Practicing research

Monday (19 April):

It has been a rainy day, and Mimi and I couldn't go for our usual morning walk/run. We made up for it by going for a walk with Sue (Rhodes) this afternoon. The after-the-rain smell was refreshing after a day of concentrating on more aspects of research. Enjoyed watching 2 DVD's I brought along. Shared it with our patient next door - hope he recovers soon!

The day that was:
Prof Karin de Jager (UCT)
It is fine to say the library is at the heart of the institution, but there should be a 'pulse'. Karin introduced the "Radical Librarian", which I liked very much :) Amongst many other things this librarian should be able to solve IT problems ...

Dr Colin Darch (UCT)
Subject librarians are highly territorial (and in my opinion, so are other areas in the library). Colin shared some ideas on how the role of the subject librarian should change to accommodate various needs of clients within a contemporary environment.

Prof Moragh Paxton (UCT) introduced us to different journals, and emphasised the importance of selecting the right journal to submit your paper to. She focused on writing a proper abstract and introduction.

The highlight for me was the talk by Prof Mary Nassimbeni (UCT). She gave a thorough and systematic talk on how to get a paper published. You will only be recognised as an expert if you publish what you know. A catchy title can help "sell" your paper.

The day was ended by Prof Robert Shell (UWC) on the topic of bibliometrics.

Notes to myself ...
- What about an SA Librarian Exchange program?
- What about establishing an SAOUG branch in the Western Cape?
- A proper designed and easy to use web site is very important!!!
- Each librarian should have a laptop
- Courses in IT maintenance for librarians? (was metioned that we need to be IT literate)
- Statistical software training is needed
- How to professionally design a ppt is needed
- Connect with participants from other Carnegie workshops through hosting a web conference maybe? (one of the facilitators indicated that they need to find a way to connect us with the participants from the previous academies)
- An alternative to "radical librarian" found on the web: "progressive librarian"
- I hope I can first share my article with a couple of mentors for a peer-pre-review before submitting it to the 'real' thing

Ina