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