Pan African Centenary Veterinary Conference 2008

MEETING THE THEILER AND SOGA DESCENDANTS

During the Pan African Centenary Veterinary Conference, 6-9 October 2008 the Veterinary Science Library held a display featuring various collections in the electronic Institutional Repository, UPSpace.

These include the Theiler collection.
Special posters were designed by Ria Groenewald to highlight the Open Access research articles in OpenUP, the Arnold Theiler Memorial Lectures collection in UPSpace, Christine Seegers biomedical illustrations in UPSpace, and slide material from various departments at the Faculty.
A powerpoint presentation designed by Antoinette Lourens ran throughout the conference, explaining the importance of digitising unique information sources.

The Librarians were thrilled to meet the direct descendants of both Sir Arnold Theiler and Dr Jotello Soga, two prominent veterinary figures of the late 19th, early 20th centuries. In the photo taken at the library display can be seen in front from l. to r.
Mr Gallagher, Dr Emily Mogojane, Carole Gallagher (great granddaughter of Dr Soga), Elizabeth Theiler Martin (grand daughter of Sir Arnold) and her husband behind her.

Marketing at SA Veterinary & Paraveterinary Conference 2008

SA VETERINARY AND PARAVETERINARY CONGRESS 7-11 JULY 2008, Sun City

THE LIBRARY WAS THERE!
Erica van der Westhuizen

The Veterinary Science Library once again participated in this biannual event by sharing the Faculty’s exhibition stand. This important occasion in the veterinary calendar is an opportunity for marketing the library’s services and products to veterinary practitioners. With CPD now compulsory for practitioners the library plays a role in helping with the earning of points. We run an electronic monitoring system, keeping a record of the articles requested by veterinarians who have enrolled for our contents pages service.

Antoinette Lourens and Erica van der Westhuizen promoted the Library Services the first 2 days of the conference, and were followed by Tertia Coetsee and Marguerite Nel for the next 2 days.

We were kept very busy as most of the attendees visited the exhibits. There was no time for us to attend any of the lectures unfortunately, as we had been able to do at past conferences. (No time for gambling either!)

We hope that all the contacts made and information communicated about how the library can help practitioners to keep up-to-date will result in an expansion of our “external” market, for the benefit of animal health in South Africa.

PHOTOS SHOW LIBRARIANS AT THE EXHIBIT STAND

Antoinette Lourens promoting our services

From left to right:
Tertia Coetsee, Antoinette Lourens, Erica van der Westhuizen and Marguerite Nel

New staff member, Veterinary Science Library

We welcome our new staff member, Joe Sindane. He will be mainly responsible for Interlibrary loans and document delivery.

Joe Sindane and Antoinette Lourens, August 2008.

See also our library newsletter, September 2008 issue.

(http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomania19/infoma19.htm)

E-products display in Veterinary Science Library

We are concentrating on bringing the growing e-collections in the university's Institutional Repository (UPSpace) to our users' attention (and others too!).

During August 2008 we featured the various collections which we have been digitising and uploading to UPSpace, in a display in the Veterinary Science Library.

These include the Biomedical illustrations of Christine Seegers (the African elephant), the Theiler collection of photos and other memorabilia, the Arnold Theiler Memorial Lectures (an annual event), and the South African National Veterinary Repository. (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/3809)

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.

Goals for 2008 +

For 2008 and ahead:
COLLECTION MANAGEMENT:
Update book shelves with Dewey nos.
Indicate e-journals on journal display shelves
Duplicate journals list for Vetlib-L
Collection Development policy

PHYSICAL FACILITIES
Computer connecting cords refit
Connect printers at user terminals
Re-apply for security system at exit (dismantled when new circulation desk installed)
Re-apply for carpet next to study tables

