DIGITISATION / WEB PROJECTS:
• The 2 veterinary journals of South Africa have been scanned from their first volume. The Onderstepoort J. of Veterinary Research is being prepared for web publication (derivation process) and the first volumes have been uploaded in UPSpace, the institutional repository of the University.
• A special web face has been created for the South African National Veterinary Repository (SANVR) showing all the veterinary collections in UPSpace.
• The slide project has been started with the uploading with metadata of the unique slide collections of the Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Pathology as well as Veterinary Tropical Diseases. The slides of the Department of Production Animal Studies are being processed now. Those of the other departments (Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Anatomy & Physiology will follow in 2010.
• The Phytomedicine webpage has been created: http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/phyto.htm
2. NAMING CEREMONY. The function celebrating the New Name of the Veterinary Science Library, namely the Jotello F. Soga Library, was held on 5 May 2009. It was a most successful occasion with a special invitation and brochure commemorating J .F. Soga. Handouts about the library and its role were also produced for this event. The Chancellor of the university was the host and many leading figures in the university and veterinary world attended.
3. TRAINING of students and staff took place with group sessions for BScIII and BVScIV (the former 5th years). Lunch hour sessions were held for postgraduate students and lecturing staff or researchers.
4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH. • An end-of-year visit to the Onderstepoort Primary School will take place at the beginning of December. Donated toys and books and drawing materials will be distributed. Library staff made posters focusing on pet ownership as well as the role of the veterinarian. These will be displayed in the classrooms.
• The Library’s Vet Books for Africa project continued with support from the library. The students’ bi-annual trip to other African countries will take place at the end of November 2010 but they are already busy with the planning. They have managed to obtain donated books of recent publication date from the Commonwealth Veterinary Association.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHIES. The 2000-2009 update of the Ostrich Bibliography is almost complete.
6. MARKETING. Various displays were held in the Library throughout the year such as the one highlighting the Darwin centenary and the Open Access international project.
During Faculty Day on 27 August faculty staff and students and visitors were shown the veterinary collections in UPSpace. The library’s home page is an important medium for featuring library activities e.g. the Naming Ceremony and awards won by library staff. http://www.library.up.ac.za/vet/index.htm
The new updated library pamphlets or brochures which were created for the Naming Ceremony are an effective marketing tool. They were also handed out at Faculty Day in August as well as at the veterinary librarians conference in Australia in September (6 ICAHIS).
INVOLVEMENT IN FACULTY ACTIVITIES
The Onderstepoort Calendar for 2010 will feature library staff as May Month. This is a student charity initiative in support Animals in Distress. The library staff were delighted to be part of this worthwhile project.
7. TRAINING OF LIBRARY STAFF. Joe Sindane completed courses in Introduction to computers and Windows. Antoinette Lourens and Marguerite Nel completed a course on Presenting Papers. Amelia Breytenbach completed an online course on the Semantic Web and Thesauri presented by the University of Wisconsin, USA.
8. CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE AND VISITS. International: 10 ICML (International Congress of Medical Librarians) and 6ICAHIS (6th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists) September 2009 attended by Tertia Coetsee and Marguerite Nel. They presented the following papers:
Information services and products for Phytomedicine and Ethno-veterinary medicine: supporting new research niche areas in Africa, was delivered at the ICAHIS session by Tertia and Marguerite. Marguerite also presented another paper, An Investigation into the Information Behaviour of Veterinary Practitioners in South Africa at the same conference. Erica van der Westhuizen presented a paper, African indigenous knowledge: dissemination of IK related information in the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library and the Jotello F. Soga Library, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, which she prepared in collaboration with David Swanepoel, from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library. All these papers are held in a collection in the UQ eSpace repository. The URL is: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/collection/UQ:179364. It will soon also be available on our own repository, UPSpace.
They visited the University of Queensland Libraries in Brisbane, and the University of Sydney’s Badham Library which serves the veterinary faculty.
National: African Digital Scholarship Conference in Pretoria, attended by Amelia Breytenbach and Antoinette Lourens. Amelia and Ria Groenewald delivered a paper: The use of metadata and preservation methods for continuous access to digital data.
9. INVOLVEMENT IN PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. Marguerite Nel as Hon. Secretary of HICSA (Health Information Community of South Africa) arranged the annual meeting (held at the Hatfield campus of UP in November). Feedback sessions were given on 10 ICML and 6 ICAHIS (see above) by Prof Ina Fourie and Marguerite and Tertia.
Marguerite delivered a paper at this meeting:The role of health and medical library associations in the facilitation and sharing of information and knowledge.
10. RESEARCH ENABLEMENT (RESEARCH SUPPORT). Training sessions were held as usual for postgraduate students and staff, with emphasis on Enhancing research output.
As part of the UPLS survey of data management practices 3 faculty researchers and 3 postgraduate students were interviewed in November and reports compiled.
11. QUALITY ASSURANCE. The Libstats program was implemented showing work output of the information specialists for management information. The LibQual survey showed where action needs to be taken to better serve clients and communication with academic staff in particular will be the main focus now.
12. PHYSICAL FACILITIES. Unfortunately the budget for 2009 could not cover our request for a carpet in the walk area next to the study desks. It stands over for the 2010 budget.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
6 ICAHIS / ICML and BEARDED PIGS
In one of the 6 ICAHIS presentations, Vicki Croft of the Animal Health Library at Washington State University (WSU) described the steps they took to locate and digitize the proceedings of all the ICAHIS conferences from the first one held in 1992 in the UK. No 3, the one held jointly with ICML in London in 2000, was especially difficult as the papers had been uploaded electronically to the ICML website but unfortunately were later removed and no copy was available thereafter. Vicki could only find one paper online and that was Tertia’s paper which Antoinette Lourens of our library had uploaded in the University of Pretoria Veterinary Library homepage.
Like us, Vicki is also using DSpace for the repository of these ICAHIS proceedings. By 25 June 2009 their site had 6241 hits.
Kristine Alpi of North Carolina State University discussed “Assessing dissemination of animal health research findings”. She recommended that funders should make their findings more accessible. And that researchers webpages should link to free online abstracts or full text .
The keynote by Ian Frazer of the University of Queensland had the interesting title “Fossilised knowledge? Librarians as repositories of knowledge in biomedical research in the cyberspace era”. Since the time of the ancient Egyptians till now the place of the librarian seemed secure. But today the Megabyte information process centre has become the library. With mobiles and the Internet, will libraries survive? He pointed out some challenges:
- too much knowledge
- the rate of change of knowledge
- much valuable knowledge is pre-Medline
- there is knowledge created in the developing world which is not yet processed and made accessible.
He sees the role of the librarian will be to catalogue ideas rather than books, and to prioritise the value of sources of ideas. Ideas are the intellectual capital of the 21st century.
LIBRARIANS NEED SOME FUN TOO! The Conference Gala Dinner was a unique experience. The dishes were served in so-called Australian style i.e. by alternation, meaning that every second person received a dish different from his neighbour! All were delicious. The entertainment was provided by The Bearded Pigs – a medical librarian band! “The first and only open access international library band” – a fitting end to the conference.
Like us, Vicki is also using DSpace for the repository of these ICAHIS proceedings. By 25 June 2009 their site had 6241 hits.
Kristine Alpi of North Carolina State University discussed “Assessing dissemination of animal health research findings”. She recommended that funders should make their findings more accessible. And that researchers webpages should link to free online abstracts or full text .
The keynote by Ian Frazer of the University of Queensland had the interesting title “Fossilised knowledge? Librarians as repositories of knowledge in biomedical research in the cyberspace era”. Since the time of the ancient Egyptians till now the place of the librarian seemed secure. But today the Megabyte information process centre has become the library. With mobiles and the Internet, will libraries survive? He pointed out some challenges:
- too much knowledge
- the rate of change of knowledge
- much valuable knowledge is pre-Medline
- there is knowledge created in the developing world which is not yet processed and made accessible.
He sees the role of the librarian will be to catalogue ideas rather than books, and to prioritise the value of sources of ideas. Ideas are the intellectual capital of the 21st century.
LIBRARIANS NEED SOME FUN TOO! The Conference Gala Dinner was a unique experience. The dishes were served in so-called Australian style i.e. by alternation, meaning that every second person received a dish different from his neighbour! All were delicious. The entertainment was provided by The Bearded Pigs – a medical librarian band! “The first and only open access international library band” – a fitting end to the conference.
Monday, November 16, 2009
6 ICAHIS and 10 ICML conferences in Australia 2009
RECEPTION AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE, QUEENSLAND
During the conferences foreign delegates were invited to a special reception by the State Governor of Queensland, Ms Penelope Wensley. The accompanying note on Protocol instructed us to address her as Ma'am or Governor, and her husband as Mr McCosker. Unfortunately he was unable to attend the occasion and she told me that as he was a veterinarian he would have liked to meet us veterinary librarians. Government House is a beautiful building dating from 1910, full of Australian art. It was a great thrill meeting her and seeing this lovely home, and enjoying an interesting variety of snacks, including kangaroo meat! I was told it tasted just like biltong.
View the beautiful building and gardens at http://www.govhouse.qld.gov.au/government_house/visitorsprograms.aspx
CONFERENCES in Australia, 31 August - 5 September 2009
Some thought-provoking keynotes and presentations during 10 ICML :
Bruce Madge: "Art of Medicine - visualising medicine from Vesalius to MRI". He asked medical students at a Romanian medical school if appreciation of art is useful for medicine, and 71% answered Yes! He told us about a British artist, Angela Palmer who creates works of art comprised of layers of MRI scans - they sell at GBP 6000 each!
Trenton Boyd: helped us gain insights into the world of veterinary postcards of which he has a collection of 3000. The first veterinary postcard was produced in Austria in 1869. I wonder how many have been produced in South Africa - this could be a new hobby field for a retired librarian?)
One keynote was delivered by someone not actually present physically. Prof P. Glasziou from the Centre of EBW, University of Oxford presented live all the way from the UK. He had to stay up late to do this, while in Australia it was the following morning.
He asked: Do we know the right things? Can we find the correct answers?"
During the conferences foreign delegates were invited to a special reception by the State Governor of Queensland, Ms Penelope Wensley. The accompanying note on Protocol instructed us to address her as Ma'am or Governor, and her husband as Mr McCosker. Unfortunately he was unable to attend the occasion and she told me that as he was a veterinarian he would have liked to meet us veterinary librarians. Government House is a beautiful building dating from 1910, full of Australian art. It was a great thrill meeting her and seeing this lovely home, and enjoying an interesting variety of snacks, including kangaroo meat! I was told it tasted just like biltong.
View the beautiful building and gardens at http://www.govhouse.qld.gov.au/government_house/visitorsprograms.aspx
CONFERENCES in Australia, 31 August - 5 September 2009
Some thought-provoking keynotes and presentations during 10 ICML :
Bruce Madge: "Art of Medicine - visualising medicine from Vesalius to MRI". He asked medical students at a Romanian medical school if appreciation of art is useful for medicine, and 71% answered Yes! He told us about a British artist, Angela Palmer who creates works of art comprised of layers of MRI scans - they sell at GBP 6000 each!
Trenton Boyd: helped us gain insights into the world of veterinary postcards of which he has a collection of 3000. The first veterinary postcard was produced in Austria in 1869. I wonder how many have been produced in South Africa - this could be a new hobby field for a retired librarian?)
One keynote was delivered by someone not actually present physically. Prof P. Glasziou from the Centre of EBW, University of Oxford presented live all the way from the UK. He had to stay up late to do this, while in Australia it was the following morning.
He asked: Do we know the right things? Can we find the correct answers?"
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
10 ICML and 6 ICAHIS conferences in Australia, 2009
Tertia Coetsee and Marguerite Nel from the Jotello F. Soga Library attended the 10th International Congress on Medical Librarianship and the 6th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (6ICAHIS) from 31 August to 5 September 2009 in Brisbane Australia. They were funded by the Library Services Conference funds as well as the self-generated funds of the Jotello F. Soga Library. They were awarded a scholarship from the ICML organisers which further helped to cover their costs. Erica van der Westhuizen (now retired) also attended the veterinary librarians’ conference, 6ICAHIS, and she funded herself.
This Congress is held every four or five years giving the health library sector an opportunity to come together to address major issues confronting the profession.
The 6th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) was held with the ICML. This was the second time the ICAHIS Conference was held in association with the ICML. Following on from the 5th Conference held in South Africa in July 2005, which was hosted by us, it was a great opportunity meeting again other librarians specialising in animal health from around the world to discuss a range of issues relevant to our profession.
Five hundred delegates from over 43 countries attended the 2009 ICML conference in Brisbane. The keynote speakers were outstanding and of a very high quality. To give you an idea, we want to mention some of the outstanding papers:
Jeffery Drazen is the Editor in Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. He discussed the importance of communicating research findings, specifically referring to a research project to develop a new medicine which was supposed to lower cholesterol.
Prof Ian Frazer is the Director of Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, University of Queensland. He discussed the important role of libraries to preserve knowledge and research for the future.
Another interesting and entertaining presenter was Prof John Pearns, who looked at reasons why some publications become best sellers and others not.
The scientific programme consisted of 6 concurrent sessions each day. One of these sessions was devoted to the ICAHIS conference. There was also an exhibition of posters in the exhibition area.
A paper titled Information services and products for Phytomedicine and Ethno-veterinary medicine: supporting new research niche areas in Africa, was delivered at the ICAHIS session by Tertia and Marguerite. Marguerite also presented another paper, An Investigation into the Information Behaviour of Veterinary Practitioners in South Africa at the same conference. Erica presented a paper, African indigenous knowledge: dissemination of IK related information in the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library and the Jotello F. Soga Library, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, which she prepared in collaboration with David Swanepoel, from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library. All these papers are held in a collection in the UQ eSpace repository. The URL is: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/collection/UQ:179364. It will soon also be available on our own repository, UPSpace.
During the closing ceremony, a brief overview was given on the whole conference and everybody agreed this was one of the best organised ICML conferences ever.
Library visits
Brisbane
The tour to the University of Queensland libraries focused mainly on the physical
facilities. We were impressed with the “State of the Art” facilities and resources
which include amongst others a garden, spaces for multiple learning styles and
access to information technologies.
