarData, the University’s open data repository. Open data is the act of making data openly accessible and shareable by everyone. Its advantages include ensuring transparent and efficient research and decision-making.

Every year, Figshare runs a survey on the state of open data in the researcher community and publishes a report, alongside the results of the survey.

The Library was invited to contribute a piece in this year’s Figshare report, The State of Open Data Report 2022. Samuel Simango, Manager of Research Data Services in the Library and Information Service wrote an article Preparing for South Africa’s proposed open data strategy: lessons from Stellenbosch University. In his article, Samuel discusses how SU ensures it is compliant with the core aspects of the national South African open data strategy that were postulated in the Proposed National Data and Cloud Policy. Samuel’s contribution can be read here.

The Library and Information Service hosted a Japanese exhibition in the Stellenbosch University Library. The exhibition, which ran from 8-20 August 2022, formed part of the launch of the Stellenbosch University Japan Centre (SUJC).

The SUJC has been established to enhance Japan-South Africa relations through i) promoting Japanese Studies at SU, ii) encouraging research and teaching collaboration in all fields of study, iii) hosting educational, cultural and in-person events for the broader community, and iv) engaging with external (e.g. Japanese business sector in SA) and continental stakeholders.

The Japanese exhibition included books on the art, economy, history, politics and social aspects of Japan. Some artefacts were also on display.

 

 

 

 

 

Have you been struggling with certain aspects relating to the management of your research data? Do you need more information about research data management at Stellenbosch University so that you can manage your research data more effectively or so that you can provide better support to the University’s students and researchers? Well, if that is the case you need to look no further than the Research Data Management Library Guide. This is an online information resource that has just been published by the Library and Information Service. The Research Data Management Library Guide provides a wealth of information about several issues relating to the management of research data. The libguide covers the following topics:

1. Data management planning
2. Data collection/generation
3. Data processing
4. Data analysis
5. Data publication
6. The Research Data Management Adventure Game
7. Research Data Management governance at Stellenbosch University
8. Research data services provided by the Library and Information Service

If you are interested in either improving your research data management skills or providing better research data-related support, please click here to access the Research Data Management Library Guide.

Following the repeal of the remaining national Covid-19 regulations on 22 June 2022 and a statement issued by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Social Impact, Transformation and Personnel on 24 June, the Library (SU Library and branches) has decided to implement the following changes:

Number of clients and booking system

From 27 June 2022, the Library no longer has a limit on the number of clients and the buildings can be filled to capacity. The booking system in most of the Library venues will no longer apply, except at the Makerspace, Auditorium and some group study seminar rooms in the SU Library.

Sanitisation stations and social distancing

The Library will retain the sanitisation stations inside its buildings and where possible, clients are urged to continue maintaining social distancing.

SU access cards

Staff and students are reminded to always be in possession of their SU staff/student cards to access the Library buildings. No access will be granted without these cards.

Visitors

The Library is in the process of implementing a new access system for visitors (such as alumni, prospective postgraduates and school learners). Until the new system is in place visitors do not have walk-in access to the libraries. Visitors, may however, contact SU Library Special Collections, SU Library Client Service, Music Library, Theology Library, Engineering and Forestry Library, Medicine and Health Sciences Library or Bellville Park Campus Library to make an appointment to visit the library in person.

Visitors who qualify for lending privileges may use the Request a Book for Pickup service.

All visiting researchers and academics must make prior arrangements through their faculties and departments to gain access to the Library.

Complaints about noise levels

Following complaints about high levels of noise in the Library, staff and students are reminded to adhere to the Library rules. The Library has designated quiet spaces where talking is not allowed. This rule will be strictly applied in the second semester.

For further details contact Ms Delene Pretorius

Were you one of our 1 147 clients who “spoke” and completed the Library’s survey last year? Your responses have enabled the Library to identify where we need to improve, as well as where we are doing well. How is the Library responding? Below, we present what “You said” and how “we’re acting”.

