Are pre-compiled citation indexes of peer-reviewed journals an adequate control for research quality? A case study of library and information science

Looks at the South African Department of Education’s new recommendations for the evaluation of higher education research in South Africa, and examines two primary aspects: the use of pre-compiled journal lists from overseas, and the apparent reliance on peer review as a guarantee of quality. Pointing out that these are tried and tested standards of quality, the authors argue that there are nonetheless disciplinary differences between experimental sciences – such as physics or chemistry – and other disciplines that make these measures difficult to apply across the spectrum. They present an analysis of library and information science publications in the chosen lists and point to the weakness of the selection of titles in this discipline. In addition, there are extra difficulties for scientists from South Africa and the developing world in securing publication in premier international library and information science journals. The authors conclude by calling for the employment of other, additional evaluation measures in an integrated system

The Research Commons: a new creature in the library?

This is a post-print/preprint of an article published by Emerald in Performance Measurement and Metrics, VOL 11, available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14678041011064043.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the use made of the Research Commons during its first year of operation in an attempt to establish whether it actually provides a genuinely new and different service from the point of view of the end‐users, and whether a facility such as this could indeed be presumed to support research and enhance research output at the university. Design/methodology/approach – Using Lippincott's assessment grid, an attempt was made to assess activities in the Research Commons according to the dimensions of extensiveness, efficiency, effectiveness, service quality and usefulness. Methodology was mixed, with quantitative and qualitative components that logged the extent and nature of the use of the various facilities in the Research Commons and sought to establish from stakeholder perceptions whether the services on offer are regarded as substantially different from those in the undergraduate Knowledge Commons and whether they are indeed seen to be supporting research activities. Findings – It was found that a combination of numerical and qualitative measurements has yielded sufficient evidence for the drawing of preliminary conclusions. The evidence gathered demonstrates that the Research Commons, designed primarily as a site for the creation of new knowledge in the form of original writing by researchers at postgraduate and academic level, is indeed an advance on the well‐established "library commons" concept, and that its creation represents an instance of "parallel invention" – the "new creature" that the title refers to. Originality/value – This paper provides a multifaceted perspective on the activities taking place in a new library facility and should provide librarians and researchers with evidence‐based insight into how meaningful research support may be provided to young researchers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds as part of an academic library service in a middle income country

El dossier copia/sur: problemas económicos, políticos, e ideológicos del copyright (derecho de autor) en el sur global

In 2005, a group of scholars and activists, mostly from the global South, created the Copy/South Research Group to analyse, criticise, and confront the oppressive nature of current global copyright regimes, such as those defended by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and similar ones around the globe. In May 2006, 22 of us, including 15 people from the global South, published THE COPY/SOUTH DOSSIER: Issues in the economics, politics, and ideology of copyright in the global South. The aim of the Dossier was to open up a critical and radical debate on the real impact of copyright laws and how they affect the daily lives of people living in more than 150 developing countries of the global South. We also highlighted issues that are not unique to the Global South, but also affect both sides of the North-South divide. This publication of more than 50 articles was addressed to researchers, educators, librarians, musicians, activists, organizations concerned about access to knowledge, and all of those who want to learn more about the oppressive global role of copyright laws and, in particular, their largely negative role in the developing countries of the global South. Given the democratic objectives of the Copy/South Research Group, the Dossier was not restricted by copyright. Therefore, it has been accessed openly and freely in both electronic and paper formats by thousands of readers from around the world in English. But English is not spoken by all citizens in the global South. With this in mind, the entire 200-page Dossier was translated into Spanish in late 2007 by an enthusiastic team of voluntary translators from Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. As for this Spanish version, made with the support of the Intellectual Property Automous Service (SAPI), from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we must acknowledge the prior SAPI's General Director Eduardo Samán for promoting the making of this translation. Besides the general revision of Gerardo Cárdenas and his labor as main translator, some other volunteers translated or revised important sections of the Spanish edition: María Jesús Morillo (Spain), Oscar Pérez Peña and Gilda Gil (Cuba), Edgardo Civallero (Argentina) and Rafael Carreño (Venezuela), who coordinated the process of translation in 2007. Also it is worth to mention the additional colaboration of Ana Lía López (Bolivia), Richard Castro, Rafael Bellota and Carmen Chirinos (Venezuela), Zapopan Muela and Gonzalo Lara (Mexico), and Lilian Álvarez (Cuba). But what is still more extraordinary about this Spanish translation is that it was completely coordinated and edited by the Servicio Autonomo de la Propiedad Intelectual (SAPI) of the democratic government of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Republic. The Dossier provides “useful material to introduce this topic to teachers and students” and does a good job of “summarizing a complex and conflicting situation” for developing countries, Jumersi La Rosa, SAPI’s new director, said last week in announcing the release of the Spanish edition. She has written a special new introduction for the Spanish-language edition. The Copy South Research Group is very pleased that the radical message of resistance found in the Dossier can now be read by thousands of Spanish-language speakers who are questioning the current copyright regime and who hopefully will be ignited by the ideas in the Dossier to take up the fight against oppressive regimes based on copyright. You can get a copy of the Dossier in Spanish and English by downloading it, free of charge, at http://www.copysouth.org . We also still have a limited number of printed and bound copies of the English-language version of the Dossier. If you would to be mailed a copy of the English-language version, which contains eight posters, send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and include your full postal details. COPY/SOUTH RESEARCH GROUP, 28 April 2008

