VET Library committee meetings 2008 - April 17

MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 17 APRIL 2008 AT 13:30

1. PRESENT: Prof Roy Meintjes, Dr Mirinda Nel, Dr June Williams, Mss Tertia Coetsee, Marguerite Nel, Antoinette Lourens and Erica vd Westhuizen
APOLOGIES: Dr Volker Schwan, Ms Heleen Els, Ms Amelia Breytenbach
2. BOOK FUNDS 2008: it was noted that no message had been received concerning availability of funds at present.
3. NATIONAL VETERINARY RESPOSITORY UPDATE: it was noted that this joint project of the Faculty and the OVI was on course. Scanning is being done by the Vet Sci Library of UP of items belonging to the Library or to the OVI, to be uploaded in the Repository which is on UPSpace (Institutional Repository of UP). Members were asked to inform the librarians if they know of any historical material which can be included in this Repository.

4. OPENUP FACULTY PUBLICATIONS: it was noted that OpenUP is the collection of research articles of UP staff. Copyright permission is first obtained from the journal publishers before articles are placed in this collection. OpenUP staff apply for this copyright permission. Members were asked to encourage their colleagues to place their research output in OpenUP. Elsabe Olivier of OpenUP is willing to address the Faculty once again on OpenUP to explain the advantages to authors of the faculty in placing their publications in OpenUP..

5. LUNCH HOUR TRAINING SESSIONS: it was noted that training sessions have been arranged for March, April and May. CAB and Medline databases will be featured as well as Refworks and various Web2.0 tools. Members were requested to inform the librarians if there were other topics they would like to have covered. Training can also be given in the Departments.

6. NEW CAB DATABASE: it was noted that there were few changes to the database, apart from the colour now used

7. STAFF WHO RESIGN: members were asked to inform the Library when staff have resigned so that library material can be recovered before they leave. It was suggested that HR section should be asked to keep the library informed.

8. WHEN THE INTERNET IS DOWN – HOW TO FIND INFORMATION: it was noted that there are 2 paper resources in the library which can help to locate articles on topics, if electronic searching is unavailable – Index Veterinarius and the Veterinary Bulletin. The CAB database is based upon these 2 publications.

9. NEW NAME FOR THE LIBRARY: it was noted that the Faculty Board have approved the name JOTELLO F. SOGA LIBRARY. Jesse Lewis, an American researcher, has made his biographical material about Soga available to the library, to be featured in a new webpage devoted to Soga, the first South African to qualify as a veterinarian (University of Edinburgh, 1886)

10. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT: it was noted that this agreement drawn up by the Department of Library Services and the Faculties had been personalised for the Veterinary Science Library and the Faculty it serves, and after input by the Dean, will be finalised and circulated.

11. DEPARTMENTAL MATTERS: none, apart from the need for book orders to be placed.

12. GENERAL: Dr Jevan Christie will replace Dr Mirinda Nel as representative of CACS as she has resigned.

13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 17 July 2008

Research output, 2008 Faculty of Vet Science, UP

Research highlights 2008: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria

(from the Dean's report, OPNews, Winter 2008)

The research programme of the faculty again showed steady growth over the past year. It represents the highest research output this faculty has ever had. The subsidy units earned from the Department of Education for publications increased from 46.13 in 2006 to 55.71 in 2007 and65.31 in 2008. Over the past year it representsa growth of 18%, and the subsidy per academic staff member of 0.65 is getting closer to the UP goal of 1.0. Noteworthy is the fact that again all the faculty’s publications were in the higher category of ISI-accredited journals. In terms of funding, the increase in subsidy earned translated into an increase in the research allocation fromR553 560 in 2006 to R1 044 960 in 2008 (growth of almost 100%).
There was a substantial increase in the number of postgraduate students from 168 in2006 to 250 in 2008, accompanied by an increase in the funding available for postgraduate bursaries from R254 454 in 2007 to R367 422 in 2008. The number of rated academic staff members increased from 14 in 2006 to 16 in 2007.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT**To formalise and make community involvementpart of the formal undergraduate and postgraduate training of the faculty, a long-term programme has been developed over the last two years.This programme involved the Mnisi TraditionalAuthority, the Directorate of Veterinary Services of the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs, and the Institute for TropicalMedicine, Antwerp, Belgium, and will officiallycommence in October 2008.