10th Southern African Online Information Meeting: The Birthday celebration

Special dinner to celebrate the SAOUG's 30th year in existence as well as the 10th SAOIM was held on 4th August at the Union Caterers, Utopia Place, Pretoria. Over 90 delegates, publishers and vendors have attended the event. The pictures are proof for the good time we had.

 

Pictures & Blog post: Pavlinka Kovatcheva

10th Southern African Online Information Meeting: Day 2

Welcome to the 10th Southern Africa Online Information Meeting: Past, Present & Future

3-6 August 2010, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa

Organised by SAOUG together with SLIS and OSALL

Session 10.30 - 12.00h

Meet the SAOUG financial people.

Visit the SAOUG stand

Birthday cup cakes for you

Johannie Steyn from University of Johannesburg

Keynote speaker Pieter van Brakel presented on "Are your clients on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn....?

Doctor, Doctor, please help me

Paper from the Conference will be available soon... 

Blog post & pictures: Pavlinka Kovatheva

10th Southern African Online Information Meeting: Day 1 Workshops

Welcome to the 10th Southern Africa Online Information Meeting: Past, Present & Future

3-6 August 2010, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa

3 August 2010: Workshops on "Non-textual search" and "Web-site evaluation tools: changing criteria" presented by Marydee Ojala.

  

 

Blog post and pictures: Pavlinka Kovatcheva

Register for the SAOUG workshop: Broadband in South Africa

You are cordially invited to the

Southern African Online User Group (SAOUG) talk:

Broadband in South Africa

 

Date: Tuesday, 11 May 2010

Venue: ‘nt Shonalanga Valley

Time: 10:30-14:00
Cost: R50 for members;   R500 for non-members

 

Programme:

 

10:30 - 11:00 Registration

11:00 – 12:00 Broadband in South Africa / talk by Alan Knott-Craig Jr.

12:00 – 14:00 Lunch

 

About the talk:

• How do you connect to the Internet?
• Why is the rest of the world so much cheaper?
• What is the future for broadband in SA?
• What is the future of SA?

About the Presenter: 

Alan Knott-Craig qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA) in 2002. In October 2003 he founded South Africa’s first location-based mobile services company, Cellfind. In 2004 he co-founded Lucky Mobile, a provider of entertainment content for mobile phones. In 2005 he co-founded iFind34600, the world’s first location-based SMS directory enquiry service. In 2006, he co-founded 6th Line, a software development company focusing on the development of platforms supporting user-generated content for mobile phones. On 1 January 2006 he was appointed Managing Director of iBurst, a provider of wireless broadband. In April 2008 he published Don’t Panic, a collection of stories explaining why people live in South Africa, In May 2008, Alan founded “The Trust”, a not-for-profit organisation that provides a platform for individuals to locate accredited charities and easily make financial contributions. In January 2009 he founded COLV, a company that develops credit card fraud prevention software for banks. In February 2009 he was nominated as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. In April 2009 he resigned from iBurst in order to relocate his family to Stellenbosch.

 

Please RSVP by Tuesday, 4 May 2010 to Christa on:
E-mail: christaf@saonlineinfo.co.za

 

Posted by Pavlinka

SAOUG Conference, August 2010: Call for Papers submission date 1 April 2010

The 10th South African Online Information Meeting: Past, Present and Future, CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, 4-5 August 2010.

Call for Papers submission date: 1 April 2010

Submission Guidelines

SAOUG webpage

Renew or join SAOUG Membership for April 2010-March 2011.

SAOUG Valentine's Workshop: Social Networking

SOUTH AFRICAN ONLINE USER GROUP (SAOUG)

Valentine's Workshop 12 February 2010

Adler Museum, Wits Medical School

Talk by Hennie Rautenbach, SabinetOnline

"Social Networking - Tips & Tricks"

The SAOUG members, who attended the Annual Valentine’s Breakfast, received a splendid treat on Friday 12 February 2010. Not only did the caterers arrange a delectable table of filled croissants, pasties and the ever popular fruit kebab, but the venue was most fascinating peering into the history of medicine and apothecary. Though a venue change took place, the Adler Museum proved to be an advisory to the first chosen Origins Centre. Members needn’t worry. A suitable SAOUG meeting is promised to be hosted there in future.

