Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
28 April 2022
Seminar on Open Science

Publishing academic content behind a paywall not only limits access to scholarly work, but also prevents research output from being visible and making maximum impact. Researchers are paying to publish their research output, and libraries are paying to access it in what is known as double-dipping by publishers, leading to what we term ‘serial crisis’. Research institutions pay twice and still do not see their research widely available to be read.

By signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access in 2012, the University of the Free State (UFS) committed itself to supporting open access to its research outputs. National initiatives by research institutions and the government make research outputs freely available via national site licensing. The UFS supports this initiative via the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) as an interim transformative agreement with publishers, allowing research outputs to be open access, without the additional publication charges.

What do we do about publishers who are unwilling to transform? Do we still pay their massive subscription and publication fees? What do we need to do to ensure that all UFS research outputs are accessible to all?

Topic: Should the UFS continue to subscribe to academic journals that are behind a paywall?
Thursday 12 May 2022
12:00-13:30

Microsoft Teams
RSVP: Elma Viljoen, viljoene@ufs.ac.za (link will be provided)

Join the following top experts for what promises to be an insightful discussion:

  • Colleen Campbell
    Coordinator: Open Access 2020 Initiative
    Max Planck Digital Library, Munich, Germany
  • Ellen Tise
    Senior Director: Library and Information Services, Stellenbosch University

  • Glenn Truran
    Director: South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC)

The welcoming and introduction to the webinar will be conducted by Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research.  

Bios of speakers

Colleen Campbell leads external engagement in the open access transition at the Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL) in Munich, Germany. There, she coordinates the Open Access 2020 Initiative, a global alliance of research organisations and their libraries that are driving the transition of today’s scholarly journals to open-access publishing models, and the ESAC Initiative, an international community of practice dedicated to optimising open-access workflows and processes. She is a member of the LIBER Open Access Working Group, serves on the Managing Board of EIFL, a not-for-profit organisation that works with libraries to enable access to knowledge in developing and transition economy countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America, and contributes to the advisory groups of a number of other scholarly communication initiatives.

Ellen Tise has been the Senior Director of Library and Information Services at Stellenbosch University (SU) since January 2006. She previously held the positions of University Librarian at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Deputy University Librarian at the University of the Witwatersrand. She holds a BBibl Honours degree from the UWC and an MPhil in Science and Technology Studies from SU. Among other notable leadership roles, Ms Tise served as the first President of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) from 1998 to 2002, and President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, known as IFLA, for the years 2009 through 2011. She also served as Chair of the Board of the National Library of South Africa (2012-2015), and on the OCLC Board of Trustees (2014-2018). She has just started a second two-year term as Chair of the Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression Advisory Committee of IFLA. She is the recipient of several awards for distinguished leadership and outstanding contributions to librarianship, including honorary membership of LIASA and an honorary IFLA fellowship. She has published various articles in professional journals and is a regular speaker at national and international conferences, seminars, symposia, etc.

Glenn Truran has been the Director of the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) since 2014 and works from home in Cape Town. After graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) with a BA and HDipEd (PG), he worked briefly as an educator in South Africa and England. Subsequently, he completed a diploma in Public Policy and Development Administration at Wits and received his MBA from the University of Cape Town in 2003. Before joining SANLiC, he worked in several educational and poverty alleviation non-profit organisations in Gauteng and Cape Town. He has been actively involved in SANLiC’s Open Access Transformational Agreements task team.

Charlie Molepo has been the Deputy Director at the UFS Sasol Library responsible for Research and Scholarly Communications since 2015. He represents the non-academic staff on the University Council and serves on its Finance and Human Resources Committees. Before joining the UFS, he worked at Vista University, the University of Natal, the University of Johannesburg, the University of KwaZulu-Natal Libraries, and Dawson Books UK (Betrams) as the International Account Director for Africa. He serves as President-Elect (2022-2023) in the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA).

News Archive

Six of our students on their way to Stanford Sophomore College
2014-08-21


Back, from the left are: Philip Kitsopoulos (BCom Law), Ulrich Kristen (Medicine)
and Stephan Erasmus (Medicine).

The university hosted a send-off function for our students who are about to attend a three-week seminar at Stanford Sophomore College (SoCo).

Six Kovsie students were selected to attend the seminar at the Stanford SoCo in September 2014. This programme is an immersive learning experience where participants attend class meetings during the morning. Their afternoons include class activities, explorations of Stanford, field trips as well as organised events.

UFS students were invited to apply for one of six SoCo courses in February 2014. After months of apprehension, the successful Kovsie applicants were announced in May this year.

These outstanding Kovsie students and the courses they will attend are:

  • Sebabatso Makafane, Vuyisile Kubeka and Philip Kitsopoulos – New Millennium Mix: Crossings of Race and Culture;
  • Ulrich Kristen – Resistance Writings in Nazi Germany;
  • Kaylene Pillay – Ghost Stories: Why the Dead Return and What They Want From Us; and
  • Stephan Erasmus – Responses to the AIDS Epidemic.

During the farewell function, Rudi Buys: Dean of Student Affairs, handed the students their flight tickets and visas. This was followed by messages of support from Dr Lis Lange, Directorate for Institutional Research and Academic Planning, and Prof Neil Roos from the Centre for Africa Studies.

Prof Roos concluded the evening’s programme with some advice for these students. “Don’t go there and come back to copy the students and personalities you meet there. Go there and show your own characteristics to them.”

The six Kovsies will depart on 29 August and return home on 19 September 2014.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept