Current Awareness Archive: Sep2017

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

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Website of the Month:

Department of Arts and Culture > National Identity

"Each and every country in the world has national symbols. The raising of the new flag always marks the birth of a new country. This also happened in South Africa in 1994 when this country marked the passage from the apartheid era into democracy.

National symbols are not decorative artworks that adorn official letterheads and government buildings but are strong symbolic statements adopted by each country and its people as elements of national identity."

Classification Of National Symbols

Primary National Symbols

• National coat of arms
• National Flag
• National Anthem

Secondary National Symbols

• National Animal- Springbok
• National Fish- Galjoen
• National Flower- King Protea
• National tree- Yellowwood tree
• National Bird- Blue Crane

Ceremonial Symbols

• Mace
• Black Rod

National Orders

• The Order of Mapungubwe
• The Order of the Companions of OR TamboThe Order of Mendi for Bravery
• The order of Baobab
• The Order of Ikhamanga
• The Order of Luthuli

image source: https://za.pinterest.com/pin/340936634262289844/

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.

image source: http://www.simonrademan.co.za/free-article_40-international-designer-collection-sa-national-symbols.jpg

Selected Noteworthy Days in September

September Theme of the Month: Heritage Month

"Heritage Day on 24 September recognises and celebrates the cultural wealth of our nation. South Africans celebrate the day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this day.

Living heritage is the foundation of all communities and an essential source of identity and continuity. Aspects of living heritage include: cultural tradition, oral history, performance, ritual, popular memory, skills and techniques, indigenous knowledge system and the holistic approach to nature, society and social relationships. In South Africa the term “intangible cultural heritage” is used interchangeably with the term “living heritage”.

Living heritage plays an important role in promoting cultural diversity, social cohesion, reconciliation, peace and economic development. In every community there are living human treasures who possess a high degree of knowledge, skills and history pertaining to different aspects of diverse living heritage. It is therefore important for South Africans to reclaim, restore and preserve these various aspects of living heritage to accelerate the use of living heritage to address challenges communities are facing today.

The Department of Arts and Culture developed a draft policy on the South African living heritage."

Source: http://www.gov.za/speeches/heritage-day-2017-17-nov-2016-1534

image: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/national-heritage-day

Events:

1 Sep 2017  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries launches National Arbor Week in Matatiele (Arbor Week will be celebrated under the theme; “Forests and Water”.)

1 Sep 2017 to 7 Sep 2017 - Arbor Week 2017 (National Arbor Week is an opportune time to call on all South Africans to plant indigenous trees as a practical and symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management)

10 Sep 2017 to 16 Sep 2017 - National Parks Week 2017 (The week grants free access to most of the 21 national parks for day visitors, especially people from the local communities.)

16 Sep 2017  - International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2017 (Substances that deplete the ozone layer include aerosols, sterilants and carbon tetrachloride; foams; halons and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

24 Sep 2017 - Heritage Day 2017

26 Sep 2017 - World Environmental Health Day 2017 (Environmental Health Day addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours.)

Top stories

• Ivorian Tiote adds to Africa’s on-field casualty list after the player collapsed and died

• South Africa slips into recession as economy shrinks

• Brown studying Molefe's labour court challenge

• UPDATE: Court rules Molefe can't work at Eskom until labour matter heard

• Eskom wants more money

• Prasa board set to be dissolved

• Major storm headed for SA

South Africa

• Lewis Stores wins battle against club fee charges

• W.Cape emergency services on 24-hour standby for ‘intense cold front’

• Three arrested after taxi violence flares up in Soweto

• State-owned entities need better governance: Gigaba

• Rand stronger on S&P's unchanged credit rating

• Fuel prices to drop on Wednesday

Africa

• New app helps Mali skin doctors reach out to distant patients

• Bank of China open branch in Angola

• Morocco protesters remain defiant in face of unemployment, corruption

• EU to give 50m euros for African force in Sahel

• AU commission chair visits Sahel Saharan region

• China says 31 nationals detained in Zambia for illegal mining

• Suspects in deaths of UN experts presented in Congo court

• Observers dub Lesotho polls 'largely peaceful'

• Probe into soldiers at Lesotho voting stations

• Being black in a white skin: students with albinism battle prejudice

World

• India shows off space prowess with launch of mega-rocket

• US-backed forces attack IS Syrian stronghold Raqqa

• Leaked intel report shows Russian hackers probed US voting systems

• Puerto Rico declares Zika outbreak over; CDC maintains travel warning

• UK police reveal names of London attackers, say one investigated before

• Qatar flight ban begins as Gulf crisis grows

• Passengers jump from plane at Australian airport in bomb hoax: media

• Montenegro becomes NATO's 29th member

• Panicked Qatar shoppers stock up as Gulf rift bites

Should you wish to read Current Awareness guides of previous years, visit the Archive.

If you are looking for 2017's forthcoming conferences, the following websites are helpful:

• National Research Foundation's Forthcoming Conferences page

• Conference Alerts

• Academic Conferences and Publishing International