Open spaces with large areas for study and collaboration, study cubicles in quiet areas as well as a variety of seminar rooms are available with modern, hi tech furniture and facilities to facilitate study and research. Wireless network access is available for all enrolled students. Special areas and facilities are allocated to post graduate students.
Sydney
The Badham library serves the Veterinary faculty of the University of Sydney. They deliver more or less the same services as our Jotello F Soga library, which also serves the Veterinary faculty. The team leader of this library, Karen Black and her team also showed us their electronic products. They focus a lot on developing student’s research and information skills. There is also an increased interest in digital repositories and preservation of the knowledge products of the university as well as the community.
This Congress is held every four or five years giving the health library sector an opportunity to come together to address major issues confronting the profession.
The 6th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) was held with the ICML. This was the second time the ICAHIS Conference was held in association with the ICML. Following on from the 5th Conference held in South Africa in July 2005, which was hosted by us, it was a great opportunity meeting again other librarians specialising in animal health from around the world to discuss a range of issues relevant to our profession.
Five hundred delegates from over 43 countries attended the 2009 ICML conference in Brisbane. The keynote speakers were outstanding and of a very high quality. To give you an idea, we want to mention some of the outstanding papers:
Jeffery Drazen is the Editor in Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. He discussed the importance of communicating research findings, specifically referring to a research project to develop a new medicine which was supposed to lower cholesterol.
Prof Ian Frazer is the Director of Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, University of Queensland. He discussed the important role of libraries to preserve knowledge and research for the future.
Another interesting and entertaining presenter was Prof John Pearns, who looked at reasons why some publications become best sellers and others not.
The scientific programme consisted of 6 concurrent sessions each day. One of these sessions was devoted to the ICAHIS conference. There was also an exhibition of posters in the exhibition area.
A paper titled Information services and products for Phytomedicine and Ethno-veterinary medicine: supporting new research niche areas in Africa, was delivered at the ICAHIS session by Tertia and Marguerite. Marguerite also presented another paper, An Investigation into the Information Behaviour of Veterinary Practitioners in South Africa at the same conference. Erica presented a paper, African indigenous knowledge: dissemination of IK related information in the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library and the Jotello F. Soga Library, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, which she prepared in collaboration with David Swanepoel, from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library. All these papers are held in a collection in the UQ eSpace repository. The URL is: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/collection/UQ:179364. It will soon also be available on our own repository, UPSpace.
During the closing ceremony, a brief overview was given on the whole conference and everybody agreed this was one of the best organised ICML conferences ever.
Library visits
Brisbane
The tour to the University of Queensland libraries focused mainly on the physical
facilities. We were impressed with the “State of the Art” facilities and resources
which include amongst others a garden, spaces for multiple learning styles and
access to information technologies.
Open spaces with large areas for study and collaboration, study cubicles in quiet areas as well as a variety of seminar rooms are available with modern, hi tech furniture and facilities to facilitate study and research. Wireless network access is available for all enrolled students. Special areas and facilities are allocated to post graduate students.
Sydney
The Badham library serves the Veterinary faculty of the University of Sydney. They deliver more or less the same services as our Jotello F Soga library, which also serves the Veterinary faculty. The team leader of this library, Karen Black and her team also showed us their electronic products. They focus a lot on developing student’s research and information skills. There is also an increased interest in digital repositories and preservation of the knowledge products of the university as well as the community.
We learned a lot from the conference as well as all the visits to other university libraries. We built new contacts through networking with professionals from all over the world, caught up with old friends, shared ideas and discussed similar situations and obstacles.
The photo above shows Erica, Marie Teissier (OIE), Tertia and Marguerite with Brisbane in the background.
[More photos can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/13687587@N03/]
Contributed by Marguerite Nel
[More photos can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/13687587@N03/]
Contributed by Marguerite Nel
Erica van der Westhuizen retires as Head
27 YEARS AS HEAD OF THE VETERINARY SCIENCE LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
Erica van der Westhuizen
The Faculty has played such an important role in my life for the past 27 years that retirement at the end of September will take some getting used to! However, the joys of water aerobics, tea parties with old girlfriends and frequent Cinema Nouveau visits should compensate somewhat!
These were momentous years, with mostly highs, fortunately. Four Deans (Proff. Le Roux, Coubrough, Kriek and Swan), 3 BVSc degree changes (51/2 years, 6 years, 7 years), the amalgamation (MEDUNSA and UP = new National Faculty), all impacted on my work as the Head of the Veterinary Science Library, now named the Jotello F. Soga Library.
The support of the Deans has been especially important in helping the library to achieve its goals. The success of our 2 international veterinary librarians conferences which we organised and hosted (1995 and 2005) was largely due to Prof Coubrough and Prof Kriek respectively.
As we now increase our focus on electronic storage and accessibility of information, in particular the research output of the faculty, it is the present Dean, Prof Swan who is our main ally and supporter.
I would also like to mention the successful and inspiring cooperation of departmental heads and lecturers through the years. Prof Johnny van der Walt was one of our most enthusiastic users, helping us to build a strong physiology book and CD collection, Prof Abrams, former head of Poultry, always ensured that the library had fresh sweet peas, Prof Anna Verster who donated the unique photo collection of the Theiler daughters to the library for safekeeping, Prof Frank Verstraete (now at the University of California Davis) who invited me to witness the crowning of a tiger’s tooth, Prof Herman Groenewald who allowed us to digitise the unique biomedical illustrations of Christine Seegers, making them electronically available worldwide, Prof Banie Penzhorn, a regular, much appreciated donor of conference proceedings, Prof Koos Coetzer and Prof Roy Tustin who are currently involved with us in placing digitised slides in the electronic SA National Veterinary Repository – these are examples of the type of clients that help a library to develop as a unique and relevant information provider.
Students also play an influential role in library affairs. I must mention the students who are involved in library activities, such as the Vet Books for Africa project (started by the library in 1993 with the help of Gerhard Steenkamp, then a final year student, now head of the Dental Clinic). It has been especially rewarding working with the after-hours student library assistants. These have included such well-known vets as Drs Willem Burger, Paddy Morgan and Gary Bauer.
Of course, a successful library and information service needs an enthusiastic, creative, highly intelligent, witty and resourceful team of information specialists and library assistants. I was blessed with such a team – thank you, Amelia, Antoinette, Barbara, Johannes, Joe, Marguerite and Tertia
(and the students, Aileen, Kate and Vince).
Erica van der Westhuizen
The Faculty has played such an important role in my life for the past 27 years that retirement at the end of September will take some getting used to! However, the joys of water aerobics, tea parties with old girlfriends and frequent Cinema Nouveau visits should compensate somewhat!
These were momentous years, with mostly highs, fortunately. Four Deans (Proff. Le Roux, Coubrough, Kriek and Swan), 3 BVSc degree changes (51/2 years, 6 years, 7 years), the amalgamation (MEDUNSA and UP = new National Faculty), all impacted on my work as the Head of the Veterinary Science Library, now named the Jotello F. Soga Library.
The support of the Deans has been especially important in helping the library to achieve its goals. The success of our 2 international veterinary librarians conferences which we organised and hosted (1995 and 2005) was largely due to Prof Coubrough and Prof Kriek respectively.
As we now increase our focus on electronic storage and accessibility of information, in particular the research output of the faculty, it is the present Dean, Prof Swan who is our main ally and supporter.
I would also like to mention the successful and inspiring cooperation of departmental heads and lecturers through the years. Prof Johnny van der Walt was one of our most enthusiastic users, helping us to build a strong physiology book and CD collection, Prof Abrams, former head of Poultry, always ensured that the library had fresh sweet peas, Prof Anna Verster who donated the unique photo collection of the Theiler daughters to the library for safekeeping, Prof Frank Verstraete (now at the University of California Davis) who invited me to witness the crowning of a tiger’s tooth, Prof Herman Groenewald who allowed us to digitise the unique biomedical illustrations of Christine Seegers, making them electronically available worldwide, Prof Banie Penzhorn, a regular, much appreciated donor of conference proceedings, Prof Koos Coetzer and Prof Roy Tustin who are currently involved with us in placing digitised slides in the electronic SA National Veterinary Repository – these are examples of the type of clients that help a library to develop as a unique and relevant information provider.
Students also play an influential role in library affairs. I must mention the students who are involved in library activities, such as the Vet Books for Africa project (started by the library in 1993 with the help of Gerhard Steenkamp, then a final year student, now head of the Dental Clinic). It has been especially rewarding working with the after-hours student library assistants. These have included such well-known vets as Drs Willem Burger, Paddy Morgan and Gary Bauer.
Of course, a successful library and information service needs an enthusiastic, creative, highly intelligent, witty and resourceful team of information specialists and library assistants. I was blessed with such a team – thank you, Amelia, Antoinette, Barbara, Johannes, Joe, Marguerite and Tertia
(and the students, Aileen, Kate and Vince).
The photo shows Erica with her oldest staff member on the left, Johannes Moropotli, and her newest staff member, Joe Sindane, right.
Friday, September 25, 2009
LibQual 2009 survey of Soga Library
LibQUAL+® is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of
service quality. These services are offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).
The program’s centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey paired with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library. The survey instrument measures library users’ minimum, perceived, and desired service levels of service quality across three dimensions:
Affect of Service, Information Control, and Library as Place.
The goals of LibQUAL+® are to:
• Foster a culture of excellence in providing library service
• Help libraries better understand user perceptions of library service quality
• Facilitate the on-going collection and interpretation of library user feedback
• Provide comparable information from peer institutions
• Identify best practices in library service
• Enhance library staff members’ analytical skills for interpreting, and acting on data
More than 1,000 libraries have participated in LibQUAL+®, including Canadian government libraries, colleges and universities, community colleges, health sciences and hospital/medical libraries, law libraries, public libraries, and secondary school libraries---some through various consortia, others as independent participants. LibQUAL+® has expanded internationally, with participating institutions in Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe. It has been translated
into a number of languages, including Afrikaans, Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Welsh. The growing LibQUAL+® community of participants and its
extensive dataset are rich resources for improving library services.
The 2009 survey of the Jotello F. Soga Library highlighted the following areas needing attention:
Improving communication between the Library and clients regarding information sources :
- not all veterinary journals (e.g. Veterinary Technician) are as yet electronically available in full text format
- the book budget does not allow us to purchase multiple copies of text books for extended loan
Improving training sessions to enable clients to access the library website and e-journal collections more effectively
Marking quiet study areas upstairs for clients needing to study. Indicating clearly that areas near Library Counter and in Reserved Collection area are not for study, but for groups working together on projects. There is also a group area upstairs in the AudioVisual Room.
Marking journal shelves more effectively to show which titles are now only available electronically.
Marketing the use of the computers in the adjacent Computer Laboratory for student assignments and for printing. These computers are connected to the network so all databases etc on the library system can be accessed there as well.
Encouraging clients (lecturers and students) to attend training sessions offered throughout the year. This is of importance especially to students in their first year of study at the Onderstepoort Campus.
We would like to thank all clients who kindly participated in the survey, enabling us to improve our services and products.
We will be using plasma screens , posters in the Computer Lab and the cafeteria, notices on our Website, online messages to Everyone, as well as focused articles in newsletters of the Library and the Faculty to keep our clients informed.
We intend visiting clients in their offices as well to improve communication.
Erica van der Westhuizen, September 2009
service quality. These services are offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).
The program’s centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey paired with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library. The survey instrument measures library users’ minimum, perceived, and desired service levels of service quality across three dimensions:
Affect of Service, Information Control, and Library as Place.
The goals of LibQUAL+® are to:
• Foster a culture of excellence in providing library service
• Help libraries better understand user perceptions of library service quality
• Facilitate the on-going collection and interpretation of library user feedback
• Provide comparable information from peer institutions
• Identify best practices in library service
• Enhance library staff members’ analytical skills for interpreting, and acting on data
More than 1,000 libraries have participated in LibQUAL+®, including Canadian government libraries, colleges and universities, community colleges, health sciences and hospital/medical libraries, law libraries, public libraries, and secondary school libraries---some through various consortia, others as independent participants. LibQUAL+® has expanded internationally, with participating institutions in Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe. It has been translated
into a number of languages, including Afrikaans, Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Welsh. The growing LibQUAL+® community of participants and its
extensive dataset are rich resources for improving library services.
The 2009 survey of the Jotello F. Soga Library highlighted the following areas needing attention:
Improving communication between the Library and clients regarding information sources :
- not all veterinary journals (e.g. Veterinary Technician) are as yet electronically available in full text format
- the book budget does not allow us to purchase multiple copies of text books for extended loan
Improving training sessions to enable clients to access the library website and e-journal collections more effectively
Marking quiet study areas upstairs for clients needing to study. Indicating clearly that areas near Library Counter and in Reserved Collection area are not for study, but for groups working together on projects. There is also a group area upstairs in the AudioVisual Room.
Marking journal shelves more effectively to show which titles are now only available electronically.
Marketing the use of the computers in the adjacent Computer Laboratory for student assignments and for printing. These computers are connected to the network so all databases etc on the library system can be accessed there as well.
Encouraging clients (lecturers and students) to attend training sessions offered throughout the year. This is of importance especially to students in their first year of study at the Onderstepoort Campus.
We would like to thank all clients who kindly participated in the survey, enabling us to improve our services and products.
We will be using plasma screens , posters in the Computer Lab and the cafeteria, notices on our Website, online messages to Everyone, as well as focused articles in newsletters of the Library and the Faculty to keep our clients informed.
We intend visiting clients in their offices as well to improve communication.
