Current awareness is the term used to describe staying informed by keeping up to date with the latest publications, research and news in your field.
The perspective of current awareness is the present and the forthcoming, as opposed to the retrospective.
Current awareness ranges from looking for information on specific topics on a regular basis (and this usually involves the assistance of your Personal Librarian to help you set up your search profile) to embracing a wider, more general, and cross-disciplinary view that brings an element of serendipity into your search for the latest information.
Informally, researchers remain alert in all contexts for useful information and insights that will inform their daily practice, their research and spark off innovative and creative ideas for new avenues of research.
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April 2014's website of the month is:
Institut national d’études démographiques
INED focuses on population studies. Their reports cover a wide range of issues of interest to many disciplines. Note that not all the reports are available in English. See, for example:
Thévenon, Olivier (2014) 'The Political Economy of Child-Related Leave Policies in OECD Member States: Key Trends and the Impact' Institut national d’études démographiques; No 208.
and:
Thévenon, Olivier (2014) 'Gender Equality (f)or Economic Growth?' Institut national d’études démographiques; No 202.
A website worth exploring.
The year is marked with many special days, weeks, and months dedicated and devoted to raising awareness about important issues.
This monthly post will note special dates and themes, and draw your attention to possibly interesting cross-disciplinary topical references intended to inform and to inspire ideas for research.
Selected Noteworthy Days in April 2014
2-3 April EU-Africa Summit Summit: The Theme is Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace
6 April United Nations First International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
7 April World Health Day: The Theme for 2014 is Vector-Borne Diseases
11 April Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide by the African Union and Rwanda
See perhaps 'Warning Signs' in Chapter 16 from p 569 of JONES, Adam (2011) Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. London: Routledge.
15 April Total Lunar Eclipse
22 April United Nations International Mother Earth Day
23 April UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day
27 April Freedom Day (South Africa)
29 April Annular Solar Eclipse
30 April South Africans Abroad Will Vote in the 2014 SA Elections
Russia out of the G8. Read The Hague Declaration.
Windows XP support ends on the 8th April 2014. See Microsoft (2014) 'Support is ending soon' and Ludlow, David (2014) ‘When Windows XP SupportEnds, This is How You Secure Your PC and Save all Updates’ posted on Expert Reviews on 21 March.
Nkandla Report. See South Africa, Public Protector (2014) Secure in Comfort: Report on an Investigation into Allegations of Impropriety and Unethical Conduct relating to the Installation and Implementation of Security Measures by the Department of Public Works at and in respect of the Private Residence of President Jacob Zuma at Nkandla in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. Report No 25 of 2013/ 2014.
ICASA publishes Code for People with Disabilities in terms of the Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005. See Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) 'Code for People with Disabilities' Government Gazette, vol 585, no 37486, 28 March 2014,
The Current Awareness Archive is arranged first by month, in descending chronological order. Do not hesitate to contact us if you cannot find what you are looking for.
If you are looking for 2014's forthcoming conferences, the following websites are helpful:
This month's Golden Oldie publication is the following article:
Donovan, Stephen K. (2007) ‘The Importance of Resubmitting Rejected Papers’ Journal of Scholarly Publishing, vol 38, no 3, pp 151-155.
To access this article, use Find e-journals to locate the Journal of Scholarly Publishing in EBSCOHOST's Academic Search Premier database. This database is password controlled: Unisa staff members will be prompted to enter their Network username and password, and Unisa students will be prompted to enter their student number and myUnisa password.