DIGITAL PROJECTS (E-Information strategy)
1. National Veterinary Repository:
- include parties outside University e.g.private practitioners
- market at next SAVA conference (Sun City) to encourage participation
- involve Vet Museum at OVI
- ask Librarian at OVI to help with content
- ask Dr Verwoerd and Dr Bigalke to help with metadata (Identify photos)
2. Publish the Proceedings of our 2005 Conference (5ICAHIS) and our 1995
conference electronically in UPSpace
3. Digitisation of 2 SA veterinary journals (Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research (1903 - 1996) and Journal of the SA Veterinary Association) (1924 - 1997)
4. OpenUP: we must actively begin to upload UP articles. (Marguerite and Tertia will consult with Dr J Van Wyk re his documents to be included)
5. Veterinary Theses - the early ones borrowed from UNISA Archives must be digitised and placed in the e-theses collection.
Important to coincide with Faculty's centenary celebration

WEB PAGES
- Jotello Festire SOGA: new web page to be created. Contact author of book,
Jesse Lewis, and University of Edinburgh Libraries, and Internet. Cape Archives and National Archives
- Normal values of animals (Tertia) - new web page
- Others to be updated: Ostrich, Goat, Poultry, Dental Formulae (juveniles),
Poisonous plants, Disaster management
- LINK OUR BLOGS ON OUR WEB PAGES

TRAINING
: Lunch hour sessions for Postgraduate students, lecturers: Tertia is compiling an online help for postgraduate students re research methodology

BIBLIOGRAPHIES to be updated:
Ostrich 2000 - 2008
Rhino 1997 - 1008
Publish in paper format and electronically
Convert previous years from InMagic to RefWorks to be able to issue them as a complete electronic database.
New Bibliography : BLACK FLY (Prof Bath)

CONFERENCES in 2008
3-5 June - SA Online- Erica, Antoinette, Amelia and Tertia to submit abstract: The Librarian as author and publisher in the web environment
16-19 June - Joint Conference of Digital Libraries, Pittsburgh USA - Amelia has submitted an abstract on the National Veterinary Repository, for the poster session
15-19 June SLA Special Libraries Association, Seattle WA, USA
June - SAVA conference, Sun City (to market products and services, and the National Veterinary Repository)
7-9 October - Pan African Veterinary Congress, Onderstepoort (to market as above)

OUR INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
Create a listserv for Veterinary Librarians in African countries (AFRICANVETLIB) to encourage cooperation and sharing of knowledge
Participate in the Livestock Library project (Australia)

TECHNICAL SERVICES (IMPS)
Amelia is overall responsible for quality of metadata and training of cataloguers and other UP staff in assigning metadata
Amelia to serve on the Oracle committee (Metadata)
Amelia responsible to Data Curation Metadata applications for Library Services
Amelia responsible for E-Books web page (new one to be completed)
Amelia responsible for UP Archives metadata
Marguerite metadata editor for Engineering and Architecture
She will help with the metadata editing of collections in the National Veterinary Repository
(Will have to re-look at her work load as she is cataloguer for 4 of our 5 departments and also responsible for the journal orders/collection and IL National and External market's SDI service)Marguerite will do benchmarking of parts of our collection, with Tertia Coetsee (for paper at Conference ? 2009)

Library quilt

Highlights 2007 - Community outreach

http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/documents/opprimary.ppt

Staff of the Veterinary Science Library visited a local school (Onderstepoort Primary Schoool) to take a large donation of story books, colouring-in books, colour pencils and crayons and toothbrushes and toothpaste received from a group of veterinarians in Vermont, USA and their dental technician friend. The books were donated by 2 schools in Vermont.

This kind action from concerned people in the USA helped us to play a more active role in our local school community, which we hope to develop further.

Click on the URL above for a photo tour of the event.

List of donors:
Veterinarians from Vermont, USA
Julie Moenter, DVM
Marv Greenberg, DVM
Laura Lyndes, DVM

Margaret Pierce Teitelbaum (dental technician, Vermont)

Russell Memorial Library, Monkton, Vermont
Lawrence Memorial Library, Bristol, Vermont

Highlights 2007

STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS

- 4 staff members presented a paper at the IFLA conference in Durban on 18 August. This was at the Satellite Session of the Health and Biosciences Section. The title of the presentation:
Disasters and Diseases in Africa: Information Support for Animal and Human Health. Tertia Coetsee, Antoinette Lourens, Marguerite Nel and Erica van der Westhuizen
(http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/ifla/iflapap.htm)

- Amelia Breytenbach, the Library Services' metadata specialist, presented a paper on metadata at the IGBIS section of LIASA at a meeting held in Pretoria.

- Amelia Breytenbach enrolled for the online course on metadata for digital collections presented by the University of Wisconsin:Milwaukee, USA in November.

- Erica van der Westhuizen completed the editing of the Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists.

- Antoinette Lourens was responsible for the layout of the above Proceedings and final preparation to enable the publication to be printed by the University of Illinois in November.

- Erica van der Westhuizen was asked to write the history of the Veterinary Science Library for publication in the special Centenary Book about the Faculty and the Institute (OVI) in 2008.

MARKETING

- UPSpace collections were marketed during Faculty Day in September. A special display was mounted and the collections could be viewed online at the display stand. The focus was The Elephant illustrations of the Christine Seegers Biomedical Illustrations collection.

- The Library's role in the Faculty was emphasised during the function held to celebrate the 20 years that the library has been in the Sir Arnold Theiler building. (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/quilt.htm)

This was a marketing opportunity, enhancing communication with the Dean and Departmental Heads in particular. A special issue of the library newsletter, Infomania, focused on the history of the library and its services and products during the past 20 years. It can be viewed electronically at http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomania17/infoma17.htm

The making of the special commemorative quilt improved team spirit and it is a beautiful addition to the original art collection in the library.
Special mention must be made of Barbara Kellermann who designed the quilt and ensured a professional end-product.

Highlights 2007 continued

PHYSICAL SPACE / FACILITIES

Circulation desk : the old cumbersome one was dismantled in July and the new streamlined one installed.

Carpets: new carpets were laid in the area surrounding the Circulation desk including the Reserved Collection area.

Shelves : additional shelves were installed on the upper level for the expanding book collection, as well as downstairs in the Reserved Collection. This has helped to improve access to books and facilitate their correct placement on the shelves.

These improvements have helped to increase staff morale leading to improved output as well as job satisfaction!

VIRTUAL SPACE

There were 3 notable developments in our Virtual information environment in 2007:

- UPSpace collection added, namely the Christine Seegers Biomedical Illustrations : The Elephant (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/1971)

This is an example of the successful collaboration of the information specialist / metadata specialist, the lecturer who described the illustrations, and the artist.

- New Web Portals created: a) Disasters and Emergencies (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/disaster/)

b) Poisonous plants (http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/poison/)

- the creation and management of the South African National Veterinary Repository - a collaborative effort of the Veterinary Science Library, University of Pretoria (UP) and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI) (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/3809)
with metadata supplied by Emeritus Professor Roy Tustin and digitised slides from the collections of the OVI and the Dept of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, UP

2006 OVERVIEW

Achievements during 2006 included UPSpace developments (Theiler Collection), Training, Marketing, E-books, WIKIs and Blogs, revamped Web pages and the bi-annual visit from the SA Vet Council.

UPSpace

DIGITAL THEILER UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
(for background info: http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomania14/infoma14.htm)

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, founder of the Faculty in 1920, and of his colleagues, friends and family.
Ria made an excellent scanned copy of his 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)

FUTURE DIGITAL PROJECTS

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.
We are holding thumbs that they will help us with funding to digitise these early publications.

Marketing

SA VETERINARY & PARAVETERINARY CONGRESS, DURBAN, 6 – 9 JUNE 2006

Every two years the South African veterinary profession holds a congress where members share knowledge and expertise with colleagues from all over the country.

The Library was very grateful to be able to share the Faculty’s stand so that we could market our products and services to help the practising veterinarian, veterinary nurse and veterinary technician to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in their fields.