Erica van der Westhuizen, September 2009
Goals for 2009
As published on the Veterinary Science Library University of Pretoria Blog: Uniekevet (http://www.uniekevet.blogspot.com)
Goals for 2009, Veterinary Science Library, UP
Aligned with the E-STRATEGY of the University of Pretoria Department of Library Services, we will be focusing on the following :
1. DIGITISATION PROJECTS- Scanning full text and uploading in the institutional repository, UPSpace, the 2 veterinary journals of South Africa: Onderstepoort J. of Veterinary Research: J. of the South African Veterinary Association
- Uploading with metadata 4000 unique slides of the Departments of the Faculty (a continuation of the project of the Dept of Education Innovation)
- Digitising and uploading all documents and photos relevant to the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian, Dr Jotello Festiri Soga (Edinburgh, 1886)
- Creating the Ethno-veterinary collection in UPSpace (slides, documents, articles)
2. The new name of the library in honour of Dr J F Soga (JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY)- arranging function with Rector's office and Head of UP Marketing
3. TRAINING of clients- RefWorks and Ref Manager- CAB and Medline- Enhancing your research output- Basic information literacy and computer literacy for C3 workers at the faculty
4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH projects- supporting the Onderstepoort School with books, drawing materials, pictures, animal magazines, and electronic information (on memory sticks)- helping to promote pet ownership and the role of the veterinarian and veterinary nurse in support of attracting more black applicants to study at the Faculty- arranging a get-together of all community-related activities at the Faculty- compiling a CD showing all Onderstpoort community outreach projects- continuing to run the VET BOOKS FOR AFRICA project in conjunction with students
5. BIBLIOGRAPHIES (paper and electronic)- African rhinoceros update 1997 - 2008- Ostrich update 2000 - 2008- Black Fly (New)
6. MARKETING activities- Displays in library and at conferences of clients- through the library web page
7. TRAINING OF LIBRARY STAFF- Joe (MS Word, SABINET)- Tertia (Web-ready Digitised items)- Antoinette and Marguerite (Presenting papers)- Tertia and Amelia (Presenting papers)8. ATTENDING CONFERENCES- International (10ICML / 6 ICAHIS - Brisbane, Australia, Sept) Marguerite and Tertia- NationalLIASA - Joe andAfrican Digital Scholarship (Pretoria)- Amelia and AntoinetteSANLIG (on behalf of Technical Services - Marguerite )
9. INVOLVEMENT IN NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (HICSA)- arranging workshops (on presentations, ....)- arranging speakers and meetings (Prof Skinner on Darwin)
A list of goals achieved will appear shortly.
Erica van der Westhuizen, September 2009)
Posted by Erica at 7:44 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 16, 2009
Goals for 2009, Veterinary Science Library, UP
Aligned with the E-STRATEGY of the University of Pretoria Department of Library Services, we will be focusing on the following :
1. DIGITISATION PROJECTS- Scanning full text and uploading in the institutional repository, UPSpace, the 2 veterinary journals of South Africa: Onderstepoort J. of Veterinary Research: J. of the South African Veterinary Association
- Uploading with metadata 4000 unique slides of the Departments of the Faculty (a continuation of the project of the Dept of Education Innovation)
- Digitising and uploading all documents and photos relevant to the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian, Dr Jotello Festiri Soga (Edinburgh, 1886)
- Creating the Ethno-veterinary collection in UPSpace (slides, documents, articles)
2. The new name of the library in honour of Dr J F Soga (JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY)- arranging function with Rector's office and Head of UP Marketing
3. TRAINING of clients- RefWorks and Ref Manager- CAB and Medline- Enhancing your research output- Basic information literacy and computer literacy for C3 workers at the faculty
4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH projects- supporting the Onderstepoort School with books, drawing materials, pictures, animal magazines, and electronic information (on memory sticks)- helping to promote pet ownership and the role of the veterinarian and veterinary nurse in support of attracting more black applicants to study at the Faculty- arranging a get-together of all community-related activities at the Faculty- compiling a CD showing all Onderstpoort community outreach projects- continuing to run the VET BOOKS FOR AFRICA project in conjunction with students
5. BIBLIOGRAPHIES (paper and electronic)- African rhinoceros update 1997 - 2008- Ostrich update 2000 - 2008- Black Fly (New)
6. MARKETING activities- Displays in library and at conferences of clients- through the library web page
7. TRAINING OF LIBRARY STAFF- Joe (MS Word, SABINET)- Tertia (Web-ready Digitised items)- Antoinette and Marguerite (Presenting papers)- Tertia and Amelia (Presenting papers)8. ATTENDING CONFERENCES- International (10ICML / 6 ICAHIS - Brisbane, Australia, Sept) Marguerite and Tertia- NationalLIASA - Joe andAfrican Digital Scholarship (Pretoria)- Amelia and AntoinetteSANLIG (on behalf of Technical Services - Marguerite )
9. INVOLVEMENT IN NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (HICSA)- arranging workshops (on presentations, ....)- arranging speakers and meetings (Prof Skinner on Darwin)
A list of goals achieved will appear shortly.
Erica van der Westhuizen, September 2009)
Posted by Erica at 7:44 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
History of the Veterinary Science Library, University of Pretoria 1974-2007
The history of the Veterinary Science Library of the University of Pretoria falls into two periods, from its beginning in 1974 to 1986, and then the period 1987 till 2007 during which it moved into the Sir Arnold Theiler building and embarked on its steady growth as a Virtual Library.
1974 – 1986
The Veterinary Science Library is a branch library of the University of Pretoria Department of Library Services (formerly known as the Academic Information Service). It dates back to 1974 when it opened its doors in the building which today is part of the Department of Production Animal Studies, formerly the Ethology section. This section allocated to the library used to be the students’ tearoom. The current dean, Prof Gerry Swan can still recall those early days of the library’s existence.
From 1920 when the Faculty of Veterinary Science was started under Sir Arnold as first dean, till 1973, students and staff used the library of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI). A room was allocated in the Onderstepoort Students Hostel to be used as a library and books and journals in the veterinary medicine/clinical field were purchased by the Merensky Library for their use.
As explained in a short report in the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association (JSAVA) the OVI had a declining budget at that stage and it could not buy books in subject fields needed by veterinary students. Medicine and surgery were after all not the Institute’s core activities.
The prestigious scientific journal, Nature, was one of the journals placed in the hostel library, to ensure that students were exposed to the latest research output worldwide. It is interesting to note, however, that Fair Lady and Huisgenoot were also included, as the librarians at the main library of the university felt that the students were isolated from the city and should, therefore, also have access to more relaxing types of literature! To this day the Huisgenoot is still available to users in the library.
The 1974 library accommodation was expanded towards the end of 1981 when an upper level was added to house the journal collection and provide some seating for library users. This upper level was officially opened by the Rector, Prof Danie Joubert.
The book collection and reference section were shelved on the lower level. There were no computers. Books were issued on a card system, and literature searches were done manually by using Index Veterinarius and the Veterinary Bulletin.
When computer searches for literature references became available in the mid-1980’s the librarian had to travel to the Medical Library at the HF Verwoerd Hospital, to do searches on the Dialog databases.
Staff comprised the librarian, the library assistant and Johannes Moropotli whose duties were mainly to act as messenger. Johannes is the longest serving member of the library personnel, still serving in the centenary year, but no longer as messenger as he now is the library assistant handling document delivery.
1987 – 2007
By 1986 the library was very crammed as journal and book holdings increased and the need to provide computer facilities grew.
We were delighted to be able to move into the new Sir Arnold Theiler building in April 1987. Although we were warned that there was only room for 10 years’ growth, that seemed a very long time ahead!
The move had to take place as cost-effectively as possible. With the help (a few hours per day) of 2 students and the Faculty’s lorries, normally used to transport feed to the production animals the collection was moved. Boxes of books and journals, neatly numbered, were transported from the old library to the new. It took 3 months thereafter to have them arranged correctly on the shelves!
We were allowed 3 days, no more, to be closed to clients, thereafter we had to be open, issuing books from a makeshift counter, while the huge and cumbersome lending desk was being assembled. This one was finally replaced with a more streamlined and functional desk 20 years later, in July 2007.
THE COLLECTIONS
Until 2006 the budget for information sources, both paper and electronic has been adequate, enabling this library to purchase all the relevant books and journals necessary to support the Faculty in its teaching and learning and research objectives. Unfortunately with annual increases in journal prices, especially electronic publications, and the falling rand, the future for acquisitions does not look as satisfactory as in the past. This library has a unique role in the country as it serves the only veterinary faculty in South Africa. It cannot rely on other libraries to share some of this load, as in the case of the health sciences libraries where there is more than one such library in the country. It receives some support from the South African Veterinary Association through the journals the Association receives in exchange for its journal, but there are only about 5 titles that are of significance, so the impact on the budget is minimal.
A good relationship has always existed with the library of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute but the subject coverage of the two libraries differs as the former concentrates on diseases of production animals of Africa, vaccines etc whereas the faculty’s library has to cover all subject areas as presented in the veterinary curriculum, such as medicine, surgery, pharmacology, human-animal bond, animal nutrition, animal production and breeding and animal welfare.
The amalgamation of the country’s 2 veterinary faculties in 1999 led to an increase in the library’s information sources collection as books and journals that the MEDUNSA library no longer needed could be incorporated into the UP faculty’s collection.
The collection also includes a well-used multimedia section. Videos are now being supplanted by CDs and DVDs and are very popular with students. Visual material has a greater impact than written texts.
As this is a fairly new library, there are not many old books, but mention must be made of an acquisition that Prof H A de Boon, former Head of the Department of Anatomy, arranged. This book is the Anatomia del cavello infermita (Atlas of the horse), by Carlo Ruini. It was first published in Italy in 1598. The library purchased the 3rd ed. (1602) when it was put on sale in the USA. This anatomical atlas is significant because it was the first such atlas to be devoted to a non-human species. As Prof Malie Smuts mentioned in her inaugural address as head of the Department of Anatomy in 1984 (?) this work was as significant for veterinary anatomy as Vesalius’ Fabrica was for human anatomy. Apparently there are only 3 copies of this early edition available in libraries worldwide.
FROM PAPER TO ELECTRONIC: THE GROWTH OF THE VIRTUAL VETERINARY LIBRARY
We have actively supported the creation of a virtual library environment where our clients and others can find relevant information via their computers.
Our Virtual Veterinary Library, called The Library in your Office is a one-stop information centre that we introduced in 1999. (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/virtlib.htm)
The decade starting in 2000 saw various e-products and e-services being implemented in the Library Services.
InfoPortal was specially designed for lecturers and researchers - a personal starting point for all information management related activities. It is a one-stop electronic service, linking the lecturer to databases, e-journals, e-theses, websites and the library's online catalogues. The Virtual Groups facility enables him to form online Communities of Practice (people working in the same subject or research field, or sharing the same interests).
ELECTRONIC BOOKS (E-BOOKS) became part of the library collection in 2002.
An E-book or electronic book is a written work readable on a computer screen, downloaded to a PC or digital assistant like SoftBook or Rocket eBook readers
E-books will not replace paper books. They just help librarians provide improved service to their users. Traditional books will always be around but the library's most important goal is to connect people with information in whatever format.
While most of the books now available in electronic format are older, more and more are published online soon after print publication.
Links are provided in the library catalogue, UPExplore to the full-text book on the WWW. Currently (2007) there are 103 e-books are available in UPExplore and the UPPortal for veterinary library users, including the following;
Breeding for disease resistance in farm animals - 2nd ed.,CABI, 2000
Principles of cattle production, CABI, 2001
The mineral nutrition of livestock - 3rd ed., CABI, 1999
The ethology of domestic animals: and introductory text, CABI, 2002
Nutrient requirements of beef cattle / U.S. National Research Council. - 7th rev. ed., Update 2000.
Nutrient requirements of dairy cattle / U.S. National Research Council. - 7th rev. ed., 2001.
The genetics of the horse / edited by A. T. Bowling and A. Ruvinsky, CABI, 2000.
Merck veterinary manual / editor, Susan E. Aiello. - 8th ed., Merck, 1998.
Veterinary care of African elephants / J.G. du Toit, 2001
Rhino ranching: management manual for owners of white rhinos / J.G. du Toit, 1998
Livestock handling and transport / edited by T. Grandin, 2000
The cranes: status, survey and conservation action plan / Curt D. Meine, 1998
Through the library cataloque and various platforms in the E-book section, users can access almost 130,000 titles, covering all possible subject fields, not only veterinary.
ELECTRONIC JOURNALS
Tyds@Tuks, the electronic journal gateway of the University of Pretoria, was developed in 1998 to promote easy access to e-journals.Through the library web page users can access almost 35,000 e-journals. A fraction of these are on veterinary topics, but the rate at which publishers are making their journals available in e-format is increasing rapidly. About one-third of the paper journals in the library are now only available in e-format. Users are able to download the full text of an article on their computer screen, so the trip to the physical library is becoming unnecessary.
Titles now available in e-format include Animal Reproduction Science, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Theriogenology, Current Therapeutic Research, Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Dairy Science and the Journal of the SA Veterinary Association as well as the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research.
http://www.up.ac.za/asservices/ais/TYDSTUKS/home.htm
Most of these e-journals are only available in full text for the most recent years. Only some titles have been digitized back to their earliest issues.
LIBRARY NEWSLETTER
The electronic library newsletter, Infomania, hit faculty computer screens in April 1998, serving as an effective communication channel for the library and its clients. (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomani.htm) It features news about new products and services from the library world, specifically geared to the needs of the Faculty.
A feature that has been included in recent issues is the “Conversations with Sir Arnold” column in which the development of information products and the growth of the collections are highlighted. For example, the growth in the number of veterinary or animal health journals over the years since 1920 was featured in one issue. This was followed by the one listing all the doctoral theses that have been presented at the Faculty since 1920 (Addendum : List of doctoral theses).
A list is available at http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/documents/vtheses.doc
The total number of Doctoral Theses (DVSc, DSc, PhD and DPhil) :
1920-1974 = 50
1975-2006 = 47 (including 10 electronic)
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROJECTS
- Our project Veterinary Books for Africa enlisted the help of the student community since 1993 when we started it. In that year 2 students took books and journals by bakkie to the veterinary school libraries in Zimbabwe and Zambia. In the past decade it has grown to become a full component of the Students’ Outreach Programme, with a trip undertaken every 2 years by a group of 6 – 8 students. They raise the funds and are responsible for all the logistics. In this way we are helping to improve the information collections of other veterinary libraries in Africa.
