CPUT Library Annual Report 2016

Annual Report 20162016 was yet another eventful and successful year for CPUT Libraries. One of our proudest moments was getting Senate and other university structures’ approval for a proposed compulsory Information Literacy Course for all new students. This will go a long way in ensuring the library’s contribution towards First Year Experience and students’ retention. It is our strong belief that once students have acquired information literacy skills they can continuously utilise them – not only in their studies but throughout their lives. The building projects in Wellington and Mowbray are close to completion and we expect to resume operations in the new spaces in early 2017. On the regional, national and international scene – we continue to play our role in making contributions to various activities and projects. We continue to host and manage the CHELSA Statistics Database for University Libraries – with close to three quarters of the state universities now utilising the database. The Library has made major contributions towards the Western Cape Data Intensive Research Project and has been recognised for taking a lead in RDM activities and given a key role to develop policies and guidelines for the Project as well as coordinate the training of librarians, IT personnel and scientists who will be working on the project. Our exchange programme with Virginia Tech continues to yield very positive results – with staff on both sides visiting and sharing important information towards the development of our libraries. In IATUL (The International Association of University Libraries) our voice remains strong in shaping its international programmes at Board level and the Special Interest Group on Information Literacy. The 2016 budget allocation was favourable and together with other funding from the Teaching Development Grant we were able to fulfil our collection development mandates. The Teaching and Development Grant has also provided an opportunity to grow our e-books collection. In 2016 we started working on the Open Educational Resources Project and have succeeded in setting up the necessary infrastructure for the growth and development of the project. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all library staff for their various contributions towards a successful 2016