The best treat of the day of course was the speaker, Hennie Rautenbach, whom many in the library & information community know as “Sabinet’s IT guy”. Hennie gave his view on the social networking phenomena – he captivated and entertained the audience with quirky humor whilst answering several interesting questions such as where did social networks start, what is required to use social networking technology, and what if I don’t have a PC? Those with a Facebook presence, but not in the junkie category, received a few tips on how to rid your in-box of unwanted hatchling eggs, flowers or quiz invitations. Explaining that he is no expert, and only “playing around” as a hobby he made double sure of conveying the latest juicy developments such as Google Buzz, Picasa, Google Goggles, Panoramia.

No IT presentation is complete without some gadgets. Yes, photo frames can search images on the web! (The writer doesn’t even own one). There is even a solution for social networking junkies with profiles on every site imaginable, but do you really want all your personal secrets collated for the next company to whom your CV is sent?

If the first 2010 SAOUG event is anything to go by, the SA Online Information meeting should not be missed in August 2010. Visit the updated SAOUG website to learn more about the upcoming Conference and the call for papers.

More pictures from the workshop are available on PICASA

We also gratefully thank SA Online Information Services wanting to be our love bug…..

Contribution: Rejaene van Dyk (SAOUG Committee member)

Blog Post: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG Committee member)

SAOUG MEETING HELD ON 13 NOVEMBER 2009 AT KLOOFZICHT LODGE

The website for Kloorzicht lodge http://www.kloofzicht.co.za/ begins by saying "Nestled at the foothills of the Zwartkops Mountains in the Cradle of Humankind, Kloofzicht Lodge is the essence of tranquility and ultimate Luxury, a comfortable 40 minute drive from both Johannesburg and Pretoria." For once, the online brochure captured it all in one. The venue was a little piece of heaven, just a stone's throw away from the big cities. Their catering was also up to the challenge and did not let their side down either. Very definitely a venue to be revisited!

Ramon Thomas http://www.netucation.co.za/ was the guest speaker for the morning, the title of his talk being "Leadership in a technology driven world". In his talk, he explored the books and people that had made an impact on his own life. When it came to technology, he informed us about the acceleration adoption rate per 50 million users: Radio took 38 years, TV 13 years, Cable 10 years, Digital Cameras 8 years, Internet 5 years, with the digital camera phone being less than 3.5 years. If anyone had any doubts about the pace of life speading up, this would have put to rest any doubts that they had.

With regard to cell phones, he commented that there is currently a move amongst certain sectors of people wanting a simple phone without all the additional extras. He suggested that on an average, there are 2 sim cards per phone, but in poorer communities 1 cell phone is being used by 8 different people with 8 respective sim cards. He indicated that in some rural areas, airtime is becoming a new form of currency whereby airtime is being bought and resold with the rural entrepreneur taking 5% commission for the transaction. The individual will sms and receive the code for the airtime, and then sell the code for cash. I did not realize that I was walking around with the potential for a small business in my pocket, did you?

As someone who has dabbled in MXit to keep in touch with my children when attending international conferences, I was pleased to hear that as from 2008 MXit had blocked off all areas to chat rooms with a parental control function. This has been an area of personal concern for some time and I am delighted that some intervention is in place. I would really recommend Ramon Thomas "Parent's guide to MXit" which is available as a download from his site. It is a worthwhile read.

Ramon described what he called the three pillars of technology terrorism: conflict, confusion and complexity. He is currently working on this theory for his Masters Research project at the University of Johannesburg. His advice was to keep things simple. Know what it is that you want to achieve with technology. We are often using less than 5% of the capabilities of the software programs we are currently running (he used MS Office as an example).

As far as the technology terrorism was concerned, he had the following solutions to offer:

• CREATIVITY

- There is a paradox of choice.

- Clarify exactly what it is that you need. (Know thyself)

- Have technology FREE DAYS. Allow you to switch off the cell phone and computers and just "be yourself". Do you really need to be wired 24/7?