- Onderstepoort Primary School is being helped with information sources such as picture books and animal magazines as well as nature journals which are duplicates of those in our collection. A large donation of such material as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste was received in 2007 from veterinary practitioners in the USA and the library staff presented this to the school.
ART IN THE LIBRARY
Special mention must be made of two unique murals created for the library by talented veterinary students. To record the 75th anniversary of the founding of the faculty, James Lockyear decorated the pillar at the entrance of the library with a scene of jumping springbuck, in 1995. A few years later the wall at the entrance was painted by Romain Pizzi with a cheetah and cubs. It is interesting to note that the cheetah’s gaze is determinedly fixed on the springbuck!
Nicolene Swanepoel is another former veterinary student whose art hangs in the library. This is a painting based on an illustration by Carlo Ruini in his Anatomical atlas of the horse (Anatomia del cavello infermita, 1598).
Other artists whose work are to be found on the library walls are Marcella de Boom, Miriam Friedland, Jean Kotze Louw, and Anna Vorster.
To commemorate the past 20 years since the library’s move to the Sir Arnold Theiler building, a special wall hanging in the form of a quilt was designed by Ms Barbara Kellermann, a staff member. With the help of some of her colleagues a beautiful scene depicting ostrich, rhino and buck was created. It was unveiled by the Director of the UP Library Services, Mr Robert Moropa and the Dean of the Faculty, Prof Gerry Swan on 18 October 2007 during a special function.
STAFF
The past 20 years have not only seen a growth in veterinary information sources but the staff component expanded too. A library planned for 4 staff had to accommodate eventually 8. These included 2 cataloguers when it was decided to decentralize certain tasks such as book and journal orders, cataloguing and classification. We welcomed these members as they could provide an on site service, sharing their expertise with us and hearing directly from clients about their information needs.
This has helped us to develop and adapt more easily in the electronic information environment. Today we find we are able to face challenges of providing more effective services to our clients and develop products for their specific needs, such as enhancing the use of their unique slide collections through metadata, or helping lecturers with web-based course material, of supporting their research output by means of reference collection management tools.
From 1974 till 1989 there was only one post for a qualified librarian. In September 1989 a second post was granted. Since that time this post has been filled by Mrs Krista Verster, followed by Mrs Ansie Earle, and then in 1997 by Mrs Tertia Coetsee.
A third post for a qualified librarian was filled by Mrs Antoinette Lourens in later years.
Library assistants since 1974 : Mr Johannes Moropotli, Mrs Rina Pelser, Mrs Shirley Kingsley, Mrs Ida Thomson, Mrs Lourina de Beer, Mrs Hannetjie Boshoff, Mrs Marietjie van der Westhuizen, Ms Sanah Mphaga, and Ms Barbara Kellermann.
In 2002 a new organizational model was implemented for the Library Services.
As part of the new organisation structure of the Academic Information Service (Library Services), each service unit (branch library) was divided into a so-called Back Office and a Frontline Office. Staff in the Back Office perform tasks that clients do not see, such as ordering books or journals, receiving them, cataloguing and classifying information sources and creating web products.
Frontline staff are in face-to-face interaction with clients, dealing with queries, circulation of material, literature searches,training clients to use the various databases, supporting their research and postgrad endeavours etc.
In 2007 the staff and their responsibilities were listed as follows:
Head: Erica van der Westhuizen (Erica.vanderwesthuizen@up.ac.za)
Book ordering, receiving, cataloguing & classification
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
Amelia Breytenbach (amelia.breytenbach@up.ac.za)
Journals (paper & electronic)- Ordering, receiving, binding & claiming
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
External Market
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
Electronic Books
Amelia Breytenbach (amelia.breytenbach@up.ac.za)
Digital repository
Amelia Breytenbach (amelia.breytenbach@up.ac.za)
Information Specialists
Erica v d Westhuizen (erica.vanderwesthuizen@up.ac.za)
(CACS, Anatomy $ Physiology, ERC)
Tertia Coetsee (tertia.coetsee@up.ac.za)
(VTD , Paraclinical Studies, UP Biomed unit )
Antoinette Lourens (antoinette.lourens@up.ac.za)
(Production Animal Studies and Wildlife)
Finances
Barbara Kellermann (barbara.kellermann@up.ac.za)
Inter Library Loans
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
Sanah Mphaga (sanah.mphaga@up.ac.za)
Circulation Desk
Barbara Kellermann (barbara.kellermann@up.ac.za)
Photocopiers / journal shelver
Johannes Moropotli (johannes.moropotli@up.ac.za)
Book shelver
Sanah Mphaga (sanah.mphaga@up.ac.za)
Web products co-ordinator
Antoinette Lourens (antoinette.lourens@up.ac.za)
DIRECTORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA LIBRARY SERVICES
From 1974 till 1975 the Director was Mr A J van den Bergh
Prof Eggie Gerryts became Director in 1976 and retired in this post in February 2004 after 29 years as director.
Prof Gerryts was followed by Prof Hans Boon in March 2004. Mr Robert Moropa was appointed Director in 2005
HEADS OF THE VETERINARY SCIENCE LIBRARY
1974 - 1975 Ms Rita Erasmus
1976 Ms Francina de Villiers
1978 – October 1981 Mrs Mathilda du Preez
November 1981 – present Mrs Erica van der Westhuizen
DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS
WEB PORTALS
The information specialists of the Veterinary Science Library developed web portals for relevant topics during the past decade. These portals serve as gateways to approved websites on specific topics. They also contain information provided by researchers and lecturers at the faculty, or by the information specialist.
The paper on these web portals that the information specialists presented at a conference of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) in Polokwane in 2004 can be viewed at https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/1399
A further paper on this topic was delivered at the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists in July 2005.
GOAT WEB was the first web portal, developed by Amelia Breytenbach when she was information specialist for the Department of Production Animal Studies.
This product was very well received by the goat community in South Africa and abroad. The list of experts was especially successful as it enabled interested researchers as well as goat farmers and breeders to make contact with each other.
OSTRICH WEB (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/ostrich/)
was developed by Erica van der Westhuizen, based on the bibliography she compiled in 1993, updated 1997 and 2000. (Ostrich Bibliography, compiled by Erica van der Westhuizen and Ansie Earle. Pretoria: Academic Information Service, University of Pretoria,1993)
In 2003 Tertia Coetsee and Antoinette Lourens developed:
DENTAL FORMULA FOR DIFFERENT SPECIES
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/dental/dental1.htm
This is a comprehensive website of dental formulas. It is a world first, covering dental formulas of all species. Relevant reference works were consulted and are listed on the website. The number of each type of tooth varies from one species to another and the conventional way of describing them is by a "dental formula".
POULTRY WEB followed in 2004, developed by Antoinette Lourens. It was started due to the increasing number of requests received for information on poultry farming. Poultry production is recognized as one of the tools for poverty reduction, contributing positively to the nutritional status of low-income farming communities in South Africa.
POISONOUS PLANTS web portal was created in 2006 following the model of the one at the Veterinary Medicine Library of the University of Illinois. Both libraries are collaborating on this topic so that the plants of the 2 different continents (North America and southern Africa) will be shown in their variations and uniqueness.
DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES is a web portal of importance in the 9/11 aftermath. Not only man-made disasters are covered, but also natural disasters such as floods and fires. Emerging diseases are also featured. This web product was created as a result of the Health and Biosciences Section Satellite Session of the 73rd IFLA Conference where this was the theme.
Four staff members of the library presented a paper on the topic at this Session. https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/3395
All these web portals feature the following sections with links to useful information sites:
Associations, Books, Conferences, Diseases and health issues, full text articles, List of experts, Newsletters, Journals, Research Centres
METADATA
The development of digital products such as scanned slides necessitated the application of metadata for maximum access or retrieval of the object. One of the information specialists of the Veterinary Science Library (Amelia Breytenbach) developed metadata templates and systems which could then be applied by the University researchers and lecturers.
In support of learning, teaching and research at the University of Pretoria it was decided that the Dept. of Telematic Learning and Education Innovation would digitise all the slides available at the Veterinary Faculty. Each lecturer received a CD-ROM with his images in JPEG format. The project was taken a step further with the TLEI/AI Digitisation Project to link metadata to these images for better retrieval and the capturing of tacit knowledge. The data is stored on a server to ensure a secure recapture of the total source in future.
Personnel of the Faculty of Veterinary Science complete the metadata template provided for the slides, and the metadata editor of the library completes the process - editing, converting to XML format and adding value like controlled subject headings. She then stores the item on the server for future retrieval, use and preservation. In this way the preservation of valuable “grey” resources for the university and the Faculty are preserved for research and educational purposes.
INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY
An institutional repository (IR) is an integrated online locus for
collecting and preserving - in digital form - the intellectual output of an
institution. In the case of a university this would include research
articles, theses, dissertations and other digital objects generated by
normal academic life.
The main objective of an IR is to enhance the visibility of the knowledge
products created by an institution's members by providing easy open
access.
The following collections are part of the Institutional Repository (UPSpace) of the University of Pretoria:
OpenUP : The collection of research articles produced by UP affiliates.
It is called openUP to signify its strong relationship
to the international open access movement. Open access underscores
the philosophy that "the research literature, which is not written
for profit but for the advancement of science and which is largely funded
by public money, is a public good and should be accessible to everyone
who has a need for the information."
Encouraging more lecturers to provide Open Access of their journal publications by placing them on OpenUP (http://openup.ais.up.ac.za/), is a further development in the e-information environment, thereby making UP research output accessible to the rest of the world.
UPSpace Collections
Our growing digital “Collections” in UPSpace are further examples of our involvement and participation in the electronic information environment. Sir Arnold Theiler is featured there, as well as the Arnold Theiler Memorial Lectures, Pastures, and Christine Seegers Biomedical Illustrations.
(https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/78)
VET LIBRARY’s digital Theiler under the spotlight
As reported in Infomania in 2006:
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. (UPSpace is the electronic institutional research repository on the web of the University of Pretoria for digitised items). (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/)
Ably assisted by Ria Groenewald, the AIS digital expert, and Amelia Breytenbach (our library’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 had been there in 1901 to tell him that the future would give him even greater exposure than he had in Pres. Paul Kruger’s time! (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/bitstream/2263/172/2/atphd1901.pdf)
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. 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.
Negotiations are taking place for fundng to digitise these early publications.
SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL VETERINARY REPOSITORY
Greater challenges lie ahead as we create the National Veterinary Repository, a joint endeavour with the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, preserving past information sources such as photos and slides in digital format for the future.
LIBRARY COMMITTEE
The Library Committee came into being in March 1997. It has been a great help with communication between the library and the departments of the Faculty as information about services and products is shared and faculty needs are communicated.
The Faculty’s Library Committee focuses on facilitating communication between departments and the Academic Information Service in support of teaching, learning and research at the Faculty. The departments are represented as follows:
Anatomy & Physiology: Prof Roy Meintjies
Ms Dalene Meyer
Production Animal Studies: Dr Martin Schulman
Ms Heleen Els
Paraclinical Sciences: Dr June Williams
Veterinary Tropical Diseases: Dr Volker Schwan
Companion Animal Clinical Studies: Dr Mirinda Nel
Relevant library-related issues are discussed at meetings, which are held 5 times per year.
Regular items on the agenda include new information products or product enhancements, training needs, curriculum matters and library regulations.
PHYSICAL FACILITIES
During 2002 the library underwent great restructuring
Due to the much-needed expansion of the Computer Laboratory on Level 5 of the Sir Arnold Theiler Building, the library moved its book collection into the former CAI (Comuputer Aided Instruction) laboratory. New stairs had to be built and part of the former stairway closed to enable the new Computer Lab to be a closed facility with no entry via the Library.
A sound-proof room with video and slide equipment was designed for users needing to watch audiovisual material, and also for those working on group assignments, also on the upper level of the Library. New shelves were installed to house the video collection next to the video-seminar room.
INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
- VETLIB-L participation. The information specialists of the library actively participate in this listserv of veterinary librarians from all over the world. It is managed by Vicki Kok, head of the Veterinary Medicine Library of the Virginia Tech University, USA and has been running since 1991. It is a most useful means of sharing problems, finding solutions, obtaining those very difficult articles not available through normal interlending channels and keeping oneself up-to-date in the animal health information world.
- International conferences
We have been very fortunate in having opportunities not only to attend and present at international veterinary librarian conferences, but also to host them. In 1995 we organized the 1st Conference of African Animal Health Information Specialists and in 2005 we organized and hosted the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (5ICAHIS).
HOSTING AND ORGANISING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
1st Conference of African Animal Health Information Workers, July 1995.
This was the first meeting of veterinary librarians to take place in Africa. It was inspired by the 1st International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists that was held in Reading, UK in 1992.
With the help of funding received from the OIE Africa Regional Office, 7 librarians from veterinary libraries in other African countries were able to attend and present papers. In this way information provision of veterinary libraries in sub-Saharan Africa was promoted. It was organized by the Veterinary Science Library and held at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort.
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.
The Fifth ICAHIS, hosted by the Academic Information Service, Service Unit: Veterinary Science (Veterinary Science Library) University of Pretoria, was attended by 65 participants, most of them representing 30 veterinary libraries or institutions from Africa, Europe, Australia and the United States. Since this was the first time this conference was taking place on the African continent (the former ones were held in the UK (at Reading and London), Denmark (Copenhagen) and Hungary (Budapest) participation from other African nations was especially encouraged. Thanks to support from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Wageningen, The Netherlands, seven information specialists representing Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe were able to attend and deliver papers at the conference.
Vice Principal Prof Andy Mogotlane and the Acting Director of the Academic Information Service, Mr Robert Moropa, as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Prof Nick Kriek welcomed all participants on behalf of the University of Pretoria.
The first day’s keynote speaker, Dr. Adi Paterson, Deputy Director-General, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa addressed the country’s electronic information research agenda. He praised the efforts of the ICAHIS, noting that self-organised groups are much more effective than governmental or institutional bureaucracies for crafting global solutions to problems related to information access and exchange.
During the course of the conference 23 papers were delivered - 7 from other countries in Africa, 7 from South Africa, 1 from Australia, 2 from the UK and 6 from the USA.