1. IT
You said…	We’re Acting…
Provide easy-to-use access tools that allow me to find things on my own	·         The Library is developing video tutorials and more courses on SUNLearn
Make it easy to locate information on the Library website	·         The Library has made interim changes on the website ·         We are also looking at redesigning a client-focused website with better navigation
Make it easy to access information to use by myself	·         With us creating video tutorials and improving the Library website, it will be easy to access information independently
Make it easy to use my devices (laptops, smartphones and tablets) to access Library e-resources and services off-campus.	·         The Library is developing videos to guide you on how to access resources from your devices ·         The Library added content on how to use devices to access e-resources to the Off-campus access to Library E-resources webinar (#SmartStudent workshop) and to training sessions for undergraduates and postgraduates ·         We are willing to hear any further challenges and we will address them
2. Collections & information resources
You said…	We’re Acting…
Improve print &/or e-journal collections that I require for my work	·         We will continue to actively negotiate and lobby for additional funding to improve print &/or e-journal collections that are required for the learning, teaching and research needs of academics and students. ·         In addition, the Library will continue to involve you (clients) in spending our library acquisitions budget and will communicate information to faculties annually. Faculties are also given an opportunity to review their journal titles.

 

3. Research support
You said…	We’re Acting…
Improve research support (such as helping me manage my references, research data, guiding me in terms of open access publishing and helping me track my research impact)	·         The Library is making a big effort to reach researchers and postgraduate students and recommends attendance of our #SmartResearcher workshops and the annual Library Research Week. ·         We are increasing our marketing efforts through the Library Research News blog, library guides, social media and targeted e-mails. We will continue to investigate new platforms to market our services to you as our client.

We are pleased to inform all stakeholders of the completion of the SU Library Refurbishment Project. Construction work began in February 2021 and was completed at the beginning of May 2022. The handover of all the spaces to the Library was officially done on 13 May 2022. Save for some snagging, the project is now complete.

The project ran in three overlapping phases:

Phase 1 of the project consisted of renovations of the client service desk, short loans and related staff work areas and staff toilets as well as the refurbishment of lower-level toilets.

Phase 2 of the project entailed work in the central section of the upper level that involved the installation of new students’ study and work areas, and the completion of new flooring.

Phase 3 comprised the renovation of the entrance foyer, access control and new security area and the installation of the adjacent reading area as well as new work desks for students along the double volume space.

We would like to thank all clients for demonstrating high levels of tolerance, understanding and patience during these refurbishments. Disruptive as they were, these renovations have ensured that clients have access to comfortable and effective spaces that befit a world class Library in a world class research-intensive University.

For further details contact Delene Pretorius

See the Picture gallery of the completed spaces.

The Library and Information Service is pleased to announce that three new Read & Publish agreements have been signed with peer-reviewed publishers that will enhance the publishing of articles in open access (OA) publications. These agreements have been negotiated by the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC), of which Stellenbosch University (SU) is a member. This is in addition to the OA agreements signed in 2021 with Cambridge University Press (CUP), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).

SANLiC is a non-profit consortium of academic libraries aimed at negotiating the procurement of and securing access to information resources on behalf of its members, the aim being to deliver a cost-effective result benefiting all members on a national level.

Emerald journals

The Emerald/SANLiC agreement for 2022-2024 is a Read & Publish OA agreement that provides read access to our Emerald subscriptions, as well as permitting corresponding authors from SU to publish a capped number of articles as OA without paying APCs in Emerald gold and subscribed hybrid journals.

The caps on the number of articles for all participating SANLIC members are:

• 2022 = 111
• 2023 = 134
• 2024 = 158

This works on a first-come-first-served basis. Emerald will track the number of articles published and keep the SANLiC office informed.