As Continuing Professional Development is now compulsory for every practitioner
the Library certainly has a role in helping him to achieve this.

To quote from an article which appeared in the British publication Veterinary Practice ( Nelson, Mike. (2006) The Nelson Touch; RCVS Council heralds some mandatory CPD . Veterinary Practice 38 (1) : 2)

”No one who wishes to keep abreast of the advances in veterinary science can afford to neglect the regular reading of the professional journals. They record for him, and thus enable him to benefit by the results of the experiences and researchers of others, at home and abroad.”

We held 2 lucky draws to win a book bag plus one year’s free subscription to our Journal Contents Pages / Article Service.

The winners were Dr Cedric Tutt from the Veterinary Dentistry and Oro-Facial Surgery Clinic in Cape Town and Dr Leith Meyer from Wits University.

NOTE: COMPETITIONS ARE A GREAT WAY TO MARKET YOUR SERVICES AND PRODUCTS

CONVERSATIONS WITH SIR ARNOLD

Sir Arnold Theiler was the founder of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria in 1920.

This feature was started in 2006 to inform users about products and services of the library. It appears as a regular column in the library's newsletter, Infomania.
(http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomania14/infoma14.htm
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infomania/infomania15/infoma15.htm

Evaluation

SOUTH AFRICAN VETERINARY COUNCIL VISIT FACULTY AND LIBRARY

They interviewed library staff, students and faculty members and made the following suggestions:
1. All Departmental CD’s and discs should be available to students in the library.
2. Improve internet access speed of computers in the library.
3. Increase hostel internet connections with satisfactory speed in order to improve student’s access to the internet and intranet.
4. Use library staff more to develop curricula and to train students in learning data retrieval and analysis.

Training

1.TRAINING COURSES TO PROMOTE INFORMATION LITERACY

Our most popular course! It should be presented earlier in the undergraduate curriculum.

INFORMATION LITERACY TRAINING

BVSC V / VI

1 a.OPTIMAL USE OF THE INTERNET FOR VETERINARY INFORMATION

Presented by Information Specialists of the Academic Information Service, 2006

These training sessions will show you the most effective ways of searching for information on the Web. The skills and techniques that you will learn will enable you to keep up-to-date as veterinary practitioners once you complete your studies at Onderstepoort.

The following aspects will be covered:

Search tips
Search tools

subject gateways
web directories
search engines / Google / Google Scholar

Subject tools for animal health (freely available on the Web)

- CONSULTANT (Cornell University, College of Vet Med)
- DATABASES : Agricola and PubMed
- Electronic Zoo (NetVet)
- FAO (Food and Agric. Organisation)
- Intute: health & life sciences (formerly called BIOME)
- Intute: health & life sciences: Veterinary (formerly called Vetgate)
- IVIS (International Veterinary Information Service)
- OIE (World Animal Health Organisation)
- Tutorials for practitioners
- Vetscite (for Current awareness)
- WHO (World Health Organisation)
- Zoonoses websites

Evaluating web resources

How to cite web resources

Creating personal databases (Reference Manager)

Tertia Coetsee
Antoinette Lourens
Erica van der Westhuizen
www.ais.up.ac.za/vet

1 b. Veterinary Public Health group tasks for 5th year students (Tertia Coetsee) - successful example of what can be achieved if lecturer is involved and students are motivated!

2. Workshops for Information Specialists -

Metadata and Dublin Core for DSpace (Amelia Breytenbach)

Blogs (Antoinette Lourens)

Improving the work environment

DESIGNING NEW CIRCULATION DESK

The plans drawn up by the UP architect were finally approved by the staff involved, and tenders were sent out in December 2006. So we look forward to an ergonomically satisfactory working environment in 2007.