The Poster Session consisted of 13 posters on a variety of topics relevant to information and knowledge management (2 from South Africa, 1 from Mozambique, 3 from Scandinavia, 1 from the UK, 2 from the USA and 4 from Italy).
Feedback received from participants, showed that the four days of meeting presentations, poster sessions, tours, and the four pre-conference workshop days were very successful.
Workshop participants in the computer laboratory
(As Greg Youngen, Veterinary Librarian, University of Illinois, USA writes:
“Conference organizer Erica Van Der Westhuizen, University of Pretoria, and her magnificent team of AIS colleagues are to be commended for hosting the event. Erica, along with the other members of the conference scientific committee, Trenton Boyd, University of Missouri, Fiona Brown, University of Edinburgh, Vicki Croft, Washington State University, Ruth Lawrence, Dept. of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia, Theodora Oker-Blom, University of Helsinki, David Swanepoel, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa are all to be congratulated for assembling an informative and entertaining agenda for the advancement of knowledge in the field of animal health information. Bridging the information gaps in animal health, along with establishing enduring contacts between information professionals in service to the profession, were the goals of the conference, and by all levels of expectation, they were met, setting the stage for future ICAHIS endeavors.”)
Further information on the 5ICAHIS Conference and the workshops is available on the conference Blog: www.knowledgeflows.blogspot.com
Erica van der Westhuizen
Head: Veterinary Science Library, UP
1974 – 1986
The Veterinary Science Library is a branch library of the University of Pretoria Department of Library Services (formerly known as the Academic Information Service). It dates back to 1974 when it opened its doors in the building which today is part of the Department of Production Animal Studies, formerly the Ethology section. This section allocated to the library used to be the students’ tearoom. The current dean, Prof Gerry Swan can still recall those early days of the library’s existence.
From 1920 when the Faculty of Veterinary Science was started under Sir Arnold as first dean, till 1973, students and staff used the library of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI). A room was allocated in the Onderstepoort Students Hostel to be used as a library and books and journals in the veterinary medicine/clinical field were purchased by the Merensky Library for their use.
As explained in a short report in the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association (JSAVA) the OVI had a declining budget at that stage and it could not buy books in subject fields needed by veterinary students. Medicine and surgery were after all not the Institute’s core activities.
The prestigious scientific journal, Nature, was one of the journals placed in the hostel library, to ensure that students were exposed to the latest research output worldwide. It is interesting to note, however, that Fair Lady and Huisgenoot were also included, as the librarians at the main library of the university felt that the students were isolated from the city and should, therefore, also have access to more relaxing types of literature! To this day the Huisgenoot is still available to users in the library.
The 1974 library accommodation was expanded towards the end of 1981 when an upper level was added to house the journal collection and provide some seating for library users. This upper level was officially opened by the Rector, Prof Danie Joubert.
The book collection and reference section were shelved on the lower level. There were no computers. Books were issued on a card system, and literature searches were done manually by using Index Veterinarius and the Veterinary Bulletin.
When computer searches for literature references became available in the mid-1980’s the librarian had to travel to the Medical Library at the HF Verwoerd Hospital, to do searches on the Dialog databases.
Staff comprised the librarian, the library assistant and Johannes Moropotli whose duties were mainly to act as messenger. Johannes is the longest serving member of the library personnel, still serving in the centenary year, but no longer as messenger as he now is the library assistant handling document delivery.
1987 – 2007
By 1986 the library was very crammed as journal and book holdings increased and the need to provide computer facilities grew.
We were delighted to be able to move into the new Sir Arnold Theiler building in April 1987. Although we were warned that there was only room for 10 years’ growth, that seemed a very long time ahead!
The move had to take place as cost-effectively as possible. With the help (a few hours per day) of 2 students and the Faculty’s lorries, normally used to transport feed to the production animals the collection was moved. Boxes of books and journals, neatly numbered, were transported from the old library to the new. It took 3 months thereafter to have them arranged correctly on the shelves!
We were allowed 3 days, no more, to be closed to clients, thereafter we had to be open, issuing books from a makeshift counter, while the huge and cumbersome lending desk was being assembled. This one was finally replaced with a more streamlined and functional desk 20 years later, in July 2007.
THE COLLECTIONS
Until 2006 the budget for information sources, both paper and electronic has been adequate, enabling this library to purchase all the relevant books and journals necessary to support the Faculty in its teaching and learning and research objectives. Unfortunately with annual increases in journal prices, especially electronic publications, and the falling rand, the future for acquisitions does not look as satisfactory as in the past. This library has a unique role in the country as it serves the only veterinary faculty in South Africa. It cannot rely on other libraries to share some of this load, as in the case of the health sciences libraries where there is more than one such library in the country. It receives some support from the South African Veterinary Association through the journals the Association receives in exchange for its journal, but there are only about 5 titles that are of significance, so the impact on the budget is minimal.
A good relationship has always existed with the library of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute but the subject coverage of the two libraries differs as the former concentrates on diseases of production animals of Africa, vaccines etc whereas the faculty’s library has to cover all subject areas as presented in the veterinary curriculum, such as medicine, surgery, pharmacology, human-animal bond, animal nutrition, animal production and breeding and animal welfare.
The amalgamation of the country’s 2 veterinary faculties in 1999 led to an increase in the library’s information sources collection as books and journals that the MEDUNSA library no longer needed could be incorporated into the UP faculty’s collection.
The collection also includes a well-used multimedia section. Videos are now being supplanted by CDs and DVDs and are very popular with students. Visual material has a greater impact than written texts.
As this is a fairly new library, there are not many old books, but mention must be made of an acquisition that Prof H A de Boon, former Head of the Department of Anatomy, arranged. This book is the Anatomia del cavello infermita (Atlas of the horse), by Carlo Ruini. It was first published in Italy in 1598. The library purchased the 3rd ed. (1602) when it was put on sale in the USA. This anatomical atlas is significant because it was the first such atlas to be devoted to a non-human species. As Prof Malie Smuts mentioned in her inaugural address as head of the Department of Anatomy in 1984 (?) this work was as significant for veterinary anatomy as Vesalius’ Fabrica was for human anatomy. Apparently there are only 3 copies of this early edition available in libraries worldwide.
FROM PAPER TO ELECTRONIC: THE GROWTH OF THE VIRTUAL VETERINARY LIBRARY
We have actively supported the creation of a virtual library environment where our clients and others can find relevant information via their computers.
Our Virtual Veterinary Library, called The Library in your Office is a one-stop information centre that we introduced in 1999. (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/virtlib.htm)
The decade starting in 2000 saw various e-products and e-services being implemented in the Library Services.
InfoPortal was specially designed for lecturers and researchers - a personal starting point for all information management related activities. It is a one-stop electronic service, linking the lecturer to databases, e-journals, e-theses, websites and the library's online catalogues. The Virtual Groups facility enables him to form online Communities of Practice (people working in the same subject or research field, or sharing the same interests).
ELECTRONIC BOOKS (E-BOOKS) became part of the library collection in 2002.
An E-book or electronic book is a written work readable on a computer screen, downloaded to a PC or digital assistant like SoftBook or Rocket eBook readers
E-books will not replace paper books. They just help librarians provide improved service to their users. Traditional books will always be around but the library's most important goal is to connect people with information in whatever format.
While most of the books now available in electronic format are older, more and more are published online soon after print publication.
Links are provided in the library catalogue, UPExplore to the full-text book on the WWW. Currently (2007) there are 103 e-books are available in UPExplore and the UPPortal for veterinary library users, including the following;
Breeding for disease resistance in farm animals - 2nd ed.,CABI, 2000
Principles of cattle production, CABI, 2001
The mineral nutrition of livestock - 3rd ed., CABI, 1999
The ethology of domestic animals: and introductory text, CABI, 2002
Nutrient requirements of beef cattle / U.S. National Research Council. - 7th rev. ed., Update 2000.
Nutrient requirements of dairy cattle / U.S. National Research Council. - 7th rev. ed., 2001.
The genetics of the horse / edited by A. T. Bowling and A. Ruvinsky, CABI, 2000.
Merck veterinary manual / editor, Susan E. Aiello. - 8th ed., Merck, 1998.
Veterinary care of African elephants / J.G. du Toit, 2001
Rhino ranching: management manual for owners of white rhinos / J.G. du Toit, 1998
Livestock handling and transport / edited by T. Grandin, 2000
The cranes: status, survey and conservation action plan / Curt D. Meine, 1998
Through the library cataloque and various platforms in the E-book section, users can access almost 130,000 titles, covering all possible subject fields, not only veterinary.
ELECTRONIC JOURNALS
Tyds@Tuks, the electronic journal gateway of the University of Pretoria, was developed in 1998 to promote easy access to e-journals.Through the library web page users can access almost 35,000 e-journals. A fraction of these are on veterinary topics, but the rate at which publishers are making their journals available in e-format is increasing rapidly. About one-third of the paper journals in the library are now only available in e-format. Users are able to download the full text of an article on their computer screen, so the trip to the physical library is becoming unnecessary.
Titles now available in e-format include Animal Reproduction Science, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Theriogenology, Current Therapeutic Research, Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Dairy Science and the Journal of the SA Veterinary Association as well as the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research.
http://www.up.ac.za/asservices/ais/TYDSTUKS/home.htm
Most of these e-journals are only available in full text for the most recent years. Only some titles have been digitized back to their earliest issues.
LIBRARY NEWSLETTER
The electronic library newsletter, Infomania, hit faculty computer screens in April 1998, serving as an effective communication channel for the library and its clients. (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomani.htm) It features news about new products and services from the library world, specifically geared to the needs of the Faculty.
A feature that has been included in recent issues is the “Conversations with Sir Arnold” column in which the development of information products and the growth of the collections are highlighted. For example, the growth in the number of veterinary or animal health journals over the years since 1920 was featured in one issue. This was followed by the one listing all the doctoral theses that have been presented at the Faculty since 1920 (Addendum : List of doctoral theses).
A list is available at http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/documents/vtheses.doc
The total number of Doctoral Theses (DVSc, DSc, PhD and DPhil) :
1920-1974 = 50
1975-2006 = 47 (including 10 electronic)
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROJECTS
- Our project Veterinary Books for Africa enlisted the help of the student community since 1993 when we started it. In that year 2 students took books and journals by bakkie to the veterinary school libraries in Zimbabwe and Zambia. In the past decade it has grown to become a full component of the Students’ Outreach Programme, with a trip undertaken every 2 years by a group of 6 – 8 students. They raise the funds and are responsible for all the logistics. In this way we are helping to improve the information collections of other veterinary libraries in Africa.
- Onderstepoort Primary School is being helped with information sources such as picture books and animal magazines as well as nature journals which are duplicates of those in our collection. A large donation of such material as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste was received in 2007 from veterinary practitioners in the USA and the library staff presented this to the school.
ART IN THE LIBRARY
Special mention must be made of two unique murals created for the library by talented veterinary students. To record the 75th anniversary of the founding of the faculty, James Lockyear decorated the pillar at the entrance of the library with a scene of jumping springbuck, in 1995. A few years later the wall at the entrance was painted by Romain Pizzi with a cheetah and cubs. It is interesting to note that the cheetah’s gaze is determinedly fixed on the springbuck!
Nicolene Swanepoel is another former veterinary student whose art hangs in the library. This is a painting based on an illustration by Carlo Ruini in his Anatomical atlas of the horse (Anatomia del cavello infermita, 1598).
Other artists whose work are to be found on the library walls are Marcella de Boom, Miriam Friedland, Jean Kotze Louw, and Anna Vorster.
To commemorate the past 20 years since the library’s move to the Sir Arnold Theiler building, a special wall hanging in the form of a quilt was designed by Ms Barbara Kellermann, a staff member. With the help of some of her colleagues a beautiful scene depicting ostrich, rhino and buck was created. It was unveiled by the Director of the UP Library Services, Mr Robert Moropa and the Dean of the Faculty, Prof Gerry Swan on 18 October 2007 during a special function.
STAFF
The past 20 years have not only seen a growth in veterinary information sources but the staff component expanded too. A library planned for 4 staff had to accommodate eventually 8. These included 2 cataloguers when it was decided to decentralize certain tasks such as book and journal orders, cataloguing and classification. We welcomed these members as they could provide an on site service, sharing their expertise with us and hearing directly from clients about their information needs.
This has helped us to develop and adapt more easily in the electronic information environment. Today we find we are able to face challenges of providing more effective services to our clients and develop products for their specific needs, such as enhancing the use of their unique slide collections through metadata, or helping lecturers with web-based course material, of supporting their research output by means of reference collection management tools.
From 1974 till 1989 there was only one post for a qualified librarian. In September 1989 a second post was granted. Since that time this post has been filled by Mrs Krista Verster, followed by Mrs Ansie Earle, and then in 1997 by Mrs Tertia Coetsee.
A third post for a qualified librarian was filled by Mrs Antoinette Lourens in later years.
Library assistants since 1974 : Mr Johannes Moropotli, Mrs Rina Pelser, Mrs Shirley Kingsley, Mrs Ida Thomson, Mrs Lourina de Beer, Mrs Hannetjie Boshoff, Mrs Marietjie van der Westhuizen, Ms Sanah Mphaga, and Ms Barbara Kellermann.
In 2002 a new organizational model was implemented for the Library Services.
As part of the new organisation structure of the Academic Information Service (Library Services), each service unit (branch library) was divided into a so-called Back Office and a Frontline Office. Staff in the Back Office perform tasks that clients do not see, such as ordering books or journals, receiving them, cataloguing and classifying information sources and creating web products.
Frontline staff are in face-to-face interaction with clients, dealing with queries, circulation of material, literature searches,training clients to use the various databases, supporting their research and postgrad endeavours etc.
