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.
1 Sep 1923
A devastating earthquake struck the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokohama. Nearly 150,000 people were killed and more than two million left homeless.
1 Sep 1939
World War II began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
1 Sep 1985
A joint U.S.-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic 560 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
2 Sep 1976
The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking II landed on Mars and took the first pictures of the planet's surface.
4 Sep 1888
George Eastman patented his roll-film camera and registered the Kodak trademark.
4 Sep 1972
U. S. swimmer Mark Spitz won a record seventh gold medal at the Munich Summer Olympics.
5 Sep1997
Humanitarian Mother Teresa, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor, died in Calcutta, India, at age 87.
7 Sep 1986
Desmond Tutu became the first black to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.
11 Sep 1962
The Beatles recorded their first single, Love Me Do.
11 Sep 2001
Two hijacked commercial jets were crashed by terrorists into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing the collapse of both towers. A short while later, another plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pa.
12 Sep 1977
South African black civil rights leader Steven Biko died while in police custody.
13 Sep 1993
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat shook hands after signing an historic peace agreement.
13 Sep 1989
Desmond Tutu leads biggest anti-apartheid protest march in South Africa
25 Sep 2011
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia grants women the right to vote and run for office in future elections.
30 Sep 1966
Botswana gained its independence from Great Britain.
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 September:
5-11 Sep
Findings in a 2007 study revealed that only 14% of South Africans read books and over half of South African households (51%) do not have a single leisure reading book. National Book Week, which runs from the 5-11 September, aims to change that.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day and UNESCO is celebrating it under the banner “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. It addresses current challenges and looks to innovative solutions to boost literacy.
12-16 Sep
The week grants free access to most of the 21 national parks for day visitors, especially people from the local communities.
16 Sep
It’s aim is to increase awareness by educating the community about the social, environmental
and economic benefits of recycling.
22 Sep
On Heritage Day South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people.
22 Sep
Facebook World Rhino Day page and Twitter @RhinoDaySept22
On World Rhino Day – 12 of South Africa’s top Trail Runners together with 12 influential people from all walks of life will take part in the Rhino Peak Challenge.
22 Sep
There are two equinoxes every year – in September and March – when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal.
26 Sep
World Environmental Health Day
Every year the IFEH announces a special theme and organizes various activities to draw public attention to the problems of our environment. The theme for 2016 is Tobaco Control.
23 Sep-
SA Innovation Summit: Market on the Edge
Market on the Edge is the official exhibition area of the 9th South African Innovation Summit, and encapsulates the activities, ambitions and business approaches of South Africa's foremost thought leaders and innovation drivers.
24 Sep
The Finery Fair is a multi-cultural arts festival, celebrating Heritage weekend with the finer things in life that South Africans have to offer.
Tourism Month is celebrated annually in September with the aim of encouraging South Africans to explore their own country. It also provides the tourism industry with an opportunity for a sustained, heightened month-long focus on the importance of domestic tourism to the economy.
Africa Discussing Ways to Stop the Continent's Mass Rural Exodus Voice of America
Representatives of 30 African countries have been working this week to map out ways to stop the continent's mass rural exodus at the Forum ...
This is what it means to be middle class in South Africa BusinessTech
A new government report has shed more light on what it means to be middle class in South Africa, and how difficult it is to get there.
SA universities contest drop in world rankings News24
South Africa's universities have vehemently challenged their across-the-board drop in world rankings, saying the criteria followed failed to take ...
These are the best universities in Africa in 2016 BusinessTech
South African universities feature amongst the top institutions in Africa, but worryingly many have dropped down the 2016 QS World University ...
EU should focus more on regional governance in Africa EurActiv
Migration is a priority issue all the way from Oslo to Cape Town, so the EU and Africa need to work together more effectively in order for it to be ...
Small is better in Africa's economies Independent Online
Cape Town - East African nations are playing an increasing role in driving growth in the world's poorest continent as they ride a wave of cheap ...
Air pollution kills 20 000 per year in South Africa - as many as in traffic Mail & Guardian
Air pollution kills 20 000 people in South Africa every year, costing the economy nearly R300-million. This is according to new research from ...
What Africa must do to boost farm outputs, feed itself Business Daily (press release) (blog)
Around 70 per cent of Africa's population depends on agriculture for food and income, but many farmers are still struggling with poverty and ...
Japan's Africa investment may be risky business Global Times
Japan's presence in Africa was heavily felt recently when Nairobi hosted the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development ...
South Africa is the fourth-best country in the world - Conde Nast ... South Africa.info
Readers of the prestigious Conde Nast Traveler magazine have rated South Africa as the fourth-best country to visit - ahead of traditional tourist ...
World Trade Center mall offers chance to reflect on 9/11 – with retail ... The Guardian
Shoppers and tourists enjoy the view inside the Oculus and new stores in the Westfield World Trade Center mall in New York City. Photograph: ...
Should you wish to read Current Awareness guides of previous years, visit the Archive.
If you are looking for 2015's forthcoming conferences, the following websites are helpful:
This month's golden oldies articles of choice are:
Private Sector Involvement in Public History Production in South Africa: The "Sunday Times" Heritage Project, Marschall S. African Studies Review, Vol. 53, No. 3, December 2010, pp. 35-59.
This article investigates issues of identity construction and public memo realization in post apartheid South Africa.
Transforming Museums and Heritage in Postcolonial and Post-apartheid South Africa: The Impact of Processes of Policy Formulation and New Legislation, Corsane, G. Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice, Vol. 48, No. 1, Spring 2004, pp. 5-15
In post-apartheid South Africa , the traditional understandings of museums and heritage have been challenged in terms of how meaning making, heritage construction, and knowledge production were conducted in the colonial past.
The conservation of South Africa's built heritage: a multi-ethnic challenge, Haswell, R.F. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, No. 67, October 1986, pp. 45-52
The conservation of South Africa's built heritage has been largely an Afrikaner-dominated activity. An effective concern with conservation must also be related to political access. The country's other ethnic groups have simply been excluded from official conservation activities.
Building a new South Africa. Volume 4, Environment, reconstruction, and development : a report / from the International Mission on Environmental Policy with a foreword by Nelson R. Mandela / from the International Mission on Environmental Policy with a foreword by Nelson R. Mandela, edited by Anne V. Whyte
EBook | 1995
