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20 January 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Dr Anamika Megwalu, an assessment and engineering librarian at San Jose State University in California in the United States (US), addressed a group of staff from the UFS Department of Library and Information Services.

Dr Anamika Megwalu, an assessment and engineering librarian at San Jose State University in California in the United States (US), pointed out that building a lasting and sustainable relationship with departments and upholding quality in the library environment is key. 

She addressed a group of colleagues from our Department of Library and Information Services (LIS) on 25 November 2020.

Tight budgets call for proper assessment

Her presentation, titled Library Collection Development, was aimed at sharing her experience of working in the collection development and liaison sections within the LIS ecosystem. 

“This librarian-cum-computer science lecturer has the benefit of both worlds, having worked in private and public academic libraries such as Stafford University and City University of New York respectively,” says Monde Madiba, Deputy Director: Collection Development and Management of LIS at the University of the Free State.

San Jose, the oldest public university in the western US, is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, serving more than 33 000 students enrolled in 10 colleges and 67 departments.

According to Dr Megwalu, the tight budgets that public academic libraries such as San Jose receive, call for proper assessment of library collections in order to deal with the constraints. She emphasised the need to “uphold quality within the constraints”.

Moving from collecting information to creating information

Some of the ideas that Dr Megwalu shared for conducting assessment and collection development, includes the following:
• Change the library’s image from being a collector of information to being the creator of information.
• Consider the size of the different departments: some may need little or no attention due to size, while others may need close attention due to intensive research by lecturers within the department.
• Identify gaps and focus your attention on filling them with the relevant collection.
• Make sure that you are aware of the accreditation period of different programmes, since the role that academic libraries play in collection development is recognised by such agencies.
• Build a lasting and sustainable relationship with departments. This includes knowing the lecturers’ research interests, assisting the newly established departments, attending free webinars, and participating in student activities.
• Ensure equal distribution of the budget and ensure that everyone has equal access to it.
• Create a timetable where everyone knows when to submit requests for prescribed books. Make it clear that it takes approximately three weeks on average for ordered books to be delivered.
• Develop department-specific collection development policies.
• Be ready to move with the times, e.g. replace DVDs in favour of video-streaming services.
• Shift towards a 100% electronic reference collection.
• Consider having an electronic version for popular but currently in-print collections.
• Develop an indigenous collection based on the contributions of communities around the university.
• Create a portal for open educational resources (OERs) from participating institutions across the globe.

“Dr Megwalu’s presentation was not only informative but a testimony that collection development and assessment are dynamic and driven by passion and love,” says Madiba.

News Archive

Academic delivers inaugural lecture on South African foreign policy
2007-08-06

 

In her inaugural lecture Prof. Heidi Hudson from the Department of Political Sciences, focused on the impact that Pan-Africanist sentiments have had on South Africa’s foreign policy. She also put the resulting contradictions and ambiguities into context. At her inaugural lecture were, from the left: Proff. Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS), Heidi Hudson, Engela Pretorius (Vice-Dean: Faculty of The Humanities) and Daan Wessels (Research Associate in the Department of Political Science).
Photo: Stephen Collett

Academic delivers inaugural lecture on South African foreign policy

“We are committed to full participation as an equal partner … opposed to any efforts which might seek to project South Africa as some kind of superpower on our continent. … the people of Africa share a common destiny and must therefore … address their challenges … as a united force...” (Mbeki 1998:198-199).

Prof. Heidi Hudson from the Department of Political Science referred to this statement made by president Mbeki (made at the opening of the OAU Conference of Ministers of Information in 1995) when she delivered her inaugural lecture on the topic: South African foreign policy: The politics of Pan-Africanism and pragmatism.

One of the questions she asked is: “Can the South African state deliver democracy and welfare at home while simultaneously creating a stable, rules-based African community?”

She answers: “South Africa needs to reflect more critically and honestly on the dualism inherent in its ideological assumptions regarding relations with Africa. South Africa will always be expected by some to play a leadership role in Africa. At the moment, South Africa’s desire to be liked is hampering its role as leader of the continent.”

In her lecture she highlighted the ideological underpinnings and manifestations of South Africa’s foreign policy. Throughout she alluded to the risks associated with single-mindedly following an ideologically driven foreign policy. She emphasised that domestic or national interests are the victims in this process.

Prof. Hudson offers three broad options for South Africa to consider:

  • The Predator – the selfish bully promoting South African economic interest.
  • Mr Nice Guy – the non-hegemonic partner of the African boys club, multilaterally pursuing a pivotal but not dominant role.
  • The Hegemon - South Africa driving regional integration according to its values and favouring some African countries over others, and with checks and balances by civil society.

She chooses option three of hegemony. “Politically correct research views hegemony as bad and partnership as good. This is a romanticised notion – the two are not mutually exclusive,” she said.

However, she states that there have to be prerequisites to control the exercise of power. “The promotion of a counter-hegemon, such as Nigeria, is necessary. Nigeria has been more effective in some respects than South Africa in establishing its leadership, particularly in West Africa. Also needed is that government should be checked by civil society to avoid it sinking into authoritarianism. The case of business and labour coming to an agreement over the HIV/Aids issue is a positive example which illustrates that government cannot ignore civil society. But much more needs to be done in this regard. South Africa must also be very careful in how it uses its aid and should focus potential aid and development projects more explicitly in terms of promoting political stability,” she said.

Prof. Hudson said: “It is also questionable whether Mbeki’s Afro-centrism has in fact promoted the interests of ordinary citizens across Africa. Instead, elite interests in some countries have benefited. But ultimately, the single most important cost is the damage done to the moral code and ethical principles on which the South African Constitution and democracy is founded.

“In the end we all lose out. More pragmatism and less ideology in our relations within Africa may just be what are needed,” she said.

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