Monday, October 30, 2006

E-BOOKS on Veterinary topics

E-BOOKS ON VETERINARY AND RELATED TOPICS
Go to :
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/ebooks/submain.htm
and select Veterinary Science from the list


To access the full text of electronic books you need to be a registered user at the Academic Information Service (Library). All students are automatically registered at the beginning of each year.

To access the full text you will be prompted for a username (your surname) and your student/ personnel number

Make use of the "Limit/Sort" function to limit the titles in a search, if necessary. Click on the link on the bibliographic description of the ebook to access the full text on the WWW or local network server. (From the E-books blog)

Look at the E-Book Information Blog compiled by Amelia Breytenbach, for the latest news and developments regarding e-books. (http://aisebooks.blogspot.com/)

You are most welcome to post your comments on this blog.

Some titles available:

-Field manual of wildlife diseases: general field procedures and diseases of birds (1999-)-Historical anatomies on the Web (2003-)-Lumpy skin disease (2002)
-ProVet website to access the following titles:1)Clinical veterinary toxicology2)Canine and feline geriatrics3)Cardiorespiratory diseases of the dog and cat4)Feline and canine infectious diseases5)Equine cardiology

Animal biotechnology science-based concerns (2002)
The art of veterinary practice: a guide to client communication (1995)
Cattle and small ruminant production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (2002)
Comfortable quarters for laboratory animals (2002)
Critical needs for research in veterinary science (2005)

NEW ADDITIONS TO VET LIBRARY COLLECTION

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE VETERINARY SCIENCE Information Resources Collection 2005-2006

http://explore.up.ac.za/ftlist

Select VETERINARY SCIENCE from the List to see the new books, videos, DVDs and CDs acquired since June 2005.

To see complete details for an item, click on the title.

DIGITISATION PROJECTS: VETERINARY SCIENCE

VET’s digital community under the spotlight – ENABLING ACCESS TO HISTORICAL RESEARCH (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/80)

The Veterinary Science Library participated once again in Faculty Day at Onderstepoort with a hands-on display of one of its growing UPSpace communities, the Theiler Collection.

Ably assisted by Ria Groenewald, the AI digital expert, and Amelia Breytenbach (VET’s digital expert and main force driving the project) we were able to show our clients and visitors what a powerful tool such a digital collection is, enabling access to historical documents including rare photographs of ARNOLD THEILER who founded the Faculty in 1920 and his colleagues and friends and family. Ria made an excellent scanned copy of his own thesis presented at Berne University in Switzerland in 1901 (Die Malaria des Pferdes) and it is included in the Collection for all the world to read. I wish I was there in 1901 to tell him that the future would give him even greater exposure than he had in Pres. Paul Kruger’s time!

Diseases of production animals are of importance worldwide, but Africa has a special abundance of diseases and therefore attracts interest from various research bodies internationally. Human health is inevitably linked to animals, with serious repercussions if diseases are allowed to spread as seen now with Bird Flu. Most of the early research reports on Africa’s animal diseases appear in our local veterinary or animal science journals.

The need to digitise these early works is imperative.

Theiler’s report on Lamsiekte (Parabotulism) in cattle in South Africa, published in 1927, is being studied now by a Research group in Germany – we provided the material which was unobtainable in any library in that country. We are holding thumbs that they will help us with funding to digitise these early publications.

Friday, October 27, 2006

2006 Strategic Plan: VET Library, Academic Information Service

Our Goals for 2006:
Grouped according to Business Plan of the AIS for 2006:

LEARNING AND E-LEARNING SUPPORT
Circulation desk - motivate once again as ergonomically a disaster
Weeding of collection (e.g.older medical books)
Indicate e-journals on shelves(cards)to highlight growing e-collection
LibQual - keep undergrads informed.Communicate via newsletter, notices, Everyone, Red Eye, etc
Use competitions to teach info literacy
List videos under subjects (List in p-format for browsing)

RESEARCH AND E-RESEARCH SUPPORT
Onderstepoort J Vet Res duplicates return to OVI for storage
Book funds - motivate for additional
VET library committee - send minutes as soon as poss after meetings to ensure effective communication within departments
Kontak Prof Meltzer oor sy Wild-versameling (6000 artikels in kabinette)-Digital community?
Rhino Update (bibliography) Reference Manager?
Ostrich Update (bibliography) InMagic
Vet Tropical Diseases webproduct in support of MSc of Dept VTD
LibQual - keep our users informed! Dewey nos.,e-journals etc
Standards for vet libraries - investigate and apply for benchmarking (Quality management)

E-SERVICE
Apply WIKIS within SU and as communication/instruction aid for users
Implement use of RSS feeds for self and for users
Proceedings edit & publish:5th International Conference Animal Health Information Specialists
Staff development : Metadata, RSS feeds, WIKIs

DIGITAL REPOSITORY
National Veterinary Repository: komitee,werf fondse,samewerkingsooreenkomste
Metadata werkswinkels aanbied - Amelia
Further development of VET communities on UPspace:Theiler,Pastures,Newspaper clippings
Wildlife collection of Prof Meltzer (retired prof.)

