HumBlog

There have been quite a number of changes in the library since we last blogged!    So where are the Humanities Library staff to be found?

Alex D'Angelo still heads the Humanities Library.  Full time in Humanities are librarians, Ingrid Thomson and Celia Walter.  Our offices are on Level 4 of the Research Wing  (the old Commerce Library).     Actually we have pretty nice offices looking out across the Research Wing!    We take turns to man the central information desk on Level 4 (across the way from the loans desk.)

Subject responsibilities have undergone some changes, which means some "new" faces in the department.   So we welcome Caroline Dean (Electronic Resources Librarian)  who takes on Afrikaans + Nederlands, Arabic,  French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese,  while Isaac Ntabankulu (Manuscripts and Archives)  is responsible for looking after the African Languages & Literature.  Busi Khangala (African Studies Library) has Gender Studies, while Tanya Barben (Rare Books) looks after Political Studies.  These librarians are based elsewhere in the UCT Libraries -  contact details are here.  

There have also been some major subject changes for Alex, Ingrid and Celia.    Alex is now the subject librarian for Psychology, English, Linguistics, Religious Studies, and Social Anthropology, while Celia takes on Sociology, Social Development, Philosophy and Classics,  and Ingrid has responsibility for Education, Film and Media Studies, Librarianship and Historical Studies.

 

Tomorrow is a sad day in the Humanities Library when we say goodbye to our colleague, Khumbulele Alfred Faltein.   He will be starting at UWC on Monday.      We wish him well, but wish he wasn't going!

 

It is always a sad moment when a child is parted from his/her mother for the first time.  This is exactly the kind of sadness that is in my heart at this moment. I reckon it is because UCT Libraries is my first employer. Every bit of experience and knowledge that I can boast of in librarianship has been acquired only from here. Though I have to say goodbye, I am still reluctant to see the cord cut.

May I take this opportunity to extend my earnest gratitude to each and every staff member of UCT Libraries – from those who ensured that the material that I ordered on behalf of the library patrons has safely and timeously reached the library, to those who assisted in arranging it in its relevant shelves in the library.  You were all a great big team that made my work even more feasible. ENKOSI KAKHULU!

Special thanks go to my Humanities family. I call them a family because the support that I have enjoyed from them for the past four years extended far  beyond the boundaries of work place. I hope I will always be able to spread what I have learnt from you – selflessness, sharing and professionalism. NDIYABULELA!

 

The Department of Arts and Culture has just announced the new board of the National Library of South Africa.    Tanya Barben,  Historical Studies and English Librarian in Humanities, and our Rare Books and Special Collections Librarian,  is now on the board.    Congratulations Tanya!

The Humanities Library has a new staff member - Marlene Adonis who has come to us from the Commerce Library.   Marlene, the new senior library assistant,  will be looking after our webpage, amongst other responsibilities.    

Welcome Marlene! 

 

Dr Cathy Ward from Psychology and Celia Walter, Psychology Subject Librarian will speak about how a subject librarian has worked together with the PSY1001W course convenor and students via Vula.

At the end of last year, there were accolades for Celia from the PSY1001Ws.   Celia's interaction with the course and the students happened not only physically within the library, but also on Vula  - so this is a great opportunity to hear how it was done, and what is possible.

If you haven't yet signed up to attend the CET Seminar on Thursday 19 March from 1 pm - 2 pm in Hoerikwaggo 3A, don't delay - sign up today! 

UCT Libraries in association with CET are running a number of lunchtime sessions during South African Library Week which runs from 16 - 21 March 2009.

The sessions are:-

Monday 16 March 2009 at 13h00-14h00 in Ulwazi Training Room, Chancellor Oppenheimer Library, Main Campus.  

Get to grips with the Electronic Journals.
Did you know that through UCT Libraries, you have access to more than 34 000  full-text electronic journals?  And these are available to you through the journal portal?  Explore the rich pickings of the portal with Humanities Library Head, Alex D'Angelo who will show you how to customise the journal lists, get search alerts via email and more.      SORRY FULLY BOOKED!  . 

with a repeat (by popular demand) on

Friday 20 March 2009, same time, same venue.    (Watch for the sign-up on the CET page)

and

Wednesday 18 March 2009 at 13h00-14h00 in Ulwazi Training Room, Chancellor Oppenheimer Library, Main Campus.

