Exploring and implementing Open Linked Data record creation on the Rhodes Digital Commons

Presentation at the NeDICC Meeting, held on the 4th of July 2018 at the CSIR, Pretoria. The purpose of the presentation was to inform the NeDICC community members of preliminary investigations into Linked Data and the potential impact on the Rhodes Digital Commons (Rhodes' Institutional Repository)

The Role of Relief Seed and Voucher Programme in Inputs Market Development

The study addressed the following issues: a. The importance of relief seed by volume and value in overall seed trade; b. Its impact on the evolution of domestic and regional seed trade; and c. Opportunities for improving relief seed development impacts.Distribution of relief seed following natural disaster has become a common phenomenon in the SADC region, and many member states have had government, donor and NGO support in place for decades

Institutional Repositories and Regional Collaboration: the Content Pro IRX Implementation at SEALS

Paper delivered at the Annual Innovative User Group South Africa (IUGSA) Conference held in Bloemfontein, University of the Free State, 13-15 November 201

SIERRA: ERM and usage statistics

This paper outlines the processes involved in incorporating e-resources usages statistics into the ERM module within Sierra. The challenges and results of using the JR1 COUNTER statistics within the ERM module will be discussed

Our data - our responsibility: the semantic web, deep linking and repositories

The paper examines some possibilities in terms of adapting roles and responsibilities to further ensure that content, and the correct associated metadata, as provided through repositories, are discoverable. It is proposed that the key roles affected would be those of the subject specialists (subject librarians), the metadata specialists, repository managers, and as importantly, the authors and publishers at these institutions. Using the Ichthyological Bulletin series (as published by Rhodes University between 1956 and 2001), deep-linking options will be examined, as well as the challenges experienced pertaining to data linking as part of this specific digitization project

Outcome of a workshop

International audience; In tackling agricultural challenges, policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have increasingly considered genetically modified (GM) crops as a potential tool to increase productivity and to improve product quality. Yet, as elsewhere in the world, the adoption of GM crops in SSA has been marked by controversy, encompassing not only the potential risks to animal and human health, and to the environment, but also other concerns such as ethical issues, public participation in decision-making, socio-economic factors and intellectual property rights. With these non-scientific factors complicating an already controversial situation, disseminating credible information to the public as well as facilitating stakeholder input into decision-making is essential. In SSA, there are various and innovative risk communication approaches and strategies being developed, yet a comprehensive analysis of such data is missing. This gap is addressed by giving an overview of current strategies, identifying similarities and differences between various country and institutional approaches and promoting a way forward, building on a recent workshop with risk communicators working in SSA

Welcome address at the 2014 Open Access Symposium, Rhodes University

Openinig address by the Head Librarian: Technical Services, Mr Wynand van der Walt, of the 2014 Open Access Symposium, 21 October 2014, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Leading for innovation : an assessment of employee perceptions about leadership behaviours among senior and middle management staff at Rhodes University Library

Organisations require a leadership cohort that can drive transformation from within, if they wish to adapt innovatively towards ensuring sustainable relevance in a volatile and highly competitive global market. The same applies to academic library services that serve the needs of their respective institutions. Yet, as indicated by various studies, little attention is paid to the nature of leadership required to take academic libraries forward in an age where, especially in the South African academic environment, the maxim of “business unusual” holds true. Transformational leadership is described as visionary and adaptive leadership aimed at increasing morale and motivation of staff, with an emphasis on follower development and empowerment towards self-leadership, driving entrepreneurial activities (Goethals, Soreson and Burns 2004b: 1558). The study explores aspects of the nature of transformational leadership, as well as the extent to which transformational leadership behaviours and attributes are perceived as being evident among the middle and senior library staff members at the Rhodes University Library. The Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) provided the framework for this study, and the Team Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (TMLQ) was adapted and administered (via the Mind Garden Transform Hosting Solution) to all 42 staff members of the Rhodes Library. The data analysis was done based on the collated on the Mind Garden Transform Hosting Solution. Based on the analysis of the data, it was concluded that the RUL leadership team is perceived as being predominantly transformational in nature, but with evidence to suggest that transactional and non-leadership behaviours occur more frequently than are conducive towards innovation. This conclusion is supported by the assessment of the perceptions of leadership outcomes that indicate perceived levels of some ineffectiveness, some dissatisfaction and insufficient extra effort on the side of the leadership team.Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2017.Information ScienceMITUnrestricte

Electronic Resources Management

Continual Professional & Development training session on Electronic Resources Management, Grahamstown, 20 June 2014

Librarians as Wikipedians

Presentation on Librarians and Wikipedia at the 2019 Annual Conference for the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA).Wikimedia, through its various projects especially Wikipedia, is endeavoring “to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally”. Libraries, though their respective mandates, envision a world where there are no barriers to knowledge. This paper will outline the mutual actual and potential benefits that can be derived from using Wikipedia as a means for knowledge creation and diffusion, especially aimed at contributing towards the decolonisation of content on the Internet. </div