UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE LIBRARY ONLINE See electronic copy available at http://www.uz.ac.zw/library/news University Librarian: Dr Buhle Mbambo, bmbambo@uzlib.uz.ac.zw Edited by Deputy Librarian, J T Mamvoto, jtmamvoto@uzlib.uz.ac.zw jmamvoto@avu.org DIGITISATION OF LOCAL SOURCES With the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), it has become imperative for the Library to actively support the University s mission of teaching, research and learning by providing timely and easy access to scholarly e-resources. With its expertise in collection access and management, the Library has begun to develop an Institutional Repository (IR). An Institutional Repository is a digital collection of a University s creative output. IR is synonymous with an open digital archive with local scholarly content freely available on the web. Already, the Library has secured funding from Open Society Initiative (OSI) to start work on the IR. The IR will benefit the academic community by bringing timely access, broader dissemination, increased use and enhanced professional visibility materials and a wide range of scholarly output while potentially raising the university s profile. Academics and researchers can archive their scholarly work and have 1
them available on the web. Repositories are also marketing tools communicating capabilities and quality by showcasing faculty and student research. Repositories may include preprints and post-prints of journal articles, technical reports, theses and dissertations, teaching and learning materials and materials documenting the history of the university. The choice of materials to be included in the IR is up to the academic community and the Library to work out. However, the necessary conditions are that the works are completed, not requiring further revision and that the author is willing to license the work for distribution to the academic community for free. CORE TEXTBOOK COLLECTION Preparations are well in advance to establish a Textbook Collection in the Main Library. Part of the Main Reserve Area will accommodate core prescribed textbooks on a temporary basis until a new permanent home is found. Faculties and departments have already been requested to submit lists of core textbooks for purchase. The core textbooks collection will function along the same lines as the current Reserve Collection except that the loan period is three days instead of overnight borrowing. However, the following shall apply: All subject areas shall be covered but emphasis shall be on demand, number of students per course and the cost. Preferably the ratio should be 10 students per one book. All prescribed textbooks in the collection shall be on short-term i.e. 3 days. Heavy fines shall be imposed on overdue textbooks (fines revised on a semester basis). All registered students shall have access to one textbook per user at any one given time. Academic and nonacademic staff may borrow one book from the collection on short-term. All other normal borrowing rules and regulations shall apply to the Textbook Collection. 2
LIBRARY GOLDEN JUBILEE EXHIBITION Open days are a great way of showing off to the public what our library is all about. It provides us with a chance to showcase library resources and services. The Open Days Exhibition on 29 and 30 April attracted a wide range of public including high schools from the whole country. The displays and exhibitions was expertly done by all sections of the library, including Special Collections, Government Publications, Reader Services, branch libraries and the Bindery. The centre of attractions, as in other previous exhibitions, was the coin collection display. A presentation by Dr Maritz attracted coin collection enthusiasts. Also on display were photographs of past and current Vice Chancellors, past and present University Librarians. Guided tours of the Library were conducted for high school students who were impressed by the Library organization and its collection. A video was run throughout the Open Days highlighting library operations and services. LIBRARY SECURITY Serious vandalism of books and equipment occurred in the Main Library and its branches during the past few months. Computer equipment was stolen, books pilfered and mutilated, all to the detriment of the general library users. In order to fulfil the Library s responsibility for securing materials, library security will check the books and all possessions of persons as they leave the Library request to see identification of any person entering the Library or in the Library. question any person if it appears that Library regulations are being violated. It is important to note that violations of Library rules and policies are:- To remove or attempt to remove library property without proper authorization. To deface, mutilate or otherwise damage library property. To refuse to show library identification or any identification upon request by University Library Security. To be in non-public areas without authorization or in library facilities after closing hours. 3
To stash library property for the exclusion use of an individual. The Library considers all offences listed above serious to warrant disciplinary action, regardless of the monetary value of the Library property involved. Depending on the nature of the infringement, the violations are subject to disciplinary action. More serious cases will be referred for prosecution through criminal court. RETROSPECTIVE CONVERSION UPDATE Retrospective Conversion of the Library collection has progressed very satisfactorily. Over 95% of Library book records have been converted. The Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) is fully operational and Library users are now able to access Library item records from any computer on campus connected to the campus wide network. Also available from (OPAC) are Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETDs) and past Examinations. The card catalogue will soon be moved away and users are urged to familiarize themselves with the online catalogue which has many advantages such as greater range of access points. More specific searches such as keywords, author and titles, loans information; access from outside the Library; links to other sources of information and the OPAC increases general awareness of the Library collection. It is important to note that retrospective conversion of records, particularly the resultant OPAC has brought numerous advantages to the user, the type of searches include author, title, class number, keyword, subject and publisher. Users can also restrict or refine searches by year, and physical format. The results of the search can be a list of brief records, order of records, etc. Users can also download search records for further reference. For further information on Library services visit our website at http://www.uz.ac.zw/library/index.ht ml. GOOGLE SCHOLAR (http://scholar.google.com) Google, in its quest to provide scholars with quality research sources, released Google scholar, which indexes and searches academic literature across an array of sources and disciplines. It is important to note that Google scholar indexes full-text and results are ranked by relevance, which is based largely on the number of citations. Google scholar indexes literature in a wide range of literature and includes pointers to books, 4
articles in pre-reviewed journals, preprints, and technical reports. OBITUARY Professor Stan M. Made 1935-2005 Professor Stanley M. Made, who died in a car accident on 6 May 2005, will be remembered by the Library fraternity and the academics as a pioneering figure in the world of Library and Information Science. His early education was at Kutama. He went to Lesotho, and then University of London for his Masters then MPhil followed at UZ. A PhD in 2000 was followed by his retirement but the retirement never took place as he immediately assumed inaugural professorship in Library and Information Science at NUST. At the time the faculty he was heading was still in its infancy, he started a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. It was too painful that he passed away before the graduation of his Masters students but it is also gratifying to note that the previous year Professor Made witnessed the graduation of the first crop of students for the degree he introduced. JT Mamvoto Editor The public figure of Professor Made was a man who successfully nurtured the Library profession in Zimbabwe, both in terms of human resource development and library information resource development. Those of us who were privileged to know him well remembered him as a humble, kindly man devoted to the development of the Library profession. 5