SAGE journals

The SAGE/SANLiC agreement for 2022-2024 is a Read & Publish OA agreement that provides access to the SAGE Premier journals collection of more than 1 100 titles, and will also permit corresponding authors from SU to publish an uncapped number of articles as OA in the hybrid journals listed in the SAGE/SANLiC agreement, without paying author processing charges (APCs).

Corresponding authors from SU will also receive a discount of 20% on Pure Gold Open Access Journals. There are a small number of exclusions where SAGE is contractually prevented from offering this discount. A list of excluded journals is available from the publisher.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) journals on the SAGE platform

The SAGE/SANLiC agreement for 2022-2024 is a Read & Publish OA agreement that includes access to the IMechE journals. The agreement will also permit corresponding authors from SU to publish an uncapped number of articles as OA in the IMechE journals.

This collection includes the 16-part Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers as well as two other key peer-reviewed engineering journals. Complimentary access to files going back to 1997 is included, with conditions.

Wiley journals

The Wiley/SANLiC agreement for 2022-2025 is a Read & Publish OA agreement that will be phased in over this period. It will provide SU clients reading access to more than 1 400 Wiley journals. In 2022 SU authors may publish free of charge in Wiley’s hybrid OA journals only. However, there is a cap on the number of articles that can be published without paying APCs, for all participating SANLiC members on a first-come-first served basis. 2023-2025 will see the inclusion of Wiley Gold OA journals and Hindawi journals. Read the full press release here.

How do these agreements influence SU researchers’ workflow?

Researchers submit their articles to a publisher as usual. The publisher will automatically give you the applicable OA benefit once the article is accepted for publication.

Enquiries about these agreements: Ms Caretha Nel. Tel 021 808 4433, or email caretha@sun.ac.za

More information regarding  SU OA initiatives is available on our website.

8 April 2022

This is a further update about the ongoing refurbishments at the Stellenbosch University Library following our previous communication.

The renovations consist of upgrading the existing facilities and infrastructure to accommodate clients’ needs and create a contemporary aesthetic for the SU Library while maintaining the integrity of the existing building. The primary focus of the project is to provide clients with comfortable and effective spaces in which to work while making it easier to use and navigate the library.

It gives us pleasure to inform you that the project has proceeded well despite a few snags and that it is nearing completion.

Due to overlap among the phases, we have now decided to inform you what has been completed and what is outstanding.

Completed areas

We are delighted to inform you that the Circulation area and student study areas as well as the Upper Level student ablutions have been completed and are in use. Please note that all client ablution facilities on the Upper Level of the SU Library are now gender neutral.

The reshelving of the books and journals was completed and books and journals are now accessible.

The self-check-in/out machines have been installed at the Circulation Desk on the Upper Level and are in use.

 

 

 

 

Completion of remainder of work

Work that still needs to be completed at the main entrance includes the leisure reading area as well as the installation of aluminium windows, doors and the flooring.

Outstanding work in the leisure reading area will involve the installation of student study areas and new furniture. Once this is complete, newspapers and leisure reading books will be displayed to clients.

In addition to the above, the computers, printing, e-information kiosk and photocopying areas on the Upper Level are not yet in use. Network installation for these will be completed and activated by mid-April.

The completion and handover of the project is now expected at the beginning of May 2022.

We thank clients for demonstrating tolerance, understanding and patience during these refurbishments. We assure you that these renovations are necessary to ensure that you have comfortable and effective spaces at the completion of the project.

For further details contact Delene Pretorius.

Some tears were shed on Friday, 28 January 2022, as Library and Information Service staff bid farewell to two colleagues: Ms Amohelang Boyce (Figure 1) and Mr Philip de Villiers (Figure 2).

Amohelang, a person with grace, was praised for her dedication and persistence in completing her work. Amohelang has accepted a position at another university.

Philip de Villiers retires after 12 years of service to the Library as head of the Metadata Management division (formerly Cataloguing).  Philip’s kindness and care towards his staff was highlighted. Philip shared his motto that “happy staff are productive staff”.

The Library wishes Amohelang and Philip well.