Enhancing Communication

BLOGS AND WIKIS for improved communication with library staff and users

Blogs for our library: http://knowledgeflows.blogspot.com (5ICAHIS conference)

http://uniekevet.blogspot.com (all about our activities)

http://aisebooks.blogspot.com (all about the e-book collections, run by Amelia Breytenbach)

WIKIS : http://vetstrategies.pbwiki.com (for strategic aspects of relevance to our library)

Electronic resources

E-BOOKS COLLECTION

The E-book collection for veterinary and related subject fields was compiled in 2006 enabling our users to peruse electronic books with the click of the mouse.
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/ebooks/collmain.htm
There are now 96 titles in the collection.

Community project

VET BOOKS FOR AFRICA

Through our community project, Vet Books for Africa, run by the Veterinary Science Library, we help to improve the information sources collections of veterinary faculty libraries in other African countries. At the end of November 7 students from our Faculty travelled by road to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, taking donated books, journals and CDs to their libraries. Most of these donations are sent to us by veterinary practitioners in the USA.

Re-vamping our Web Pages

NEW WEB PAGE FOR VET LIBRARY

Implementation of the new Web page for the Veterinary Science Library -
(http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/index.htm). Antoinette Lourens, our Web Specialist, converted or redesigned 136 web pages with appropriate images highlighting activities at this Library and Faculty. These web pages provide access to all relevant information sources for our clients.

E-BOOKS on Veterinary topics

E-BOOKS ON VETERINARY AND RELATED TOPICS
Go to :
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/ebooks/submain.htm
and select Veterinary Science from the list


To access the full text of electronic books you need to be a registered user at the Academic Information Service (Library). All students are automatically registered at the beginning of each year.

To access the full text you will be prompted for a username (your surname) and your student/ personnel number

Make use of the "Limit/Sort" function to limit the titles in a search, if necessary. Click on the link on the bibliographic description of the ebook to access the full text on the WWW or local network server. (From the E-books blog)

Look at the E-Book Information Blog compiled by Amelia Breytenbach, for the latest news and developments regarding e-books. (http://aisebooks.blogspot.com/)

You are most welcome to post your comments on this blog.

Some titles available:

-Field manual of wildlife diseases: general field procedures and diseases of birds (1999-)-Historical anatomies on the Web (2003-)-Lumpy skin disease (2002)
-ProVet website to access the following titles:1)Clinical veterinary toxicology2)Canine and feline geriatrics3)Cardiorespiratory diseases of the dog and cat4)Feline and canine infectious diseases5)Equine cardiology

Animal biotechnology science-based concerns (2002)
The art of veterinary practice: a guide to client communication (1995)
Cattle and small ruminant production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (2002)
Comfortable quarters for laboratory animals (2002)
Critical needs for research in veterinary science (2005)

NEW ADDITIONS TO VET LIBRARY COLLECTION

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE VETERINARY SCIENCE Information Resources Collection 2005-2006

http://explore.up.ac.za/ftlist

Select VETERINARY SCIENCE from the List to see the new books, videos, DVDs and CDs acquired since June 2005.

To see complete details for an item, click on the title.

DIGITISATION PROJECTS: VETERINARY SCIENCE

VET’s digital community under the spotlight – ENABLING ACCESS TO HISTORICAL RESEARCH (https://www.up.ac.za/dspace/handle/2263/80)

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.

Ably assisted by Ria Groenewald, the AI digital expert, and Amelia Breytenbach (VET’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 was there in 1901 to tell him that the future would give him even greater exposure than he had in Pres. Paul Kruger’s time!

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. Human health is inevitably linked to animals, with serious repercussions if diseases are allowed to spread as seen now with Bird Flu. 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. We are holding thumbs that they will help us with funding to digitise these early publications.

