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DUT LIBRARY HOST ITS FIRST INAUGURAL ANNUAL COLLOQUIUM

DUT LIBRARY HOST ITS FIRST INAUGURAL ANNUAL COLLOQUIUM

The Durban University of Technology (DUT) Library hosted its first Research Colloquium on Wednesday 16 November 2022 at the BM Patel Library. This was a hybrid event, as participants and presenters attended physically and virtually via MS Teams.

The purpose of this initiative is to encourage the library team to continue to participate in the production of scientific conference

Sagren Moodley, Lutchmie John, Reshmee Jadoo and Nondumiso Msomi

papers, further their studies, and present their current and completed research outputs. In addition, it will foster the sharing of industry expertise and best practices.

The welcome note was delivered by Mr David Thomas, Manager: Academic Services.
“Library Management is committed to the development of our people, in not only capacitating them towards the execution of their duties but also their personal development. Various initiatives are planned and implemented within the Library and we have witnessed how staff have grown in confidence and knowledge. Our investment in staff development has certainly contributed to the Library embracing the changes in our environment and remaining relevant,” said Mr Thomas.
The Library Director, Dr Malefetjane Benny Phaladi set the tone for the colloquium in his opening speech. He encouraged the Library staff members to continue furthering their studies, produce research papers, present at conferences and colloquiums, as well as taking their position in the development and production of scientific knowledge.

“As knowledge workers and serious stakeholders of the knowledge-based economy, it is equally important that we have to be deeply entrenched in the knowledge production, sharing and investing in the necessary capabilities for our Library staff to get unleashed and become unstoppable in the actual production and sharing of scientific and industry-specific knowledge. Similarly, librarians must participate fully, meaningfully and impactfully in the knowledge-based economy as this role is not only reserved for those employed as academics and researchers. We are equally capable of becoming active participants in the actual university research enterprise and practice-based research. As librarians, we have mastered the art of acquiring and facilitating access to scientific knowledge. As library management, we are quite elated that for our first inaugural annual library colloquium, our staff have shown so much interest by presenting 11 papers. Some of these papers are conference-ready for presentation at LIASA2023, IATUL2023 etc and others are being prepared for actual publications. As the Library Director, I am pleased largely because this serves to cement our strategic value preposition in the research enterprise and the LIS sector, and I am glad that we are doing just that in a manner that is creative, distinctive and impactful which is in line with the new university tagline,”said Dr Phaladi.

DUT Library staff presented on experiences and practice based topics, conference presentations and completed masters dissertations in 2022. The 11 presentations were as follows:

• We are in this together: Office Engineers of the 4/5 IR: by Library admin staff: Reshmee Jadoo, Nondumiso Msomi and Lutchmie John
• Visualize DUT’s contribution to systematic review research and has library support had an impact on this research: by Sara Mitha
• Think different! Think Smart! – Evolution Library IT to meet changing user essentials: by Library IT staff members: Ayanda Thwala, Brian Reynolds, Bongeka Ndaleni, Prashanth Sivsaran, and Sarah Khan
• Have we become SMART? A perspective from Circulation staff: by Tholeka Sidlayi
• The role of library after-hours staff: by Blessing Dube

Blessing Tusani Dube.

• Perceptions of Academic Librarians’ use of mobile technology in providing library services at UOTs in KwaZulu-Natal: A full Masters dissertation by Romeo Muvhulawa Matumba
• Competency requirements of academic librarians in providing Research Data Management services: a case of two university libraries: A minor Masters dissertation by Nonsikelelo Patricia Badenhorst
• Students’ perception of the Engineering Librarians using multimodal teaching methods for the provision of Information Literacy (IL) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT): Conference presentation by Mousin Omarsaib
• Frontline staff and Information Literacy: a case study at the Durban University of Technology: a conference presentation by Mousin Omarsaib, David Thomas and Nonsikelelo Patricia Badenhorst and
• A DIY approach to mapping research contributions to SDGs: a conference presentation by Sean Carte
• Moving beyond library operations: using cross-functional teams to drive library projects: a conference presentation by Sagren Moodley

“This was a successful event and we hope it will continue to play an important role in encouraging the culture of writing, and presenting research outputs beyond the DUT boundaries,” said Dr Phaladi.
Library managers, Mr Siza Radebe, Mr Nhlanhla Nhleko, and Mr Sagren Moodley also assisted with facilitating the Q&A for all sessions. Mr David Thomas thanked all stakeholders who were involved in the preparations and planning of the colloquium.

Pictured: Sagren Moodley, Ayanda Thwala, Bongeka Ndaleni, Prashanth Sivsaran, Brian Reynolds and Sarah Khan.
Pictured: Sagren Moodley, Lutchmie John, Reshmee Jadoo and Nondumiso Msomi
Pictured: Blessing Tusani Dube

Romeo Muvhulawa Matumba, Librarian: Marketing and Communication.

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