Did you know that the Library has three different repositories?

SUNScholar  – Stellenbosch University’s institutional research repository

SUNScholar might be the most well-known of our repositories. Since the inception of SUNScholar and its predecessor, Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETD),  the items in SUNScholar have grown steadily to reach a substantial number of 29 500 full-text items in 2021.  The entire process of submission, evaluation, verification and acceptance takes place online.  The ingest of new data into SUNScholar is partly due to the biannual graduation ceremonies, the SU research report and authors’ self-archived published articles.  Self-archiving of published articles gives authors the opportunity to disseminate their research more widely, as SUNScholar has established itself as an accredited institutional repository.

In total SUNScholar had 461 735 visits and 158 470 items downloaded. In the graph below it is interesting to see from which continents it is mostly visited.

SUNDigital – Digital Collections

SUNDigital has also been around for a number of years, but might not be as well-known as SUNScholar. A wealth of interesting original manuscripts, maps and photographs have been digitised to form collections within SUNDigital. The total number of items in this digital heritage repository is 15 896 (2021). The repository usage is high at 51 983 times visited, and 37 051 downloads in total.

SUNScholarData  –  Stellenbosch University’s research data repository

The new kid on the block is SUNScholarData. Since its inception in 2019, a growing number of depositors have contributed to the datasets housed in this repository, including linked PLoS datasets. The use of this repository is also growing with 5 034 views and 3 078 downloads in 2021.

Enquiries: Paulette Talliard and Samuel Simango

Mendeley Desktop, the original desktop application for Mendeley Reference Management, will no longer be downloadable via the Mendeley website from 1 September 2022. However, support for the software will remain available and people who have already installed it will still be able to use it. This forms part of Mendeley’s effort to migrate users to the newer Mendeley Reference Manager. This application is also downloadable and is essentially a newer version of Mendeley Desktop. Its associated MS Word plug-in still has several issues though. This is why we at SU Library and Information Service will still focus our support and training on Mendeley Desktop. We have acquired the install files for both Windows and MacOS and made them available on our Mendeley Library Guide. So, our users can still use Mendeley Desktop for as long as Mendeley allows access to the platform and once all the bugs and issues with Mendeley Cite have been resolved, we strongly encourage you to keep using the older software. You can read more about this here.

What is the difference between Mendeley Desktop and Mendeley Reference Manager?

Both Mendeley Desktop and Mendeley Reference Manager are downloadable applications that are used for bibliographic reference management. Mendeley Desktop is the original version that allowed you to work seamlessly even if you are working offline. Mendeley Desktop’s Cite-O-Matic plugin for MS Word simplifies in-text citations and reference management. Mendeley Reference Manager is the newer version and it will eventually replace Mendeley Desktop. It still lacks many features that Mendeley Desktop has and its MS Word plugin, Mendeley Cite, is still reputed to cause many issues. This is why we recommend that our users continue using Mendeley Desktop for as long as it is available.

Mendeley Desktop (MD)

• Multiple ways to import references
• You can import references from other reference managers
• You can create a Watch Folder. If you store a PDF document in the Watch Folder, its metadata will automatically be uploaded to Mendeley Desktop and it will create a record
• You can export PDF documents with the annotations you have made to it
• Easy access to the style customisation platform
• You can manually check for duplicates and select the most accurate version
• The Cite-O-Matic is a stable and reliable MS Word Plugin and allows for greater customisations of citations and their fonts
• Easier to use while working offline

Mendeley Reference Manager (MRM)

• Mendeley Reference Manager does not have any of the above features
  • An exception is the option to import references from other reference managers, however the feature is frustrating and not easy to use
  • MRM automatically checks for duplicates, but it is not very efficient
• MRM has a Notebook feature that collates all the notes you make in your various references
• Easier access to searching for articles on the Mendeley database
• Mendeley Cite (MRM’s MS Word plugin) is still very faulty and causes multiple issues for users
  • References often do not display as they are supposed to
  • There is not a footnote style available that is compatible with Mendeley Cite
  • Mendeley Cite uses textbox field codes to insert citations and they are difficult to delete once inserted

For more information, contact Kirchner van Deventer, Manager: Carnegie Research Commons

Samuel Simango, Manager of Research Data Services, attended the Mortenson Center Associates Program recently. The following is his feedback on his time spent at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign:

The Mortenson Center Associates Program is a unique non-degree professional development programme for librarians from outside the United States. The programme is run by the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs which is located at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. The 2022 Mortenson Center Associates Program took place between 25^th May – 21^st June. The theme for this year was Smart and Smarter: Leadership and Innovation in Libraries. The activities of the programme comprised seminars, workshops, tours, and various tasks.

The programme’s content was wide-ranging and touched on multiple areas relating to library and information services. To a certain degree, it represents a deep dive into the Library and Information Service at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. However, this was blended with perspectives from several other divisions of the University, such as the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Siebel Center for Design, as well as the Campus Instructional Facility. Furthermore, the associates were also provided with broader exposure to several other institutions, including the Urbana Free Library, Harold Washington Branch Chicago Public Library, University of Chicago Library, Ohio State University Library, Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), Westerville Public Library, Arthur Public Library, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Illinois State Library.