• CONFIDENCE

- Decision making.

- Collaboration. Open plan offices, open source software, and social media.

To sum up: Adopt the KISS principle with technology. Know what it is that you want to achieve, keep it simple and you will avoid the confusion, complexity and conflict that was mentioned by the speaker.

Contributed: Janet Zambri

SAOUG Workshop feedback: 8 October 2009

SAOUG organised a training tips talk on the 8th October 2009.

The venue: University of Pretoria

The Power Point Presentation are available on the SAOUG website

About the talk: From survivors to an amazing race team. How did we achieve it?

"The team of the Faculty Library: Natural Sciences and Engineering strives to contribute to the University of Pretoria's mission, vision and strategic plans. We form part of teaching and research teams, market not only our services and new products, but also our skills and competencies. By building on everybody's strengths and taking weaknesses into account we not only survive change, but keep up with new trends and technology and together we build a happy and satisfied team"

The audience

Sunette Steynberg talked about the importance of regular communication with clients and how to evaluate current and new databases. She also discussed the importance of training content and the need for professional training and presentation skills. Sunette also explained how bibliometrics are used for research evaluation.

Elna Randall, provided an overview of the University of Pretoria's structure, the Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences and how the library support its clients.

Danie Malan, took us down memory lane in how the UP Library has survived changes during the 80's, 90's and the new Millennium. The amazing race to adapt to an ever-changing environment has begun.

Faan Naude, Information Specialist for the Mathematical Sciences talked about the marketing of self and services. He also provided an overview of their book and journal collections.

Hettie Groenewald talked about the Collection Management of the Library: the challenges of digitization of materials, new technologies and the Institutional Repository. She introduced us to some new initiatives, such as: Structure models, 3D models and usage of Google Earth to map new projects.

Elsie Verheem, Information Specialist for Consumer Science and Food Science and Technology said: " We all have unique ways in which we define our roles as information specialists. With my colleagues I listen and learn. With students and academics I listen, learn, encourage and assist." She talked about her involvement with the research process of her clients and the commitment to provide a relevant service.

Sello Baloyi talked about the importance of the staff members who are responsible for the shelving of the collections. How they manage books that go missing or need to be restored.

Sonto Mabena talked about her experience as a new staff member in the library; about the way her colleagues help her adjust in the new library environment.

Max Depree once said: " The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential .... the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individual persons."

The workshop was a very stimulating team building experience for all of us.

Don't forget, the presentations are available on the SAOUG website.

Posted by: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG blogger)

Forthcoming SAOUG events

In November you are invited to attend two SAOUG workshops:

Workshop 1: SAOUG End of year function

Date: 13 November 2009
Venue: Kloofzicht Lodge, Kromdraai Road, Muldersdrift, Johannesburg
Time: 11.00h - late afternoon
Talk by Ramon Thomas: Leadership in Technology Driven World
RSVP by 6 November. Read MORE on the SAOUG website

Workshop 2: SAOUG Training Sessions on ScienceDirect & Scopus

Dates & Venues:

- Tuesday, 24 November 2009, University of Johannesburg, Library Auditorium, Level 3
- Wednesday, 25 November 2009, University of Pretoria, Hatfield/Main Campus, Tswelopelo room, IT Building, Room 4-46.

Programme:

9.00 - 10.30 ScienceDirect training tips
10.30 - 11.00 Refreshments
11.00 - 12.30 Scopus training tips

Cost: free
Facilitator: Sunette Steynberg (Elsevier freelance trainer for SA)
RSVP by 20 November 2009.

Contact Christa Fourie (christaf@saonlineinfo.co.za) to book for both workshops.

Posted by: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG blogger)

Establishment of the SAOUG Eastern Cape Branch

Establishment of the SAOUG Eastern Cape Branch!

Mr Vuyani Mhlontlo

24/9/2009

One of the objectives of the SAOUG Executive Committee for this term is to expand the activities of SAOUG to areas outside Gauteng through the establishment of regional branches. It was decided to, as a starting point, concentrate on the Eastern Cape. Once established, further regional branches will be considered.

