The tenth Library Research Week – an annual flagship event of Stellenbosch University's (SU) Library and Information Service which was held from 16–20 May 2022 – was well received and a culmination of SU's commitment to building the research expertise of students, academics, and researchers and upholding SU's promise of conducting research in service of society.
In welcoming the more than 110 virtual and in-person attendees at the launch last week, Ms Ellen Tise, Senior Director: SU Library and Information Service, noted that the interest in and the impact of the research week grew since it started in 2014. “In 2020, 802 researchers attended the week. This number increased to 992 in 2021. And so far this year, 996 researchers have registered. I hope we will still exceed the 1 000 mark," she said.
The event, themed “Mapping your research journey", took place virtually, focusing on the research process from start to end.
Prof Eugene Cloete, SU's Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, officially opened the week by emphasising the importance of research having a clear destination (goal).
“The destination is extremely important. I often ask our PhDs and postdocs why they are doing this? What is the objective? What is the destination? One should know what your destination is when undertaking a journey."
According to Cloete, the reward is great after the research project has been completed and the destination reached. “It is rewarding to be original and come up with new information. When this happens, and your research is published, it is very gratifying. In fact, I think most researchers get hooked on that feeling."
Concluding the launch, Prof Ronelle Carolissen from SU's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences facilitated a panel discussion on research ethics. Panel members were SU colleagues Mr Jerall Toi (senior institutional information officer), Dr Marilize Burger (senior lecturer in orthopaedic surgery), Ms Clarissa Robertson (coordinator: research ethics) and Ms Katlego Mthelebofu (lecturer in mercantile law).
“The one big thing we all panic about is ethics. We should familiarise ourselves with some information that reduces anxiety and makes the research ethics process a happy one," Carolissen said.
“Ethics and learning about ethics in research are about the process and learning how to engage with other researchers and other people who participate in our research projects," she added.
Library staff members, experts from other SU divisions and vendors from well-known research databases presented 15 webinars during the Library Research Week. The subthemes of these webinars were:
* Rigging the ropes: Search strategies with Google and Google Scholar; proposal writing; literature reviews.
* Navigating the new: Mixed-methods research; statistics in research; SAGE research methods; qualitative data analysis with Atlas.ti.
* Traversing the tides: Academic misconduct; Mendeley; checking your similarity index (Turnitin); copyright.
* Bridging uncharted waters: Maximise your research impact; sensitive research data; Wiley open access agreement.
According to Tise, this week covered various research processes and activities ranging from writing, mixed methods and research literature to statistics, using research programmes and research data management. “All these are empowering and provide tools to researchers as they embark on a research journey," she explained.
For the full programme of the Library Research Week, click here.
Inquiries: Marié Roux at mr@sun.ac.za or 021 808 9917
Caption:
Attending the launch of the Library Research Week were (from the left) Mr Siviwe Bangani (master of ceremonies); Mr Jerall Toi, Dr Marilize Burger, Katlego Mthelebofu, Ms Clarissa Robertson, Prof Ronelle Carolissen, Ms Ellen Tise and Prof Eugene Cloete.
Photographer: Bronwyn Bruton