There were no specific tracts for the different types of librarians. As such all librarians attending the programme were exposed to a broad range of library environments. The idea was to provide associates with exposure rather than pigeonholing them to the types of libraries in which they happen to work. The Mortenson Center Associates Program probably represents the single greatest transfer of knowledge in the library sector in the world – primarily due to the manner in which it facilitates knowledge acquisition. After attending this programme one certainly comes out with a better understanding and appreciation of libraries.

Samuel (third from the right at the back) with the other librarians who attended the programme, and some of the presenters

The free version of the Dimensions database is a powerful tool to search for publications, data sets, clinical trials and many more. Dimensions covers millions of research publications connected by more than 1.6 billion citations, supporting grants, datasets, clinical trials, patents and policy documents. It boasts to be the world’s largest linked research information dataset.  Read more here.

They have worked together with the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) to integrate their VOSViewer tool into Dimensions. VOSviewer is a software tool for constructing and visualising bibliometric networks which may include citations, bibliographic coupling, co-citations, or co-authorship relations. VOSviewer Online has been fully integrated and added as a visualisation option in the Analytical views panel for all versions of Dimensions. Initially, it is only available in the Researchers Analytical View for publications. The following two types of analyses are available —co-authorship analysis and citation analysis.

Co-authorship analysis

With this fairly new feature you can now easily identify key patterns in bibliometric data. Try it out and contact us if you need any assistance.

Contact: Marié Roux

The two staff members who make sure that the Carnegie Research Commons is no common place have recently been promoted. Kirchner van Deventer’s title has changed from Head: Carnegie Research Commons to Manager: Carnegie Research Commons. His colleague, Letlao Seloma is no longer an Assistant Librarian, but now he is the Librarian: Carnegie Research Commons. With the new titles come new responsibilities, but their focus remains to provide excellent service to our clients.

Kirchner started working at Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service (SU LIS) in August 2019. His primary responsibility in the Research Commons were, and still are, to provide research support and training to Master’s and Doctoral students, as well as researchers and academic staff. This entails assisting clients with the various stages in the research process and referring them to relevant support structures, assisting with document formatting and other IT related issues, support with referencing and our reference management software of choice, Mendeley. He is also responsible for upholding the high standard of infrastructure in the Research Commons and he serves on several committees and task teams. Following his promotion, Kirchner has become the person responsible for organising the #SmartResearcher training programme and he also presents several of the webinars, including Mendeley for reference management, Tips on how to format your thesis (MS Word), Useful tools for research and the Literature Review.

Letlao began his career at SU LIS at the start of 2019, six months before Kirchner and, as Assistant Librarian, he was responsible for providing on-site technical support to clients with the Research Commons facilities, such as our videoconferencing facility, the computer workstations and the facilities in our seminar rooms. He is also responsible for providing research support and, since his promotion, the level of support he provides has increased. He has become more involved in the #SmartResearcher training programme and he also presents several of the Mendeley for reference management webinars. He also hosts weekly Mendeley Mondays webinars where clients can consult with him about issues they have regarding Mendeley.

Day 5: Bridging uncharted waters

The last day of Library Research Week 2022 started out with a workshop on how to improve your impact as a researcher. Marié Roux, Manager of the Library’s division for Research Impact Services, took the participants through the steps on how to improve the online visibility of their research and why this is important. She explained why it is important to create unique author IDs (ORCID, Google Scholar, etc.), populate their profiles on academic network sites (ResearchGate) and showcase their research on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter). The last part of the workshop was about how to monitor your impact as an author with databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, scite, Dimensions and Altmetric.

Samuel Simango, the Manager for Research Data Services then presented a  session on how to handle sensitive research data. This was an excellent workshop where he explained the SU research data governance framework and shared information on secure storage of sensitive research data and the de-identification thereof. The session ended with some data sharing principles which should be adhered to when you work with sensitive data.

The week ended on a high note with a session by Wiley on the topic of the recent Read and Publish Open Access Agreement that has been implemented. The two presenters, Janice Rimbault and Fabio DiBello, took the participants through the author workflow of how to submit a manuscript to a Wiley hybrid journal and get the APC covered through this agreement. This was a valuable practical look at how this works and we will definitely be able to re-use the recording when authors need to know more about the workflow.

Siviwe Bangani, the Director for Research Services, then concluded the week by giving thanks to all presenters and participants.

Author: Marié Roux

Day 3: Navigating the new

The day started with a session on Mixed Methods by Dr Ilse Eigelaar-Meets. Her lively presentation was well received. She started off by discussing two key philosophical concerns, ontology and epistemology, touching on the three ontological arguments and the three epistemological approaches. A definition of mixed methods and a discussion on the types of mixed methods research designs followed.

The next session was presented by Prof Martin Kidd, the Director of the Centre for Statistical Consultation, on Statistics in your research. He discussed the phases of a project: planning, execution, data capturing, data analysis and reporting. The participants asked very relevant questions and a few enquiries about how and where the Centre can be contacted for help. This was a very important and relevant session.

