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 a search profile matched to your research interests) 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.
Subscribe to this LibGuide by clicking on the link to the RSS Updates above. You may choose to subscribe to updates for this page only or to updates for the LibGuide as a whole. This saves you having to remember to visit us to see next month's Current Awareness updates.
Websites of the Month: Celebrating Women's Month
How empowering women can help address child labour
A key cocoa buyer in Cote d’Ivoire, Nestlé has been working with the government, with partners and suppliers through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan to reduce the risk of children doing difficult or dangerous work on cocoa farms owned by their families.
International Cocoa Initiative (ICI)
Established in 2002, the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) is the leading organisation promoting child protection in cocoa-growing communities
To accelerate socio-economic transformation and implementation for women’s empowerment and participation through oversight, monitoring, evaluation and influencing policy.
The year is marked with many special days, weeks, and months dedicated and devoted to raising awareness about important issues.
This monthly post, compiled by the Information Search Librarians Team, 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 August
31 Jul-2 Aug: South African Book Fair with the theme #DiscoverYourBookself
1 Aug: Minister Naledi Pandor launches National Science Week
9 Aug: National Women's Day
9 Aug: International Day of the World's Indigenous People
13 Aug: International Lefthanders Day
19 Aug: World Humanitarian Day, dedicated to humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes
29 Aug: The International Day against Nuclear Tests
30 Aug: The International Day of the Disappeared, drawing attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places and under poor conditions
31 Aug: African Traditional Medicine Day
In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere
Southern Rights spotted in False Bay: unbelievable underwater photos
Countries in tourism crisis: Should SA be on your bucket list?
Snow pics: This is how cold it's been across SA
From an impala birth to lions feasting - Another SA Instagrammer shares his best wildlife moments
E-tolls: Legal glitch halts licence discs being withheld
Time to halt BEE – replace with “economic empowerment for the disadvantaged”
'Digital amnesia' haunts smartphone users
SA happy with their smartphones, survey reveals
Chromebook sales jump thanks to education sector
Germany, Greece, and the Future of Europe
African team impresses at Tour de France
Should you wish to look back and find something you remember being posted here, visit the Archive to find what you are looking for. Note that Dec 2014/ Jan 2015 were archived together. The months from February 2015 onward will remain here until they are archived at the end of the year.
Do not hesitate to contact us at lib-search@unisa.ac.za if you cannot find what you are looking for.
If you are looking for 2015's forthcoming conferences, the following websites are helpful:
Highlights of conferences / events in August:
Margaret Boushel
The British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 24, No. 2 (April 1994), pp. 173-190
The article explores the strengths and limitations of existing cross-cultural, cross-national and anti-discriminatory theory and research in the child protection field, identified in four factors: the value attached to children, the status of women and carers, the social interconnectedness of children and carers, and the extent and quality of the protective safety nets available.