It is with pleasure that the SAOUG Executive Committee announces the appointment of Mr Vuyani Mhlontlo of NMMU as the Eastern Cape Branch representative. Vuyani will be instrumental in the establishment of the SAOUG Eastern Cape Branch. Details of a first meeting to promote membership will follow in due course.

Congratulations Vuyani!

Madelein van Heerden
Chair: SAOUG

23/9/2009

The Information Services and Training Department of the LIS is proud to announce that Mr Vuyani Mhlontlo has been nominated and selected by SAOUG as Committee Member of the national South African Online Users Group. Vuyani will represent the Eastern Cape towards the establishment of the SAOUG Eastern Cape chapter. To promote membership in the Eastern Cape, a meeting is in the process of being scheduled to be held in Port Elizabeth. The SA Online Information Services will offer Quatum2 professional development workshops as part of the agenda. Vuyani will distribute the list of workshops in due course to allow you the opportunity to indicate your preference.

Congratulations Vuyani!

Hester Kritzinger
Senior Manager: Information Services and Training
Library and Information Services
NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

Posted by: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG blogger)

SAOUG Workshop feedback: 13 August 2009

SAOUG AGM took place on the 13th of August 2009.

The venue: University of Pretoria, Groenkloof Campus.

Chris Cromhout, SAOUG treasurer presented a report for the past financial year.

The guest speaker for this workshop was Johann van Wyk, Library Manager for Education Library, UP. He presented an enlightening talk on: "Engaging Clients through Web 2.0 Tools:The Education Library, University of Pretoria".

The presentation is available through the SAOUG web page.

Johann captivated the audience with his talk

Fiona Bester, SAOUG committee member said a word of appreciation to Johann.

Posted by: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG blogger)

SAOUG Committee News Flash! (7 May 2009)

SAOUG Committee News Flash!

Have a glimpse at the people, who ensure that SAOUG provides quality workshops and conferences. Those, who find the hot topics and even the "hoties" speakers.

So, what is happening in the SAOUGsville?

Forthcoming Workshop: 20 May 2009

Training the Trainer: A New approach to training end user

Facilitator: Dr. Glenda Myers, WITS Medical Library (SAOUG ex-chair)

Feedback will come after the workshop. If you want an additional workshop, please let us know.

Regional Branches

Good news for the SAOUG members outside Gauteng. At the last two meetings (January & March 2009) the committee discussed the arrangement of workshops and election of regional SAOUG representatives. As a start a Quantum workshop will be arranged in the Eastern Cape area. Further discussions with Stellenbosch & Cape Town representatives will be made. I will keep you posted.

SAOUG Conference 2010, 2-6 August

A new exciting Conference coming your way just after the Soccer fiver is down.

Keep these dates in mind for budgeting purposes.

Membership April 2009- March 2010

Membership Invoices are being currently sent to all SAOUG members. Please pay on time.

Want to become SAOUG member? Visit the Membership website for MORE information!

SAOUG Blog & Website

The blog is receiving a new make over. Posts will be done on a more regular basis. Links to useful online resources & services will be added. Keep coming back to find out more.....

The future face of the SAOUG website will be discussed @ a meeting on 8th of May 2009.

2009 Committee Members

Do you know who are your SAOUG Committee members. Click HERE!

These are some of the members present at the March 2009 meeting.

Madelein van Heerden chairs the meeting

Glenda Myers (past chair) & Chris Cromhout (treasurer)

Susan Scheepers (former SAOUG blogger & the NEW Membership secretary)
& Fiona Bester (Branch & Liaison officer)

Upcoming SAOUG committee meeting: 8 May 2009 (CSIR).

Want your voice to be heard? Leave a comment on this post.

Go to >>>> SAOUG website

Posted by: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG blogger)

SAOUG Committee Member: Saying goodbye

During the Valentine's workshop on 13 of February 2009, with sadness we said goodbye to Ingrid de Bont, who after many years of being in the SAOUG committee, decided to leave.

