On 29 January 2024, Unisa’s Library and Information Services (LIS) participated in a career expo that was organised by the Inside-Out team at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
The purpose of this event was to reach out to inmates and correctional services officials by providing guidance to prospective students in terms of career paths and employment opportunities, as well as by addressing any challenges that students might experience during their enrolment at Unisa.
From left: Keith Scott, Mokgadi Senyolo, Busisiwe Manala and Marita van der Merwe
The Programme Director, Dr Mbongiseni Mdakane from Unisa’s Department of Psychology, welcomed the inmates and correctional centre officials and introduced the Unisa units that were present on the day, including LIS, the Student Funding Directorate, the College of Law and the Career Counselling and Development Department, as well as other stakeholders. He wished everyone the best for the year ahead. LIS was represented by Mokgadi Senyolo, Marita van der Merwe, Busisiwe Manala and Keith Scott, a post-graduate assistant in the Department of Psychology.
Senyolo provided one-on-one training in how to access the library’s e-resources for those students who were struggling and experiencing challenges in accessing and utilising them. Van der Merwe and Manala engaged students by providing information on applications and other registration matters. The students were also trained in how to renew loaned books, download e-reserves and request material, among other things.
January is a great time for planning and setting goals for the year ahead, therefore both the inmates and correctional services officials were delighted to meet and engage with the library staff members. As part of the library's commitment to providing access to library resources, students can log on to the library website at any time and from anywhere to access resources. A suggestion was made by the correctional services coordinator for library staff members to offer more training on how to use the library services so that the students could be self-sufficient.
* By Busisiwe Manala, Marketing Talent Management Candidate, Department of Library and Information Services
0 Comments.