2006 Strategic Plan: VET Library, Academic Information Service

Our Goals for 2006:
Grouped according to Business Plan of the AIS for 2006:

LEARNING AND E-LEARNING SUPPORT
Circulation desk - motivate once again as ergonomically a disaster
Weeding of collection (e.g.older medical books)
Indicate e-journals on shelves(cards)to highlight growing e-collection
LibQual - keep undergrads informed.Communicate via newsletter, notices, Everyone, Red Eye, etc
Use competitions to teach info literacy
List videos under subjects (List in p-format for browsing)

RESEARCH AND E-RESEARCH SUPPORT
Onderstepoort J Vet Res duplicates return to OVI for storage
Book funds - motivate for additional
VET library committee - send minutes as soon as poss after meetings to ensure effective communication within departments
Kontak Prof Meltzer oor sy Wild-versameling (6000 artikels in kabinette)-Digital community?
Rhino Update (bibliography) Reference Manager?
Ostrich Update (bibliography) InMagic
Vet Tropical Diseases webproduct in support of MSc of Dept VTD
LibQual - keep our users informed! Dewey nos.,e-journals etc
Standards for vet libraries - investigate and apply for benchmarking (Quality management)

E-SERVICE
Apply WIKIS within SU and as communication/instruction aid for users
Implement use of RSS feeds for self and for users
Proceedings edit & publish:5th International Conference Animal Health Information Specialists
Staff development : Metadata, RSS feeds, WIKIs

DIGITAL REPOSITORY
National Veterinary Repository: komitee,werf fondse,samewerkingsooreenkomste
Metadata werkswinkels aanbied - Amelia
Further development of VET communities on UPspace:Theiler,Pastures,Newspaper clippings
Wildlife collection of Prof Meltzer (retired prof.)

2006 Strategic Plan: VET Library, Academic Information Service

SEE ALSO OUR WIKI: www.vetstrategies.pbwiki.com

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The NATIONAL VETERINARY REPOSITORY will consist of digitised documents, photos, slides, video clips etc of historical importance. It will serve the veterinary /animal health research community both in South Africa and in other countries.The Project Proposal drawn up by Sanet Haupt of the Department of Telematic Learning and Education Innovation of the University of Pretoria and Amelia Breytenbach and Erica van der Westhuizen of the Academic Information Service, University of Pretoria gives further insight into what the project will mean for the University as well as the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and the South African Veterinary Association.
The importance of preserving the early research outputs of South African veterinary researchers as well as the data which they used in their research regarding animal diseases of Africa in particular, cannot be over-emphasised!

2005 Annual Report - University of Pretoria VET Library

Academic Information Service
Annual Report 2005

Service Unit: VETERINARY SCIENCE
Review. 2005’s main activity was the organizing of the 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists. The Service Unit hosted the conference at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, 4-7 July 2005. Pre-conference workshops were also organized and run by the SU, from 29 June – 2 July. As part of our conference activities we developed a blog to market and record the conference : www.knowledgeflows.blogspot.com

This conference is mainly for veterinary librarians across the world and usually takes place every 3-4 years. This was the first time it was held in Africa. We managed to obtain funds for 7 colleagues from other African countries to attend it. The CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation) in The Netherlands gave the funds.

2005 also saw the introduction of our online module in Information Literacy as part of the Research Methodology course presented by the Faculty to their postgraduate students. This is a first in the Academic Information Service being totally electronic with assignments which are marked by the Information Specialists of the SU.

The SU continued with its digitization projects and the Theiler Collection was featured on UPSpace as part of the institutional repository of UP.

The increase in the number of veterinary information sources being published necessitated additional allocation of funds. We spent a total of R330,000 (?) on books and CDs/DVDs. (Journals and e-resources have separate funds)

We initiated a special hands-on Internet training course for 5th year students which proved our most popular training item so far.

Highlights
5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists. The Service Unit hosted the conference at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, 4-7 July 2005. Pre-conference workshops were also organized and run by the SU, from 29 June – 2 July. The poster session was the largest one ever held at one of these conferences. GROUP PHOTO: 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS).
4-7 July 2005, University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
Participants of 5 ICAHIS – 4 July 2005

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.


Theiler Collection on UPSpace (See comments above)

Training: How to search the Internet effectively and evaluate the information you find on the Web (hands-on course for BVSc V students). (See comments above)

Alignment with AI/UP strategic plans
Organising and hosting the conference supported the AI/UP strategic plan to become an internationally recognized leader and role player in the information environment.
It also helped with our networking aim, to communicate and position ourselves and build partnerships, locally and internationally.