In 2007 the staff and their responsibilities were listed as follows:
Head: Erica van der Westhuizen (Erica.vanderwesthuizen@up.ac.za)
Book ordering, receiving, cataloguing & classification
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
Amelia Breytenbach (amelia.breytenbach@up.ac.za)
Journals (paper & electronic)- Ordering, receiving, binding & claiming
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
External Market
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
Electronic Books
Amelia Breytenbach (amelia.breytenbach@up.ac.za)
Digital repository
Amelia Breytenbach (amelia.breytenbach@up.ac.za)
Information Specialists
Erica v d Westhuizen (erica.vanderwesthuizen@up.ac.za)
(CACS, Anatomy $ Physiology, ERC)
Tertia Coetsee (tertia.coetsee@up.ac.za)
(VTD , Paraclinical Studies, UP Biomed unit )
Antoinette Lourens (antoinette.lourens@up.ac.za)
(Production Animal Studies and Wildlife)
Finances
Barbara Kellermann (barbara.kellermann@up.ac.za)
Inter Library Loans
Marguerite Nel (marguerite.nel@up.ac.za)
Sanah Mphaga (sanah.mphaga@up.ac.za)
Circulation Desk
Barbara Kellermann (barbara.kellermann@up.ac.za)
Photocopiers / journal shelver
Johannes Moropotli (johannes.moropotli@up.ac.za)
Book shelver
Sanah Mphaga (sanah.mphaga@up.ac.za)
Web products co-ordinator
Antoinette Lourens (antoinette.lourens@up.ac.za)
DIRECTORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA LIBRARY SERVICES
From 1974 till 1975 the Director was Mr A J van den Bergh
Prof Eggie Gerryts became Director in 1976 and retired in this post in February 2004 after 29 years as director.
Prof Gerryts was followed by Prof Hans Boon in March 2004. Mr Robert Moropa was appointed Director in 2005
HEADS OF THE VETERINARY SCIENCE LIBRARY
1974 - 1975 Ms Rita Erasmus
1976 Ms Francina de Villiers
1978 – October 1981 Mrs Mathilda du Preez
November 1981 – present Mrs Erica van der Westhuizen
DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS
WEB PORTALS
The information specialists of the Veterinary Science Library developed web portals for relevant topics during the past decade. These portals serve as gateways to approved websites on specific topics. They also contain information provided by researchers and lecturers at the faculty, or by the information specialist.
The paper on these web portals that the information specialists presented at a conference of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) in Polokwane in 2004 can be viewed at https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/1399
A further paper on this topic was delivered at the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists in July 2005.
GOAT WEB was the first web portal, developed by Amelia Breytenbach when she was information specialist for the Department of Production Animal Studies.
This product was very well received by the goat community in South Africa and abroad. The list of experts was especially successful as it enabled interested researchers as well as goat farmers and breeders to make contact with each other.
OSTRICH WEB (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/ostrich/)
was developed by Erica van der Westhuizen, based on the bibliography she compiled in 1993, updated 1997 and 2000. (Ostrich Bibliography, compiled by Erica van der Westhuizen and Ansie Earle. Pretoria: Academic Information Service, University of Pretoria,1993)
In 2003 Tertia Coetsee and Antoinette Lourens developed:
DENTAL FORMULA FOR DIFFERENT SPECIES
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/dental/dental1.htm
This is a comprehensive website of dental formulas. It is a world first, covering dental formulas of all species. Relevant reference works were consulted and are listed on the website. The number of each type of tooth varies from one species to another and the conventional way of describing them is by a "dental formula".
POULTRY WEB followed in 2004, developed by Antoinette Lourens. It was started due to the increasing number of requests received for information on poultry farming. Poultry production is recognized as one of the tools for poverty reduction, contributing positively to the nutritional status of low-income farming communities in South Africa.
POISONOUS PLANTS web portal was created in 2006 following the model of the one at the Veterinary Medicine Library of the University of Illinois. Both libraries are collaborating on this topic so that the plants of the 2 different continents (North America and southern Africa) will be shown in their variations and uniqueness.
DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES is a web portal of importance in the 9/11 aftermath. Not only man-made disasters are covered, but also natural disasters such as floods and fires. Emerging diseases are also featured. This web product was created as a result of the Health and Biosciences Section Satellite Session of the 73rd IFLA Conference where this was the theme.
Four staff members of the library presented a paper on the topic at this Session. https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/3395
All these web portals feature the following sections with links to useful information sites:
Associations, Books, Conferences, Diseases and health issues, full text articles, List of experts, Newsletters, Journals, Research Centres
METADATA
The development of digital products such as scanned slides necessitated the application of metadata for maximum access or retrieval of the object. One of the information specialists of the Veterinary Science Library (Amelia Breytenbach) developed metadata templates and systems which could then be applied by the University researchers and lecturers.
In support of learning, teaching and research at the University of Pretoria it was decided that the Dept. of Telematic Learning and Education Innovation would digitise all the slides available at the Veterinary Faculty. Each lecturer received a CD-ROM with his images in JPEG format. The project was taken a step further with the TLEI/AI Digitisation Project to link metadata to these images for better retrieval and the capturing of tacit knowledge. The data is stored on a server to ensure a secure recapture of the total source in future.
Personnel of the Faculty of Veterinary Science complete the metadata template provided for the slides, and the metadata editor of the library completes the process - editing, converting to XML format and adding value like controlled subject headings. She then stores the item on the server for future retrieval, use and preservation. In this way the preservation of valuable “grey” resources for the university and the Faculty are preserved for research and educational purposes.
INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY
An institutional repository (IR) is an integrated online locus for
collecting and preserving - in digital form - the intellectual output of an
institution. In the case of a university this would include research
articles, theses, dissertations and other digital objects generated by
normal academic life.
The main objective of an IR is to enhance the visibility of the knowledge
products created by an institution's members by providing easy open
access.
The following collections are part of the Institutional Repository (UPSpace) of the University of Pretoria:
OpenUP : The collection of research articles produced by UP affiliates.
It is called openUP to signify its strong relationship
to the international open access movement. Open access underscores
the philosophy that "the research literature, which is not written
for profit but for the advancement of science and which is largely funded
by public money, is a public good and should be accessible to everyone
who has a need for the information."
Encouraging more lecturers to provide Open Access of their journal publications by placing them on OpenUP (http://openup.ais.up.ac.za/), is a further development in the e-information environment, thereby making UP research output accessible to the rest of the world.
UPSpace Collections
Our growing digital “Collections” in UPSpace are further examples of our involvement and participation in the electronic information environment. Sir Arnold Theiler is featured there, as well as the Arnold Theiler Memorial Lectures, Pastures, and Christine Seegers Biomedical Illustrations.
(https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/78)
VET LIBRARY’s digital Theiler under the spotlight
As reported in Infomania in 2006:
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. (UPSpace is the electronic institutional research repository on the web of the University of Pretoria for digitised items). (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/)
Ably assisted by Ria Groenewald, the AIS digital expert, and Amelia Breytenbach (our library’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 had been there in 1901 to tell him that the future would give him even greater exposure than he had in Pres. Paul Kruger’s time! (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/bitstream/2263/172/2/atphd1901.pdf)
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. 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.
Negotiations are taking place for fundng to digitise these early publications.
SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL VETERINARY REPOSITORY
Greater challenges lie ahead as we create the National Veterinary Repository, a joint endeavour with the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, preserving past information sources such as photos and slides in digital format for the future.
LIBRARY COMMITTEE
The Library Committee came into being in March 1997. It has been a great help with communication between the library and the departments of the Faculty as information about services and products is shared and faculty needs are communicated.
The Faculty’s Library Committee focuses on facilitating communication between departments and the Academic Information Service in support of teaching, learning and research at the Faculty. The departments are represented as follows:
Anatomy & Physiology: Prof Roy Meintjies
Ms Dalene Meyer
Production Animal Studies: Dr Martin Schulman
Ms Heleen Els
Paraclinical Sciences: Dr June Williams
Veterinary Tropical Diseases: Dr Volker Schwan
Companion Animal Clinical Studies: Dr Mirinda Nel
Relevant library-related issues are discussed at meetings, which are held 5 times per year.
Regular items on the agenda include new information products or product enhancements, training needs, curriculum matters and library regulations.
PHYSICAL FACILITIES
During 2002 the library underwent great restructuring
Due to the much-needed expansion of the Computer Laboratory on Level 5 of the Sir Arnold Theiler Building, the library moved its book collection into the former CAI (Comuputer Aided Instruction) laboratory. New stairs had to be built and part of the former stairway closed to enable the new Computer Lab to be a closed facility with no entry via the Library.
A sound-proof room with video and slide equipment was designed for users needing to watch audiovisual material, and also for those working on group assignments, also on the upper level of the Library. New shelves were installed to house the video collection next to the video-seminar room.
INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
- VETLIB-L participation. The information specialists of the library actively participate in this listserv of veterinary librarians from all over the world. It is managed by Vicki Kok, head of the Veterinary Medicine Library of the Virginia Tech University, USA and has been running since 1991. It is a most useful means of sharing problems, finding solutions, obtaining those very difficult articles not available through normal interlending channels and keeping oneself up-to-date in the animal health information world.
- International conferences
We have been very fortunate in having opportunities not only to attend and present at international veterinary librarian conferences, but also to host them. In 1995 we organized the 1st Conference of African Animal Health Information Specialists and in 2005 we organized and hosted the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (5ICAHIS).
HOSTING AND ORGANISING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
1st Conference of African Animal Health Information Workers, July 1995.
This was the first meeting of veterinary librarians to take place in Africa. It was inspired by the 1st International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists that was held in Reading, UK in 1992.
With the help of funding received from the OIE Africa Regional Office, 7 librarians from veterinary libraries in other African countries were able to attend and present papers. In this way information provision of veterinary libraries in sub-Saharan Africa was promoted. It was organized by the Veterinary Science Library and held at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort.
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.
The Fifth ICAHIS, hosted by the Academic Information Service, Service Unit: Veterinary Science (Veterinary Science Library) University of Pretoria, was attended by 65 participants, most of them representing 30 veterinary libraries or institutions from Africa, Europe, Australia and the United States. Since this was the first time this conference was taking place on the African continent (the former ones were held in the UK (at Reading and London), Denmark (Copenhagen) and Hungary (Budapest) participation from other African nations was especially encouraged. Thanks to support from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Wageningen, The Netherlands, seven information specialists representing Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe were able to attend and deliver papers at the conference.
Vice Principal Prof Andy Mogotlane and the Acting Director of the Academic Information Service, Mr Robert Moropa, as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Prof Nick Kriek welcomed all participants on behalf of the University of Pretoria.
The first day’s keynote speaker, Dr. Adi Paterson, Deputy Director-General, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa addressed the country’s electronic information research agenda. He praised the efforts of the ICAHIS, noting that self-organised groups are much more effective than governmental or institutional bureaucracies for crafting global solutions to problems related to information access and exchange.
During the course of the conference 23 papers were delivered - 7 from other countries in Africa, 7 from South Africa, 1 from Australia, 2 from the UK and 6 from the USA.
The Poster Session consisted of 13 posters on a variety of topics relevant to information and knowledge management (2 from South Africa, 1 from Mozambique, 3 from Scandinavia, 1 from the UK, 2 from the USA and 4 from Italy).
Feedback received from participants, showed that the four days of meeting presentations, poster sessions, tours, and the four pre-conference workshop days were very successful.
Workshop participants in the computer laboratory
(As Greg Youngen, Veterinary Librarian, University of Illinois, USA writes:
“Conference organizer Erica Van Der Westhuizen, University of Pretoria, and her magnificent team of AIS colleagues are to be commended for hosting the event. Erica, along with the other members of the conference scientific committee, Trenton Boyd, University of Missouri, Fiona Brown, University of Edinburgh, Vicki Croft, Washington State University, Ruth Lawrence, Dept. of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia, Theodora Oker-Blom, University of Helsinki, David Swanepoel, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa are all to be congratulated for assembling an informative and entertaining agenda for the advancement of knowledge in the field of animal health information. Bridging the information gaps in animal health, along with establishing enduring contacts between information professionals in service to the profession, were the goals of the conference, and by all levels of expectation, they were met, setting the stage for future ICAHIS endeavors.”)
Further information on the 5ICAHIS Conference and the workshops is available on the conference Blog: www.knowledgeflows.blogspot.com
Erica van der Westhuizen
Head: Veterinary Science Library, UP
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Digitisation of Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research
The digitisation of the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research is beginning to show results. If you visit the website:
https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/8641
you will find that the Index 1903-1932 has been uploaded in UPSpace as well as some of the early issues (1908 - 1910). All items in blue will link you to the digitised document.
It has been placed in the university's research repository, as part of the SA National Veterinary Repository. We would like to thank the UPSpace manager, Ina Smith for so patiently dealing with all our requests and queries, helping us to create this online research resource for current and future researchers worldwide.
So we are getting there, slowly but surely.
With thanks to the scanner, Elliot Matukane, using the special Digibook scanning equipment at the Merensky Library, Ria Groenewald of the Merensky Library who oversees the digitisation process, ensuring a very good end product, the 2 veterinary students who prepare the scanned image for web publication (Aileen Pypers and Kate Moseley), Antoinette Lourens who uploads each article with keywords in UPSpace and Marguerite Nel who does the final metadata editing.
A special word of thanks to Prof Guthrie of the Equine Research Unit for supporting this project financially by funding the work of the students.
Erica van der Westhuizen
https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/8641
you will find that the Index 1903-1932 has been uploaded in UPSpace as well as some of the early issues (1908 - 1910). All items in blue will link you to the digitised document.
It has been placed in the university's research repository, as part of the SA National Veterinary Repository. We would like to thank the UPSpace manager, Ina Smith for so patiently dealing with all our requests and queries, helping us to create this online research resource for current and future researchers worldwide.
So we are getting there, slowly but surely.
With thanks to the scanner, Elliot Matukane, using the special Digibook scanning equipment at the Merensky Library, Ria Groenewald of the Merensky Library who oversees the digitisation process, ensuring a very good end product, the 2 veterinary students who prepare the scanned image for web publication (Aileen Pypers and Kate Moseley), Antoinette Lourens who uploads each article with keywords in UPSpace and Marguerite Nel who does the final metadata editing.
A special word of thanks to Prof Guthrie of the Equine Research Unit for supporting this project financially by funding the work of the students.
Erica van der Westhuizen
Jesse Lewis jnr - Jotello F. Soga researcher
Jesse receiving a gift from Erica van der Westhuizen on behalf of the Jotello F. Soga Library staff.
Mr Jesse Lewis was the driving force behind our Soga project. He is a citizen of the United States, with a great interest in South African history. It was his article about Soga which alerted us to the significance of this South African veterinarian. It appeared in the Beeld supplement of 6 January 2007.
We were very honoured to have Jesse as our Guest Speaker at the Naming Ceremony on 5 May 2009.
The photo top right shows Jesse chatting to the sculptor of the Soga bust, Lusanne Peens.
Other photos of Jesse and guests at the function appear above left.
Monday, June 15, 2009
We have been noticed!
It was great seeing this evaluation of our electronic library services and products including our blog recently. Thank you to the IAALD blog (http://Iaald.blogspot.com) for noticing us.
As follows:
29 May 2009Pretoria Vet Sciences library reaches out with accessible tools
Earlier this year, this blog [IAALD] reported several discussions on future library services in agriculture.One of the approaches advocated was to transform libraries into more proactive spaces where information and knowledge are exchanged, often using new tools and approaches.The Veterinary Sciences Library at the University of Pretoria offers us some good examples of what can be done, in a pragmatic way:
The home page gives lots of search and navigation options (catalogue and google)
They use Dspace for the South African National Veterinary Repository
The Veterinary Science Dean supports open access and his Faculty staff also contribute to the university repository
The library pages can be bookmarked on services like Delicious using an 'addthis' widget
The library's newsletter Infomania has a range of views and stories, as well as practical tips beyond 'pure' libraries
They engage in several special projects and international networks linked to their mandate
Their blog reports on major developments in the library services. The postings on service plans (for 2009) and achievements (in 2008) are especially useful - and offer transparency.
As we look at ways to enhance the accessibility of agricultural information, such cases can help us identify the large and small pathways we can all adopt.
As follows:
29 May 2009Pretoria Vet Sciences library reaches out with accessible tools
Earlier this year, this blog [IAALD] reported several discussions on future library services in agriculture.One of the approaches advocated was to transform libraries into more proactive spaces where information and knowledge are exchanged, often using new tools and approaches.The Veterinary Sciences Library at the University of Pretoria offers us some good examples of what can be done, in a pragmatic way:
The home page gives lots of search and navigation options (catalogue and google)
They use Dspace for the South African National Veterinary Repository
The Veterinary Science Dean supports open access and his Faculty staff also contribute to the university repository
The library pages can be bookmarked on services like Delicious using an 'addthis' widget
The library's newsletter Infomania has a range of views and stories, as well as practical tips beyond 'pure' libraries
They engage in several special projects and international networks linked to their mandate
Their blog reports on major developments in the library services. The postings on service plans (for 2009) and achievements (in 2008) are especially useful - and offer transparency.
As we look at ways to enhance the accessibility of agricultural information, such cases can help us identify the large and small pathways we can all adopt.
We have been noticed!
It was great seeing this evaluation of our electronic library services and products including our blog recently. Thank you to the IAALD blog (http://Iaald.blogspot.com) for noticing us.
As follows:
29 May 2009
Pretoria Vet Sciences library reaches out with accessible tools
Earlier this year, this blog [IAALD] reported several discussions on future library services in agriculture.One of the approaches advocated was to transform libraries into more proactive spaces where information and knowledge are exchanged, often using new tools and approaches.The Veterinary Sciences Library at the University of Pretoria offers us some good examples of what can be done, in a pragmatic way:
The home page gives lots of search and navigation options (catalogue and google)
They use Dspace for the South African National Veterinary Repository
The Veterinary Science Dean supports open access and his Faculty staff also contribute to the university repository
The library pages can be bookmarked on services like Delicious using an 'addthis' widget
The library's newsletter Infomania has a range of views and stories, as well as practical tips beyond 'pure' libraries
They engage in several special projects and international networks linked to their mandate
Their blog reports on major developments in the library services. The postings on service plans (for 2009) and achievements (in 2008) are especially useful - and offer transparency.
As we look at ways to enhance the accessibility of agricultural information, such cases can help us identify the large and small pathways we can all adopt.
Labels: aaa, aginfo, communication, libraries, livestock, south_africa, veterinary_medicine, web2.0
español deutsch français italiano português
As follows:
29 May 2009
Pretoria Vet Sciences library reaches out with accessible tools
Earlier this year, this blog [IAALD] reported several discussions on future library services in agriculture.One of the approaches advocated was to transform libraries into more proactive spaces where information and knowledge are exchanged, often using new tools and approaches.The Veterinary Sciences Library at the University of Pretoria offers us some good examples of what can be done, in a pragmatic way:
The home page gives lots of search and navigation options (catalogue and google)
They use Dspace for the South African National Veterinary Repository
The Veterinary Science Dean supports open access and his Faculty staff also contribute to the university repository
The library pages can be bookmarked on services like Delicious using an 'addthis' widget
The library's newsletter Infomania has a range of views and stories, as well as practical tips beyond 'pure' libraries
They engage in several special projects and international networks linked to their mandate
Their blog reports on major developments in the library services. The postings on service plans (for 2009) and achievements (in 2008) are especially useful - and offer transparency.
As we look at ways to enhance the accessibility of agricultural information, such cases can help us identify the large and small pathways we can all adopt.
Labels: aaa, aginfo, communication, libraries, livestock, south_africa, veterinary_medicine, web2.0
español deutsch français italiano português
Friday, June 12, 2009
Soga Library Blog continues this blog
Please read the SOGA LIBRARY BLOG for further information and news items etc about or from the Veterinary Science Library of the University of Pretoria.
http://www.sogalibrary.blogspot.com/
The name change to JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY occurred on 5 May 2009.
http://www.sogalibrary.blogspot.com/
The name change to JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY occurred on 5 May 2009.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Naming Ceremony 5 May 2009 - photos
The bronze bust of Dr Jotello F. Soga was unveiled by his great granddaughter, Ms Carole Gallagher, assisted by Ms Thembi Soga, great granddaughter of Jotello's brother.
The unveiling took place in the Library.
The bust was created by Lusanne Peens. It is a copy of the one commissioned by the CEO of the Agricultural Research Council for the Jotello Soga Ethnoveterinary Garden at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. It was unveiled there during the Centenary Celebrations of Onderstepoort in October 2008.
After the unveiling: from l. to.r.Carole Gallagher, Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu (Chancellor of the University of Pretoria), Mrs Nkuhlu, Robert Moropa (Director of UP Library Services) and Thembi Soga
Jotello F. Soga - where he studied
Jotello Festiri Soga studied veterinary medicine at the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies (Dick Vet), Edinburgh. He qualified in 1886, and was awarded the gold medal for botany.
The college was reconstituted as an integral part of the University of Edinburgh in 1951 and became a full faculty in 1964. Reorganisation of the university in 2002 abolished faculties and the Dick Vet is now a part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The Faculty's degree in Veterinary medicine is accredited in the UK, Canada, and the United States.
He is listed as one of the college's notable alumni, as shown in the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_(Dick)_School_of_Veterinary_Studies
Notable alumni
Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, President of the RCVS (1875-77) and as such unified the veterinary profession.
William Robertson, Principal of London Vet College 1881-87
George Fleming, Founder of the Veterinary Journal in 1875, architect of the 1881 Vet Surgeons Act
James Law, The first professor of veterinary medicine in the United States (Cornell)
James McCall, Established the Glasgow Vet College in 1862
William Williams, the Welsh veterinary surgeon who founded of the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh in 1873 (which went on to become the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Liverpool) and author of several standard works on veterinary science
John Luke Poett, the first veterinary surgeon in the Canadian North West Mounted Police.
Andrew Smith, founder of the Ontario Veterinary College, Canada, the oldest veterinary college in the Americas
Sir Thomas Dalling, Director of Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries
Sir John McFadyean, principal of the London Veterinary School and credited as the founder of modern veterinary science
Duncan McNab McEachran, Established the Montreal Vet College in 1875
JOtello Festiri Soga, First South African veterinary surgeon
Albert E. Mettam, First Principal of Royal Vet College, Dublin
Sir Stewart Stockman, Built first UK research laboratories (Weybridge) President of the RCVS (1923-24)
Sir John N. Ritchie, Chief Veterinary Officer, the highest veterinary post in the Government, Dean of Royal Vet College, London
John Boyd Dunlop, inventor of the first practical pneumatic tyre, and founder of Dunlop Rubber Company
Sir Alexander Robertson, CBE, MA, BSc (Aber), PhD (Edin), FRIC, FRSE
Robin Coombs, He devised 'The Coombs Test', a critical diagnostic test for use in haematology and blood transfusion.
Noah M. Wekesa, Minister for Science and Technology in the Kenyan Government
Hamish Moore, Through his recordings, teaching, and pipe-making he has done much to promote the bellows blown pipes of Scotland.
The college was reconstituted as an integral part of the University of Edinburgh in 1951 and became a full faculty in 1964. Reorganisation of the university in 2002 abolished faculties and the Dick Vet is now a part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The Faculty's degree in Veterinary medicine is accredited in the UK, Canada, and the United States.
He is listed as one of the college's notable alumni, as shown in the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_(Dick)_School_of_Veterinary_Studies
Notable alumni
Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, President of the RCVS (1875-77) and as such unified the veterinary profession.
William Robertson, Principal of London Vet College 1881-87
George Fleming, Founder of the Veterinary Journal in 1875, architect of the 1881 Vet Surgeons Act
James Law, The first professor of veterinary medicine in the United States (Cornell)
James McCall, Established the Glasgow Vet College in 1862
William Williams, the Welsh veterinary surgeon who founded of the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh in 1873 (which went on to become the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Liverpool) and author of several standard works on veterinary science
John Luke Poett, the first veterinary surgeon in the Canadian North West Mounted Police.
Andrew Smith, founder of the Ontario Veterinary College, Canada, the oldest veterinary college in the Americas
Sir Thomas Dalling, Director of Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries
Sir John McFadyean, principal of the London Veterinary School and credited as the founder of modern veterinary science
Duncan McNab McEachran, Established the Montreal Vet College in 1875
JOtello Festiri Soga, First South African veterinary surgeon
Albert E. Mettam, First Principal of Royal Vet College, Dublin
Sir Stewart Stockman, Built first UK research laboratories (Weybridge) President of the RCVS (1923-24)
Sir John N. Ritchie, Chief Veterinary Officer, the highest veterinary post in the Government, Dean of Royal Vet College, London
John Boyd Dunlop, inventor of the first practical pneumatic tyre, and founder of Dunlop Rubber Company
Sir Alexander Robertson, CBE, MA, BSc (Aber), PhD (Edin), FRIC, FRSE
Robin Coombs, He devised 'The Coombs Test', a critical diagnostic test for use in haematology and blood transfusion.
Noah M. Wekesa, Minister for Science and Technology in the Kenyan Government
Hamish Moore, Through his recordings, teaching, and pipe-making he has done much to promote the bellows blown pipes of Scotland.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Chancellor's welcoming message 5 May 2009
Message from the Chancellor of the University of Pretoria, Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu at the Naming Ceremony of the Jotello F. Soga Library
Honoured guests
The Faculty of Veterinary Science on the Onderstepoort Campus is the only one of its kind in the country and a national asset. It is also the 2nd oldest of the 46 Faculties of Veterinary Science in Africa and the first in sub-Saharan Africa. Established by Sir Arnold Theiler in 1920 it has a long history of excellence in teaching and learning and it is expected in future to play a leading role in veterinary education in the SADC region and further afield in Africa.
This faculty has the sole responsibility in South Africa of training veterinarians and veterinary nurses that are essential to the country in the context of defined national and international needs.
Veterinarians and veterinary services are indispensable to the health and wellbeing of animals and humans and play an important role in the economy of South Africa. Among other things, they contribute to production of sustainable sources of safe protein of animal origin and the prevention of transmission of diseases from animals to humans. The ability to diagnose and contain diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and to establish the risk of the transfer of diseases from animals to humans such as the current outbreak of swine flu is critical to the certification of the disease status of animals and of the safety for export of various agricultural products of animal and plant origin, and human health respectively.
With the amalgamation of the 2 faculties of the University of Pretoria and MEDUNSA in 1999 a new national Faculty of Veterinary Science was formed, to continue building on its past achievements and develop veterinarians and veterinary nurses for the future.
Facilities at this faculty are comparable to the best in the world. Today we focus on one of these facilities, the Library. To sustain the high regard in which the faculty is held worldwide, an excellent library and information service is essential.
This Library provides a specialised information service to the faculty and extends this role to promote animal health information provision throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
This includes holding training workshops for veterinary librarians from other countries in Africa, launching community engagement projects such as Vet Books for Africa, and organising and hosting international conferences, for example the 1st Conference of Animal Health Information Workers in Africa in 1995, and the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists in 2005 - another first for Africa.
By naming this important facility in honour of the first South African to qualify as a veterinary surgeon, we are honouring Dr Jotello Festiri Soga’s unique and important role as a veterinarian in South Africa in the late 19th century.
Dr Soga serves as an exceptional role model and pioneer for the black community, encouraging and inspiring a growing number of students applying to study in this field.
To be present here today will thus make us all part of an historic and unique event that will add further relevancy and significance to the already rich history of excellence and distinction that is associated with this faculty.
On behalf of the University of Pretoria I welcome you and hope that you will enjoy today’s proceedings with us.
Honoured guests
The Faculty of Veterinary Science on the Onderstepoort Campus is the only one of its kind in the country and a national asset. It is also the 2nd oldest of the 46 Faculties of Veterinary Science in Africa and the first in sub-Saharan Africa. Established by Sir Arnold Theiler in 1920 it has a long history of excellence in teaching and learning and it is expected in future to play a leading role in veterinary education in the SADC region and further afield in Africa.
This faculty has the sole responsibility in South Africa of training veterinarians and veterinary nurses that are essential to the country in the context of defined national and international needs.
Veterinarians and veterinary services are indispensable to the health and wellbeing of animals and humans and play an important role in the economy of South Africa. Among other things, they contribute to production of sustainable sources of safe protein of animal origin and the prevention of transmission of diseases from animals to humans. The ability to diagnose and contain diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and to establish the risk of the transfer of diseases from animals to humans such as the current outbreak of swine flu is critical to the certification of the disease status of animals and of the safety for export of various agricultural products of animal and plant origin, and human health respectively.
With the amalgamation of the 2 faculties of the University of Pretoria and MEDUNSA in 1999 a new national Faculty of Veterinary Science was formed, to continue building on its past achievements and develop veterinarians and veterinary nurses for the future.
Facilities at this faculty are comparable to the best in the world. Today we focus on one of these facilities, the Library. To sustain the high regard in which the faculty is held worldwide, an excellent library and information service is essential.
This Library provides a specialised information service to the faculty and extends this role to promote animal health information provision throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
This includes holding training workshops for veterinary librarians from other countries in Africa, launching community engagement projects such as Vet Books for Africa, and organising and hosting international conferences, for example the 1st Conference of Animal Health Information Workers in Africa in 1995, and the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists in 2005 - another first for Africa.
By naming this important facility in honour of the first South African to qualify as a veterinary surgeon, we are honouring Dr Jotello Festiri Soga’s unique and important role as a veterinarian in South Africa in the late 19th century.
Dr Soga serves as an exceptional role model and pioneer for the black community, encouraging and inspiring a growing number of students applying to study in this field.
To be present here today will thus make us all part of an historic and unique event that will add further relevancy and significance to the already rich history of excellence and distinction that is associated with this faculty.
On behalf of the University of Pretoria I welcome you and hope that you will enjoy today’s proceedings with us.
Jotello Festiri Soga - his significance today
Jotello F. Soga was the FIRST South African to qualify as a veterinary surgeon (Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh 1886).
“Dr Soga played an important role in combating rinderpest and lung-sickness in the country as the first qualified South African veterinarian. He also laid a foundation for veterinary education in South Africa. But he is better known in veterinary circles as a pioneer researcher in the study of toxic plants and their effect on animals – both for their poisonous and curative effects.” (Prof Gerry Swan, Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria)
The South African Veterinary Association (SAVA) has established a tribute to Dr. Soga as mentioned on its website. The SAVA awards the annual Soga Medal in “recognition of exceptional community service” rendered by a veterinarian or a veterinary student.
“The fact that we award the Soga Medal is an indication that we respect and admire his contribution – not only his work as a veterinarian but his commitment to the community.This is what we want to instill in our profession. Veterinary medicine is not only a job but a commitment to the community – the entire South African community." (Dr Colin Cameron, CEO South African Veterinary Association)
Naming Ceremony 5 May 2009
The Veterinary Science Library of the University of Pretoria was named on 5 May 2009 by the Chancellor of the University in honour of the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian, Dr JOTELLO F. SOGA.
He studied at the Royal Dick College (which later became part of the University of Edinburgh), obtaining the veterinary degree in 1886. There was no veterinary training facility in South Africa until 1920 when Sir Arnold Theiler founded the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria.
As the present Dean, Prof Gerry Swan pointed out: "Dr Soga played an important role in combating rinderpest and lung sickness as the first qualified South African veterinarian. Yet he is better known as a pioneer researcher in the study of toxic plants and their effect on animals."
Read more about Dr Jotello Soga on our website: http://www.library.up.ac.za/vet/soga.htm
He studied at the Royal Dick College (which later became part of the University of Edinburgh), obtaining the veterinary degree in 1886. There was no veterinary training facility in South Africa until 1920 when Sir Arnold Theiler founded the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria.
As the present Dean, Prof Gerry Swan pointed out: "Dr Soga played an important role in combating rinderpest and lung sickness as the first qualified South African veterinarian. Yet he is better known as a pioneer researcher in the study of toxic plants and their effect on animals."
Read more about Dr Jotello Soga on our website: http://www.library.up.ac.za/vet/soga.htm
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Naming Ceremony 5 May 2009
The Veterinary Science Library of the University of Pretoria was named on 5 May 2009 by the Chancellor of the University in honour of the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian, Dr JOTELLO F. SOGA.
He studied at the Royal Dick College at the University of Edinburgh, obtaining the veterinary degree in 1886. There was no veterinary training facility in South Africa until 1920 when Sir Arnold Theiler founded the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria.
As the present Dean, Prof Gerry Swan pointed out: "Dr Soga played an important role in combating rinderpest and lung sickness as the first qualified South African veterinarian. Yet he is better known as a pioneer researcher in the study of toxic plants and their effect on animals."
Read more about Dr Jotello Soga on our website: http://www.library.up.ac.za/vet/soga.htm
He studied at the Royal Dick College at the University of Edinburgh, obtaining the veterinary degree in 1886. There was no veterinary training facility in South Africa until 1920 when Sir Arnold Theiler founded the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria.
As the present Dean, Prof Gerry Swan pointed out: "Dr Soga played an important role in combating rinderpest and lung sickness as the first qualified South African veterinarian. Yet he is better known as a pioneer researcher in the study of toxic plants and their effect on animals."
Read more about Dr Jotello Soga on our website: http://www.library.up.ac.za/vet/soga.htm
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Goals for 2009, Veterinary Science Library, UP
Aligned with the E-STRATEGY of the University of Pretoria Department of Library Services, we will be focusing on the following :
1. DIGITISATION PROJECTS
- Scanning full text and uploading in the institutional repository, UPSpace, the 2 veterinary journals of South Africa
: Onderstepoort J. of Veterinary Research
: J. of the South African Veterinary Association
- Uploading with metadata 4000 unique slides of the Departments of the Faculty (a continuation of the project of the Dept of Education Innovation)
- Digitising and uploading all documents and photos relevant to the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian, Dr Jotello Festiri Soga (Edinburgh, 1886)
- Creating the Ethno-veterinary collection in UPSpace (slides, documents, articles)
2. The new name of the library in honour of Dr J F Soga (JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY)
- arranging function with Rector's office and Head of UP Marketing
3. TRAINING of clients
- RefWorks and Ref Manager
- CAB and Medline
- Enhancing your research output
- Basic information literacy and computer literacy for C3 workers at the faculty
4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH projects
- supporting the Onderstepoort School with books, drawing materials, pictures, animal magazines, and electronic information (on memory sticks)
- helping to promote pet ownership and the role of the veterinarian and veterinary nurse in support of attracting more black applicants to study at the Faculty
- arranging a get-together of all community-related activities at the Faculty
- compiling a CD showing all Onderstpoort community outreach projects
- continuing to run the VET BOOKS FOR AFRICA project in conjunction with students
5. BIBLIOGRAPHIES (paper and electronic)
- African rhinoceros update 1997 - 2008
- Ostrich update 2000 - 2008
- Black Fly (New)
6. MARKETING activities
- Displays in library and at conferences of clients
- through the library web page
7. TRAINING OF LIBRARY STAFF
- Joe (MS Word, SABINET)
- Tertia (Web-ready Digitised items)
- Antoinette and Marguerite (Presenting papers)
- Tertia and Amelia (Presenting papers)
8. ATTENDING CONFERENCES
- International (10ICML / 6 ICAHIS - Brisbane, Australia, Sept) Marguerite and Tertia
- National
LIASA - Joe and
African Digital Scholarship (Pretoria)- Amelia and Antoinette
SANLIG (on behalf of Technical Services - Marguerite )
9. INVOLVEMENT IN NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (HICSA)
- arranging workshops (on presentations, ....)
- arranging speakers and meetings (Prof Skinner on Darwin)
1. DIGITISATION PROJECTS
- Scanning full text and uploading in the institutional repository, UPSpace, the 2 veterinary journals of South Africa
: Onderstepoort J. of Veterinary Research
: J. of the South African Veterinary Association
- Uploading with metadata 4000 unique slides of the Departments of the Faculty (a continuation of the project of the Dept of Education Innovation)
- Digitising and uploading all documents and photos relevant to the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian, Dr Jotello Festiri Soga (Edinburgh, 1886)
- Creating the Ethno-veterinary collection in UPSpace (slides, documents, articles)
2. The new name of the library in honour of Dr J F Soga (JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY)
- arranging function with Rector's office and Head of UP Marketing
3. TRAINING of clients
- RefWorks and Ref Manager
- CAB and Medline
- Enhancing your research output
- Basic information literacy and computer literacy for C3 workers at the faculty
4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH projects
- supporting the Onderstepoort School with books, drawing materials, pictures, animal magazines, and electronic information (on memory sticks)
- helping to promote pet ownership and the role of the veterinarian and veterinary nurse in support of attracting more black applicants to study at the Faculty
- arranging a get-together of all community-related activities at the Faculty
- compiling a CD showing all Onderstpoort community outreach projects
- continuing to run the VET BOOKS FOR AFRICA project in conjunction with students
5. BIBLIOGRAPHIES (paper and electronic)
- African rhinoceros update 1997 - 2008
- Ostrich update 2000 - 2008
- Black Fly (New)
6. MARKETING activities
- Displays in library and at conferences of clients
- through the library web page
7. TRAINING OF LIBRARY STAFF
- Joe (MS Word, SABINET)
- Tertia (Web-ready Digitised items)
- Antoinette and Marguerite (Presenting papers)
- Tertia and Amelia (Presenting papers)
8. ATTENDING CONFERENCES
- International (10ICML / 6 ICAHIS - Brisbane, Australia, Sept) Marguerite and Tertia
- National
LIASA - Joe and
African Digital Scholarship (Pretoria)- Amelia and Antoinette
SANLIG (on behalf of Technical Services - Marguerite )
9. INVOLVEMENT IN NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (HICSA)
- arranging workshops (on presentations, ....)
- arranging speakers and meetings (Prof Skinner on Darwin)
Monday, February 16, 2009
2008 achievements
* The creation of the South African National Veterinary Repository in UPSpace - a unique electronic collection of photos and slides as a result of the collaborative effort of the Veterinary Science Library, University of Pretoria (UP) and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI) (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/3809).
* The publishing of the electronic version of the Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists, in September 2008, in UPSpace
https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/4655
This is the first such e-publication by the Dept of Library Services. It was done by Antoinette Lourens, with metadata editing by Amelia Breytenbach.
* MARKETING (displays, posters, brochures and powerpoint ) at client conferences - VETERINARY COLLECTIONS (SA National Veterinary Repository, Theiler, Biomedical illustrations)
- SA Veterinary & Paraveterinary Conference, Sun City, July 2008
- Faculty Day, September 2008
- Pan African Centenary Veterinary Conference, 6-9 October 2008
* PRESENTATION at SA Online conference, CSIR: The librarian as author and publisher in the digital environment:launching veterinary science in UPSpaceAntoinette Lourens, Erica van der Westhuizen, Amelia Breytenbach, Tertia Coetsee and Ria Groenewald
(Department of Library Services, University of Pretoria, South Africa) and
David Swanepoel
(ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library, South Africa)
* IMPORTANT VISITORS in 2008
The descendants of Jotello Soga and Arnold Theiler visited the Library. We were honoured to welcome the grand daughter of Sir Arnold Theiler, Elizabeth Theiler Martin and her husband as well as the great grand daughter of Dr Jotello F. Soga, Carole Gallagher and her husband in October 2008.
* Amelia Breytenbach attended the 2008 Dublin Core Conference in Berlin, Germany, representing the UP Library Service as metadata specialist. http://dc2008.de/
She visited the Wellcome Trust Library in London where she held worthwhile discussions with their digital experts. http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/
View her powerpoint description of her visits and the conference at https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/8923
(Visits to Libraries, London, 18-19 September 2008 and DC-2008 Conference, Berlin, Germany, 23-25 September 2008 )
* Amelia and Ria Groenewald, UP Digitisation Manager, published an article in 2008 The African Elephant: A digital collection of anatomical sketches as part of the University of Pretoria's Institutional Repository – a case studyhttp://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=306310C220CFFAAD3E2ACB1225B482BA?contentType=Article&contentId=1748002
* The University Council approved the new name for the UP Veterinary Science Library: Jotello F. Soga Library. A special function will be held in May 2009.
* The publishing of the electronic version of the Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists, in September 2008, in UPSpace
https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/4655
This is the first such e-publication by the Dept of Library Services. It was done by Antoinette Lourens, with metadata editing by Amelia Breytenbach.
* MARKETING (displays, posters, brochures and powerpoint ) at client conferences - VETERINARY COLLECTIONS (SA National Veterinary Repository, Theiler, Biomedical illustrations)
- SA Veterinary & Paraveterinary Conference, Sun City, July 2008
- Faculty Day, September 2008
- Pan African Centenary Veterinary Conference, 6-9 October 2008
* PRESENTATION at SA Online conference, CSIR: The librarian as author and publisher in the digital environment:launching veterinary science in UPSpaceAntoinette Lourens, Erica van der Westhuizen, Amelia Breytenbach, Tertia Coetsee and Ria Groenewald
(Department of Library Services, University of Pretoria, South Africa) and
David Swanepoel
(ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Library, South Africa)
* IMPORTANT VISITORS in 2008
The descendants of Jotello Soga and Arnold Theiler visited the Library. We were honoured to welcome the grand daughter of Sir Arnold Theiler, Elizabeth Theiler Martin and her husband as well as the great grand daughter of Dr Jotello F. Soga, Carole Gallagher and her husband in October 2008.
* Amelia Breytenbach attended the 2008 Dublin Core Conference in Berlin, Germany, representing the UP Library Service as metadata specialist. http://dc2008.de/
She visited the Wellcome Trust Library in London where she held worthwhile discussions with their digital experts. http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/
View her powerpoint description of her visits and the conference at https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/8923
(Visits to Libraries, London, 18-19 September 2008 and DC-2008 Conference, Berlin, Germany, 23-25 September 2008 )
* Amelia and Ria Groenewald, UP Digitisation Manager, published an article in 2008 The African Elephant: A digital collection of anatomical sketches as part of the University of Pretoria's Institutional Repository – a case studyhttp://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=306310C220CFFAAD3E2ACB1225B482BA?contentType=Article&contentId=1748002
* The University Council approved the new name for the UP Veterinary Science Library: Jotello F. Soga Library. A special function will be held in May 2009.
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