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.
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.
In 1572, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics began in Paris and later spread to the French provinces. The massacre was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of... More
Former tennis professional Raymond Moore was born in Johannesburg on this day in 1946. He won eight doubles titles, finishing runner-up an additional 12 times in doubles. Moore participated in 12 Davi... More
In 1958, Prime Minister Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom died. Nicknamed the Lion of the North, he was a proponent of segregation that led to the establishment of of Apartheid. The Hillbrow Tower in Johann... More
Golfer Nico van Rensburg was born in Alberton on this day in 1966. He has won on the Sunshine Tour six times between 1989 and 2005. He has three Asian Tour victories also
1896 The first plots are sold in Mayfair on the West Rand
1962 African delegates urge U Thant to enter Nelson Mandela fray
1978 Control of communication bureau is placed under Foreign Affairs
1772 William I Frederick, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and King of the Netherlands (1814-40)
1787 James Weddell, Ostend England, Antarctic explorer (Weddell Sea)
1808 Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1808 Thomas Fenwick Drayton, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1891)
1816 Daniel Gooch, laid 1st successful transatlantic cables
1817 Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian poet, writer and playwright (d. 1875)
1820 Jacopo Tomadini, composer
1821 Emmanuele Muzio, composer
1827 Walter Husted Stevens, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1867)
1828 George Hume "Maryland" Steuart, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
Should you wish to read Current Awareness guides of previous years, visit the Archive.
As we commemorate the famous Treason trials of South Africa in the late 1950's and 1960's, here is an interesting article published at the time!
Karis, T. G. (1961). The South African Treason Trial. Political Science Quarterly, 76(2), 217-240
The article can be sourced both via the E-Journal Finder as well as a general catalogue search