El dossier copia/sur: problemas económicos, políticos, e ideológicos del copyright (derecho de autor) en el sur global

In 2005, a group of scholars and activists, mostly from the global South, created the Copy/South Research Group to analyse, criticise, and confront the oppressive nature of current global copyright regimes, such as those defended by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and similar ones around the globe. In May 2006, 22 of us, including 15 people from the global South, published THE COPY/SOUTH DOSSIER: Issues in the economics, politics, and ideology of copyright in the global South. The aim of the Dossier was to open up a critical and radical debate on the real impact of copyright laws and how they affect the daily lives of people living in more than 150 developing countries of the global South. We also highlighted issues that are not unique to the Global South, but also affect both sides of the North-South divide. This publication of more than 50 articles was addressed to researchers, educators, librarians, musicians, activists, organizations concerned about access to knowledge, and all of those who want to learn more about the oppressive global role of copyright laws and, in particular, their largely negative role in the developing countries of the global South. Given the democratic objectives of the Copy/South Research Group, the Dossier was not restricted by copyright. Therefore, it has been accessed openly and freely in both electronic and paper formats by thousands of readers from around the world in English. But English is not spoken by all citizens in the global South. With this in mind, the entire 200-page Dossier was translated into Spanish in late 2007 by an enthusiastic team of voluntary translators from Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. As for this Spanish version, made with the support of the Intellectual Property Automous Service (SAPI), from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we must acknowledge the prior SAPI's General Director Eduardo Samán for promoting the making of this translation. Besides the general revision of Gerardo Cárdenas and his labor as main translator, some other volunteers translated or revised important sections of the Spanish edition: María Jesús Morillo (Spain), Oscar Pérez Peña and Gilda Gil (Cuba), Edgardo Civallero (Argentina) and Rafael Carreño (Venezuela), who coordinated the process of translation in 2007. Also it is worth to mention the additional colaboration of Ana Lía López (Bolivia), Richard Castro, Rafael Bellota and Carmen Chirinos (Venezuela), Zapopan Muela and Gonzalo Lara (Mexico), and Lilian Álvarez (Cuba). But what is still more extraordinary about this Spanish translation is that it was completely coordinated and edited by the Servicio Autonomo de la Propiedad Intelectual (SAPI) of the democratic government of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Republic. The Dossier provides “useful material to introduce this topic to teachers and students” and does a good job of “summarizing a complex and conflicting situation” for developing countries, Jumersi La Rosa, SAPI’s new director, said last week in announcing the release of the Spanish edition. She has written a special new introduction for the Spanish-language edition. The Copy South Research Group is very pleased that the radical message of resistance found in the Dossier can now be read by thousands of Spanish-language speakers who are questioning the current copyright regime and who hopefully will be ignited by the ideas in the Dossier to take up the fight against oppressive regimes based on copyright. You can get a copy of the Dossier in Spanish and English by downloading it, free of charge, at http://www.copysouth.org . We also still have a limited number of printed and bound copies of the English-language version of the Dossier. If you would to be mailed a copy of the English-language version, which contains eight posters, send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and include your full postal details. COPY/SOUTH RESEARCH GROUP, 28 April 2008

The Research Libraries Consortium: a Project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York

'A New Model for Research Support: Integrating Skills, Scholarship, and Technology in a South African Library Consortium' Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ.The project - A New Model for Research Support: Integrating Skills, Scholarship, and Technology in a South African Library Consortium - aims to model the transformation and enrichment of support to researchers offered by South African academic libraries. The guiding premise of this project is that the three institutions should take advantage of existing strengths as South Africa’s leading academic libraries to sustain, improve, and consolidate the troubled research enterprise in South Africa. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation this innovative program seeks to achieve its objectives through a multi-pronged project with three closely interrelated components: 1. Building a sophisticated Web-based shared portal which will provide access to a wide range of international and local electronic content for postgraduate students and academics; 2. Enhancing the skills of existing library staff in order to create a critical mass of support for research to be offered by librarians with real subject expertise (the South African Library Academy at the Mortenson Center and observation at a major US research library). 3. Creating a technologically sophisticated physical space - a 'one-stop shop' - for postgraduates and academic staff who need assistance with research.This item is part of the Living the Future collection. For more information about items in this collection, please email [email protected]

African languages and African studies librarianship: taking a stronger position

Most African educational systems are centred on imported languages such as English, French, and Portuguese. The emphasis in national publishing industries on producing books, journals and newspapers overwhelmingly in those tongues is also hard to justify. It is difficult to imagine a future African renaissance that does not incorporate the validation of African languages in all their diversity, and librarians should be actively seeking ways in which they might play a part. Librarians and their organisations can and should take stronger positions in supporting initiatives to validate, preserve and encourage African languages. Measures are suggested that librarians - and especially academic librarians - might adopt. (Innovation: 2002 25: 37-44

"The best ideas are common property": copyright and contract law in a changing environment

No abstract available Innovation No.23 2001: 1-1