It was a committee decision to present Ingrid with a honorarium for long and dedicated service. The SAOUG chair Madelein van Heerden had the pleasure of handing Ingrid a gift and saying a couple of words of appreciation.

This is what Ingrid had to say:

" Personally, I take this opportunity to thank the Committee, and the Group, for the generous token of appreciation which was awarded to me. I feel honoured, and I want to stress again that membership of the SAOUG has opened worlds of interest to me over the years, and that work on the Committee has been such fun, and has given me so much, in the way of insight and also friendship and encouragement, that I really feel that my personal gain far outweighs any time and effort spent in the process"

Ingrid also sent through an e-mail, her thoughts on the presentation given by Anthony Olivier:

Valentine’s breakfast 2009 – “Ada’s offspring” by Anthony Olivier

"A full house of SAOUG members attended the traditional Valentine’s breakfast at Swan’s Rest in Centurion. The morning was chilly, but at least the sun was out again and made the lovely venue look its best.
After having enjoyed the breakfast spread, we were treated to some fascinating previews of what is in store for humanity in the way of computer technology, things that many of us may actually live to see, and which are likely to be as natural to our children or grandchildren as radio and TV are to us.
Tony demonstrated in an entertaining way that virtual worlds are already within reach, ready for exploration and exploitation by the imaginative. The question is whether we will still be in charge in the end, or whether computers could actually outsmart us altogether, a thought that Tony followed through history and speculated about, supported by some thought-provoking examples."

Thanks Ingrid for your inputs and your spirit. I hope you will still keep in touch with us!

Have you seen the SAOUG blog post on the Anthony Olivier presentation? Click HERE!

Posted by: Pavlinka Kovatcheva (SAOUG blogger)

SAOUG VALENTINE'S WORKSHOP

Welcome to the SAOUG 2009 blogging world!

The SAOUG committee organised it's first workshop for 2009 on 13th February 2009. These are some pictures and highlights of this event, which took place in the beautiful Swan's Rest in Centurion, Pretoria.

On the way to the workshop, you can enjoy the swans in the pond!

The guest speaker Anthony Olivier, holds the position of Security Strategist and Architect, in the Standard Bank Global Security Office, where his function is to determine security strategies for the 3 to 5 year time frame.

His intriguing presentation "Ada's Offspring" kept us guessing from the beginning. To learn who's Ada's offspring is click HERE! You will be pleasantly surprised by the way Anthony starts from the Mythology and the early Literature, through the technological changes in the last two centuries, to the latest technological innovations and the Web 3.0 semantic web. Have you heard of Nike MP3 Run? Nintendo Wii? Emotiv? Keep reading to find out Anthony's predictions.......

Read Ingrid de Bont comments on Tony's presentation. Click HERE!

Madelein van Heerden, SAOUG committee chair opens the workshop and welcomed all! The breakfast and the networking made for an enjoyable time during the morning.

Thanks to the South African Online Information Services for the Valentine's chocolate.

Visit the SAOUG website!

Want to talk to SAOUG members? Leave a comment....

SAOUG’s End of Year Function held at Foxwood House on 11 November 2008

Stress Management Workshop

Librarians often work under a lot of stress, and so it was not surprising that an impressive 85 members felt the need to get away from the rat-race and learn some coping skills. The SAOUG end-of-the-year function was very successful, and participants practised humour therapy while becoming aware of ways to take charge of our responses to stressful situations.

Gavin Novis is an excellent and very entertaining speaker, and even though, as Glenda remarked, much of what he covered belongs to “common sense”, he managed to present his material in a both interesting and thought-provoking manner. Thank you for that! I believe most of us came away with a positive charge. For those members who had to miss this event, Gavin’s slides will get posted on the SAOUG website.

Foxwood House proved to be a very special venue, although not easy to find for some of us. The rain prevented much exploration of the delights of the garden, but what we did experience fitted well with the theme of the day. The lunch was good and made many of us stay on for extended relaxed socialising.

Contributed by: Ingrid de Bont (Committee Member)

Please see link to Power Point by Gavin Novis

http://www.saoug.org.za/Stress_management.ppt