2006 Strategic Plan: VET Library, Academic Information Service

SEE ALSO OUR WIKI: www.vetstrategies.pbwiki.com

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The NATIONAL VETERINARY REPOSITORY will consist of digitised documents, photos, slides, video clips etc of historical importance. It will serve the veterinary /animal health research community both in South Africa and in other countries.The Project Proposal drawn up by Sanet Haupt of the Department of Telematic Learning and Education Innovation of the University of Pretoria and Amelia Breytenbach and Erica van der Westhuizen of the Academic Information Service, University of Pretoria gives further insight into what the project will mean for the University as well as the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and the South African Veterinary Association.
The importance of preserving the early research outputs of South African veterinary researchers as well as the data which they used in their research regarding animal diseases of Africa in particular, cannot be over-emphasised!

2005 Annual Report - University of Pretoria VET Library

Academic Information Service
Annual Report 2005

Service Unit: VETERINARY SCIENCE
Review. 2005’s main activity was the organizing of the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists. The Service Unit hosted the conference at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, 4-7 July 2005. Pre-conference workshops were also organized and run by the SU, from 29 June – 2 July. As part of our conference activities we developed a blog to market and record the conference : www.knowledgeflows.blogspot.com

This conference is mainly for veterinary librarians across the world and usually takes place every 3-4 years. This was the first time it was held in Africa. We managed to obtain funds for 7 colleagues from other African countries to attend it. The CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation) in The Netherlands gave the funds.

2005 also saw the introduction of our online module in Information Literacy as part of the Research Methodology course presented by the Faculty to their postgraduate students. This is a first in the Academic Information Service being totally electronic with assignments which are marked by the Information Specialists of the SU.

The SU continued with its digitization projects and the Theiler Collection was featured on UPSpace as part of the institutional repository of UP.

The increase in the number of veterinary information sources being published necessitated additional allocation of funds. We spent a total of R330,000 (?) on books and CDs/DVDs. (Journals and e-resources have separate funds)

We initiated a special hands-on Internet training course for 5th year students which proved our most popular training item so far.

Highlights
5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists
. The Service Unit hosted the conference at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, 4-7 July 2005. Pre-conference workshops were also organized and run by the SU, from 29 June – 2 July. The poster session was the largest one ever held at one of these conferences. GROUP PHOTO: 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS).
4-7 July 2005, University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
Participants of 5 ICAHIS – 4 July 2005

With the theme “Running wild, running free: capturing, harnessing and disseminating knowledge flows in support of animal health” this conference brought information specialists from both developed and developing countries together to share knowledge and expertise in the critical animal health information field.


Theiler Collection on UPSpace (See comments above)

Training: How to search the Internet effectively and evaluate the information you find on the Web (hands-on course for BVSc V students). (See comments above)

Alignment with AI/UP strategic plans
Organising and hosting the conference supported the AI/UP strategic plan to become an internationally recognized leader and role player in the information environment.
It also helped with our networking aim, to communicate and position ourselves and build partnerships, locally and internationally.

Our digitization project, the Theiler Collection, enhanced with metadata developed by Amelia Breytenbach, is aligned with the e-strategy of the AI.
This is a leading e-product, paving the way for similar initiatives elsewhere in the AI and/or South Africa.

Our Internet Training module as well as our online Research Methodology course module is aligned with the AI strategy of becoming a role-player in the virtual information arena, also supporting the e-strategy of the AI and UP.


Challenges

The inadequate bandwidth available to UP clients and staff is a serious hindrance.

Funds for books not sufficient to cover all areas needed by our clients.



Statistics (PLEASE CONSULT GERDA.)

Information Resources (Books, CDs/DVDs) issued: 15,410
E-journals available to UP users:
E-books available :
Database searches done by clients and staff:
Interloans: Requests received from other libraries: 1486
Requests submitted to other libraries: 1416

Collection Management: new orders placed:
No. of items catalogued:

No.of theses catalogued: