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.
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