The Island of research

I am looking forward to exploring the info in thr CD and booklet, sharing it with other librarians and emerging researchers. The story about the various layers of questioning Mrs Shell had to go through before geting to the real question that the couple had in mind reminds us of the importance of the research interview, the need to ask the right questions, watch body language and above make sure that we have assisted the user to clearly articulate what his/her information need is

Wednesday 26 Sept

The talk on research genre, creating research space was very interactive and engaging. It will be useful when we recieve queries from students who may be struggling to write an article. It is equally useful for us as librarians when we decide to write adout what we do to contribute to the literature. The second session on writing circles (UCT), providing a space for post grads "to say stupid things" in a non threatening enviroment intoduced another dinension to how we can assist researchers. I don't think we have such a centre at UKZN and we (the UKZN librarians) should consider having such a unit in future at UKZN. The most important point, in my opinion was a contribution which proposed that the resarch commons ideally should be a space where ideas can be exchanged among researchers and librarians in a "neutral" and "non threatening" manner

I am looking forward to the session on strategies for outreach, communication and collaboration with researchers tomorow because I think those strategies will be the "route map" of our "research support journey" in the various institutions

ETHICS, COPYRIGHT/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The presentation on ethics made me see ethics in a much broader sense. It also made me ethics critically. One important point that was raised was that the responsibility of the of the researcher does not end with the completion of the research but it it continuous - it covers what happens with the collected data, how it is stored. Sometimes it is easy to identify individuals and there is one individual whose name was not mentioned in a study that i did but I think will be easily identified.
In retrospect maybe I should jave consulted before writing the final report.

The political economy driving Intellectual property issues especially in the US was an eye-opener. I retained one lesson- a librarian should not be a copyright policeman but should promote acces to information in all possible ways- without getting entangled with the law!
Ethics, intellectual property, plagiarism- I think I am better equiped to deal with these issues when I encounter them in my engagement with researchers.

The last session on Tuesday 25 Sept was a bit difficult because of lack on current information on the structure of the research portal. The report back session was helpful all the same because some of the issues that we shall have to deal with were highlighted

The outing to 96 Winery road was very nice. I loved the the atmoshere in the restaurant. It helped me to unwind

REVIEW WEEK ONE

The purpose of all the presentations in week one is much clearer to me now. Professor Gevers gave a very good overview of the mechnics of the knowledge creation process. All the other lectures fitted in by giving detailed accounts of "research journey's" in various fields. While learning something new from each of them, what I found most remarkable was the passion they all showed when they spoke about their research. The lesson thatI think we can all learn from this is that when we begin our individual research support journeys in our institutions we should be passionate about what we do. That pasion and enthusiasm, will definately rubb off on our colleagues in the library and hopefully academics and we shall well be on our way to making a difference!

It was interesting to hear from Andrew how academics who are applying for NRF rating sometimes battle to put together their profiles. That is one area where we can assist lecturers.
Equally interesting were the disagreements on certain issues- open access, the orthodox research methodologies followed by most presenters as opposed to Prof Foster's critical stance on existing theories of knowlegde and knowing. The lesson for me? We are very like to encounter these contradictions as we engage with academics in our institutions and I am better equiped now to deal with them.

The statement which keeps coming back to my mind? "You are more needed as librarians than you appreciate??? know???" Dr David Cooper. Help can't recall the exact words now.
We definitely have a role to play!