Surviving the Information Tsunami
When you consider the amount of information available out there, and how you use the internet to stay abreast of new developments, new research, new search engines, new sites, new journals, going back and checking your favourite or bookmarked sites, looking at each page for updates and new information ....   when you remember and when you have the time!  If you haven't discovered the joys having the information come to you, rather than you going to the information, then this session is for you. This lunchtime session will be run by Ingrid Thomson, Humanities Librarian.   There are still a few places left. 

Sign up here:  http://teaching.cet.uct.ac.za/events/signup/180   

 

Celia Walter, subject librarian for Psychology, has just been honoured by the first year PSY1001W students at their last lecture today.

The commendation (in a beautiful book about cats called "The Cat in Art")  says

"PSY1001W commendation presented to Celia Walter by the staff and students of the Psychology 1 classes of the last 3 years in appreciation of the remarkable contributions that you have made to the education of our students and the consistent kindness and unstinting support that you have shown to so many"   signed Terry Dowdall, Convenor of the Programme.

Then there are the thank-yous at the back of book from staff, tutors and students in the department -  again, quoting Terry  "Celia, dear - you've been such a star over the past 3 years with Psych 1 - your boundless energy and your kindness to the students has actually changed the way we teach.  Thank you for a very productive partnership" 

Congratulations Celia - you are a shining example to us! 

 

 

 

 

 

Think about the amount of information available out there and how you use the internet to stay abreast of new developments, new research, new search engines, new sites, new  journals, going back and checking your favourite or bookmarked sites, looking at each page for updates and new information …  when you remember and when you have time!  

 

In this workshop, we look at finding ways of making access to new information simpler, better and faster  - to get that content delivered to one place as soon as the site is updated, saving precious time  through newsfeeds or RSS feeds or alerts – helping you create that surfboard to ride the crest of the wave and survive the information tsunami.      In other words, you have content come to you, rather than you go to the content.       You may already been using this surfboard without being aware that you are, if you are using Gmail or My Yahoo or My MSN!      You may even be alerted to this blog posting via RSS! 

 One of the surfboards available from the library is TDNet which uses an electronic Current Awareness Service to alert to new information,  but it is much more than this.   So in the second half of the workshop,  we look at TDNet and what it offers.

Come to this workshop with a list of your favourite "must read" journals (even if UCT doesn't subscribe), database searches, journals, websites and blogs.

 Alex D'Angelo and Ingrid Thomson, in conjunction with CET's Teaching with Technology,  will be leading a workshop on RSS feeds or Newsfeeds on Monday 22 September on upper campus.   A repeat of the workshop is planned for Health Sciences on Friday 26 September.    Have you signed up yet?

Spotted on South Africa the Good News -  a story about Hollywood stars recording an audiobook version of Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales.  

Madiba magic : Nelson Mandela’s favourite stories for children is on our shelves in the Classroom Collection at WHJ  398.2096 MADI [in English and isiXhosa] and in Rare Books and Special Collections at BDJ 823.91 MADE and BJA 03/MADI

So why is this featuring on Humblog?  Alex d'Angelo has two stories in the anthology - wonder which Hollywood stars will have the pleasure of reading Alex's works!  

 

Congratulations to Khumbulele Alfred Faltein on being selected as an intern for the Carnegie Project.   He is part of the second group to attend the Librarians' Academy (a two week residential programme to be held in Stellenbosch).   Khumbulele is currently the subject librarian for South African Languages & Literature, Sociology, Social Development and Social Anthropology.  

 

 

 

 

 Read more about the joint  UCT, KZN and Wits libraries project  entitled "A new model for research support: integrating skills, scholarship and technology in a South African library consortium" in the Libraries Update.    

The project runs from 1 August 2006 until the end of July 2009, and is fundamentally a library intervention to improve services and support offered to researchers, especially those who are at the beginning of their careers, in three of South Africa’s top research universities.  In future years, we hope that elements of the project will be rolled out to include other South African institutions, and possibly even other universities in Africa at large.