The afternoon sessions were presented by Ms Claire Deakin from SAGE and Dr Bronwyne Coetzee from the Department of Psychology.  Ms Deakin gave an eye-opening presentation on two interactive research tools of Sage Research Methods Online with features for Project planning and Methods maps.  This allows researchers to narrow their searches depending on the research process.

Project Planner in Sage Research Methods Online

Dr Coetzee gave a riveting presentation on the qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS.ti.  The featured functions allow for data management, coding of data, groupings, sub-groups and hierarchies.  The programme allows for the interaction of various file types, and collaboration with other researchers. It is also integrated with statistical analysis programmes and reference manager tools.

The phases of qualitative analysis

Day 4: Traversing the tides

The takeaway from the first session on Research ethics and responsible research conduct within Social Science research, presented by Clarissa Robertson, Division for Research Development:

It is important to note that applying for research ethics is not all about ticking the boxes, but having the understanding that ethics comes first in all research. Research ethics is about credibility, responsibility, and transparency and can also be regarded as a roadmap. Researchers can regard the Research Ethics Committees as their partners in the research process.

The session  Checking your similarity index with Turnitin, presented by  Morris Samuel, Centre for Teaching and Learning:

Morris gave an overview of Turnitin. It is important to note that Turnitin does not check for plagiarism, it only checks for similarities against other publications within Turnitin. Students should always consult with their lecturers or supervisors regarding their similarity index scores for clarification. Students are encouraged to make use of the Turnitin sandbox link provided by the Library.

Authors: Paulette Talliard, Marleen van Wyk and Yusuf Ras

The Launch and panel discussion

The launch of Library Research Week 2022 was held in a hybrid format on 16 May 2022. Ms Ellen Tise, Senior Director of the Library and Information Service, opened the event and explained Library Research Week as one of the flagship programmes of the Library through which we seek to contribute to the University’s strategic theme Research for Impact.  “Our vision is to see this regarded as a prime forum through which partners from other academic support units and faculties are invited to share knowledge in order to impart and further develop the skills of researchers”, added Ms Tise. Thereafter Professor Eugene Cloete, Vice-Rector: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, officially opened the event and explained that the research journey has challenges. Those who succeed are often those who anticipate the challenges, gather all the necessary tools and are set for the final destination.

The highlight of the launch event was a panel discussion about research ethics, expertly facilitated by Professor Carolissen from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The panellists were Dr Marilize Burger, from the Medicine and Health Sciences Faculty, Ms Katlego Mthelebofu, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law , Mr Jerall Toi from the University’s Information Governance Office and  Ms Clarissa Robertson from SU’s Division for Research Development (DRD). The panellists were able to respond to all relevant questions from the facilitator and the audience.  Audience members showed a lot of appreciation for the panel discussion as reflected by the engagement levels of both the virtual and in-person delegates.

Panellists (From left to right): Jerall Toi, Prof Ronelle Carolissen, Clarissa Robertson and Katlego Mthelebofu. Dr Marelize Burger attended online.

Day 1: Rigging the ropes

The theme for Tuesday 17 May, ‘Rigging the ropes’ included lively and interactive sessions on search strategies (Enhance your search strategies: Google and Google Scholar), proposal writing (Do’s and Don’ts of proposal writing) and literature reviews. Pepler Head gave guidance to efficiently search Google and Google Scholar and how effective searching can narrow results considerably. Firstly, he explained how text is indexed in Google before he proceeded to provide search tips. Selene Delport focused on nutshell writing or micro writing, where the focus is on writing smaller sections of text which are later expanded. By means of an initial practical exercise consisting of three questions related to the topic content, the relevance of the topic and the aim of the research, attendees were asked to relate these questions to their own research and to write them in one sentence. Examples from the audience were used to illustrate the structuring of a research question. This presentation concluded with helpful steps for writing a hypothesis. Practical steps for writing a literature review were offered by Elizabeth Moll-Willard. She first explained the role and function of a literature review before she offered steps for writing a literature review. These steps include selecting a topic, searching the literature (creating a search strategy and managing literature), evaluating the literature and writing the review.

All in all a day of very practical information for postgraduate students and researchers!

Recordings of these webinars will be made available via the Library’s YouTube channel later on. Those who have registered for the webinars will all receive the recordings by email.

Authors: Siviwe Bangani and Santie de Jongh

SUNScholar is the University’s institutional repository.  It hosts theses, dissertations and published articles.  Situated in the Digital Scholarship department, helpful staff assists with nominations for graduation, the submission of theses and dissertations, and the self-archiving of published articles.

SUNScholar is divided per faculty and then per department, so for easy viewing you can go directly to the department and find completed theses and dissertations.

According to the Ranking Web of Repositories, SUNScholar is ranked 221^st out of 3751 institutional repositories around the world, hosting over 20 700 items or records, all freely accessible.

Herewith is a graph to show the visits and downloads from SUNScholar over time.

For more information go to the SUNScholar library webpage.

SUNScholar: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/

Contact: scholar@sun.ac.za