Our digitization project, the Theiler Collection, enhanced with metadata developed by Amelia Breytenbach, is aligned with the e-strategy of the AI.
This is a leading e-product, paving the way for similar initiatives elsewhere in the AI and/or South Africa.

Our Internet Training module as well as our online Research Methodology course module is aligned with the AI strategy of becoming a role-player in the virtual information arena, also supporting the e-strategy of the AI and UP.


Challenges

The inadequate bandwidth available to UP clients and staff is a serious hindrance.

Funds for books not sufficient to cover all areas needed by our clients.



Statistics (PLEASE CONSULT GERDA.)

Information Resources (Books, CDs/DVDs) issued: 15,410
E-journals available to UP users:
E-books available :
Database searches done by clients and staff:
Interloans: Requests received from other libraries: 1486
Requests submitted to other libraries: 1416

Collection Management: new orders placed:
No. of items catalogued:

No.of theses catalogued:

Let's KAIZEN in 2006!

Word of the Day from www.askoxford.com

kaizen

• noun [mass noun] a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement of working practices, personal efficiency, etc.
— origin Japanese, literally ‘improvement’.

Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com
Source: Oxford Dictionary of Englishwww.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-861057-2

2005 OVERVIEW Service Unit Veterinary Science, Academic Information Service, University of Pretoria

MAIN GOAL: organising 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists, 4-7 July 2005 . Read all about it at : http://knowledgeflows.blogspot.com

OTHER GOALS:
1. Organising Pre-conference workshops, 29 June-2 July 2005 covering various databases in the animal health field, and software packages to manage reference databases (EndNote and Reference Manager), and How to search the Internet effectively.

2. Fundraising for participants from other countries in Africa to attend the conference. Sponsorship obtained: CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands (R78000) for 7 information specialists from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria.

3. Organising optional post-conference tours: 8 July to Cradle of Humankind and Lion & Rhino Reserve; 9-12 July to Kruger National Park. 24 overseas participants and 4 South Africans

4. Training library users a) in using information resources / organising information resources: Reference Manager(faculty staff and postgraduate students)
b) Searching the Internet effectively and evaluating info found on the Web (final year undergraduate students (BVSc VI)

5. Initiating new Web-based course in Information Literacy as part of the Research Methodology (WebCT) Faculty course for postgraduate students. (Design and implementation). Marks allocated.

6. Issuing e-lists of new accessions via UPexPlore ( http://explore.up.ac.za/ftlist)

7. Compiling e-journal lists on Veterinary Science topics from Tyds@Tuks, for the Web page
(http://www.up.ac.za/asservices/ais/TYDSTUKS/Onderwerpe/Onderwerpvetsc.htm)

8.Marketing the Library's services to the Large Animal Practioners Group and the Equine Practitioners Group at their conference in July 2005, Drakensberg

9. Further marketing : 2 issues of the Library's newsletter Infomania published in paper and e-format. View it at:
http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/infoma13.htm

10. Library staff kept up-to-date and ensured continuing education by attending conferences:
LIASA Gauteng InterLibrary Loans, HICSA Gauteng meetings(2), Gaelic conference, SA Online Conference and 5ICAHIS (our own conference)

11. Library staff (5) presented papers and posters at 5 ICAHIS (3 papers and 1 poster)
(http://www.ais.up.ac.za/vet/icahis/5icahpro.htm)

12. E-books initiated and co-ordinated by one staff member for the AIS (A.Breytenbach)
( http://www.ais.up.ac.za/eBooks/)

13. Veterinary Digital Repository initiated and developed by one staff member (A.Breytenbach) to serve as model for AIS and other faculties. (In cooperation with the Faculty and Dept of TLEI and OVI and SAVA History Committee). Special role of metadata highlighted. Will help with development of the UP Digital Repository.