First Day @Mont Fleur

A most thought provoking and interesting first day. One of the highlights for me was Prof Gevers' talk on Research in South Africa and the new possibilities SciELO can open up, for instance the e-translation facility which means articles in non-English languages can be accessible to all. This implies that more articles can be written in the mother tongue and thus broadening the vocabulary of indigenous languages on tersiary levels in all desciplines. Articles in languages like Portugese, Spanish etc will now also be freely accessible to all.

Open access publishing can also be pushed forward by a different pay model. Prof Gevers proposed that the Institution pays the once-off fee for an article to be published and thereafter the article is in open access for ever. This is a sustainable model and makes economic sense.

Dr.Lorraine Haricombe(Univ Kansas) was a guest at the second session today and provided interesting reflections on how libraries in the USA repond to the demand for research support. She also mentioned the Faculty status of some librarians in the USA, what it demands and that not all librarians prefer that : some choose to be practitioners. Different roles in different libraries, which resonate with our situation.

A lovely walk in the mountain covered with a magnitude of veldflowers and magnificent views, completed the first day for me on a high note !