Research Articles (Library and Information Service)

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Browsing Research Articles (Library and Information Service) by Title

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    A day in the life of an open scholarship manager : Ina Smith
    (UKSG - United Kingdom Serials Group, 2014-03) Smith, Ina
    Making research openly accessible and marketing research are Ina’s passions. Since being trained as a secondary school teacher and librarian, she has come a long way and her career has steered her in a direction she never would have expected!
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    Now into big strides : report on statutory status for the South African Library and Information Services sector
    (Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2012) Raju, Reggie; Witbooi, Sally; Goosen, Annamarie
    The road to acquiring statutory status for the Library and Information Services (LIS) sector in South Africa has been traversed numerous times over the last sixty to seventy years. In more recent years, there has been renewed vigour to explore the acquisition of statutory status for the sector in South Africa. As part of this process of acquiring statutory status, a number of studies have been conducted. This paper examines the latest drive by the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) to solicit the views of a cross section of LIS personnel with regard to the sector acquiring statutory status. This issue of the acquisition of statutory status is earmarked as a priority in the recently developed Strategic Directions 2010-2014 document of LIASA. At the 2009 LIASA Conference, a clear mandate was given for a national survey to be conducted to solicit the views of personnel that work in the LIS sector with regard to the said issue. The authors administered a short questionnaire to a sample population representing all categories of staff irrespective of whether they belonged to an association or not. The questionnaire was administered using Survey Monkey. This paper reports the results of that survey. Given the overwhelming support for the acquisition of statutory status, the authors examined significant elements that would need to be crafted into the governance structures of a statutory body for the sector.
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    Open access : are we there yet? - the case of Stellenbosch University, South Africa
    (LIASA, 2012-09) Raju, Reggie; Smith, Ina; Talliard, Paulette; Gibson, Hilton
    It is often acknowledged that African and other developing countries have a desperate need for quality scholarly information to advance their research output and to make a contribution to the world of scholarly communication. In terms of Africa, South Africa is the most significant producer of research output in sub-Saharan Africa and has, therefore by default, become a beacon of hope for Africa in the area of research production. This case study focuses on the contribution of Stellenbosch University (SU) to the African research agenda through making its research output available via two different publishing models. The first model is the hosting and preservation of its research output via an institutional repository (the green route to open access). The second model is hosting and publishing open access journals, following one of two ‘streams’ in the gold route. In this paper, the authors contextualize open access. The two publishing models in support of the Strategic Plan for the Environment of the Vice Rector (Research) are discussed as it applies to SU. The Library’s adoption of the role of ‘publisher’ is also examined. In the case of SU, Open Journal Systems (OJS) is the software of choice for hosting open access online journals. The paper provides background on OJS, and also discusses the significance of OJS publishing for the University and its researchers. It concludes with the view that despite the perceived success of the Library and Information Service in making available research output in open access format, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome, and that this process is a continuous one and should remain so in order to continuously take advantage of opportunities offered by evolving technology.
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    Opening access to African scholarly content : Stellenbosch University’s AOARI platforms
    (UKSG, 2013-03) Raju, Reggie; Smith, Ina; Gibson, Hilton
    Africa is viewed as a consumer of the world’s knowledge production. A significant factor influencing this status is the low research output, with the main contributor to this status being minimum access to scholarly content to support research. Stellenbosch University, a leading research institution on the African continent, is committed to contributing to changing this status quo through the distribution of its own research output utilizing open sources. Given the challenges that have plagued Africa in developing processes for the distribution of their research, Stellenbosch University has developed the African Open Access Repository Initiative (AOARI) which uses open source software for two platforms that support the ‘green’ and ‘gold’ route to sharing scholarly literature: Ubuntu is used as the operating system, DSpace is used for its repository and Open Journal Systems for its publication platform. It is anticipated that AOARI will be the bridge that facilitates the sharing of research output and nurtures a culture of research production in Africa.
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    The public library as a critical institution in South Africa's democracy : a reflection
    (LIBRIS, 2010) Raju, R.; Raju, Jaya
    South Africa came out of apartheid rule in 1994. This transition has brought with it its own set of challenges including that of access to information, an essential pillar in upholding a democracy. In this transitional period, South Africa is reliant on every possible institution to contribute to the growth of its fledgling democracy. It is clearly evident from the literature that democratic societies are dependent on such institutions as public libraries to uphold fundamental principles of democracy. This paper reflects on the public library, within the South African context, as an essential institution in the growth and sustainability of democracy through equitable access to information and knowledge. The paper discusses issues such as the public library and its role in equitable access to information, the contradictory environments within South Africa, recreational reading and the public library scenario, lifelong learning, and the public library and the educational system. Other issues such as support for indigenous materials and adult literacy are also addressed in the paper. The authors conclude that the real concern in South Africa today is the gulf between the “haves”, of any colour, and the “have-nots” and the capacity of the public library to bridge that gap via its contribution to the reduction of illiteracy, poverty and unemployment, the scourge of Africa and South Africa. It is a given that public libraries play a critical role in the propagation of democracy, especially in a continent that has been plagued by dictatorships and military rule.
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    Research support through the lens of transformation in academic libraries with reference to the case of Stellenbosch University Libraries
    (LIASA, 2013) Raju, Reggie; Schoombee, Lucia
    Changing higher education pedagogy, digitisation of scholarly content and the increasing influence of relevant technologies have impacted on the transformation of academic library services. This paper examines research support through the lens of the transformation of academic library services. The authors have conducted a review of the literature to determine benchmarks by which to measure the research support services delivered by Stellenbosch University. The paper examines academic libraries to establish the deeper meaning of the librarian for the researcher and the research process. In support of that deeper meaning libraries are providing a new and expanded set of services which includes, inter alia, research data management, curation and preservation; facilitation of open access and bibliometric analysis. Using the research life cycle, this paper examines the research support services provided by the Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service (SULIS) to the research community. The Research Commons is used as the launch pad for new and innovative services. The use of Research Performance Management tools to scan the research landscape, strengthening of self-retrieval of scholarly literature, assistance in the dissemination of research results via publication, and assistance in determining impact factor are all part of the suite of services offered by the Library at Stellenbosch University. The authors conclude that, for academic libraries, there is much to learn and contribute to in this dynamic environment of research production.
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    Stellenbosch University’s AOARI platforms : opening access to African scholarly content
    (African Academy of Sciences, 2013-06) Raju, R.; Smith, Ina
    In the current knowledge economy, Africa is relegated to the periphery of knowledge production as it is considered to be more of a ‘consumer’ of the world’s knowledge as opposed to a ‘producer’. There is sufficient evidence to show that a significant factor contributing to this low research output is limited access to scholarly content to support research. An influential element to this limited access is the exorbitant cost of information. Exacerbating this status is that research conducted by Africans is not easily accessible to the international audience, as the dissemination of African research content is severely prejudiced by the propensity of international publishers to focus on output from the north which generates larger profit margins. This prejudice relegates Africa further into the status of being a silent and invisible contributor to research production.