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
Websites of the Month
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled
The Marrakesh Treaty was adopted on June 27, 2013 in Marrakesh and it forms part of the body of international copyright treaties administered by WIPO. It has a clear humanitarian and social development dimension and its main goal is to create a set of mandatory limitations and exceptions for the benefit of the blind, visually impaired, and otherwise print disabled (VIPs).
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
Disability Rights Awareness Month 2017
Disability Rights Awareness Month calendar of events
5 November National Children's Day 2017
5 November World Tsunami Awareness Day
6 November SADC Malaria Day 2017
6 November International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict 2017
10 November World Science Day for Peace and Development
14 November World Diabetes Day
14 November World Quality Day 2017
16 November International Day for Tolerance
16 November World Philosophy Day (third Thursday in November)
19 November World Toilet Day
20 November World Remembrance Day (WRD) for Victims of Road Accidents 2017
20 November Universal Children's Day 2017
20 November Africa Industrialisation Day 2017
21 November World Fisheries Day 2017
21 November World Television Day
25 November to 10 December 16 Days of Activism 2017
25 November International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2017
29 November International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Events
9 to 10 Nov Labour hosts national series of briefing sessions on national minimum wage
The Department of Labour is planning to host a national series of briefing sessions aimed at trade unions. The briefings will start in November 2017 ahead of the implementation of the long-awaited national minimum wage (NMW) and the coming into being of a host of amendments to a raft of labour legislation.
9 to 10 Nov Cooperative Governance and Small Business Development convene National Local Economic Development Conference
17 Nov Treasury hosts workshop on Financial Sector Ombud System reforms
16 to 18 Nov Ficksburg Cherry Festival 2017
25 Nov Gauteng Sansui Summer Cup 2017
The Gauteng Sansui Summer Cup is Johannesburg's longest-running and most respected first-grade horse races. The annually-held event makes its return to its old stomping ground, Turffontein racecourse on the 25th November 2017.
29 Nov POPI Conference (Protection of Personal Information) Johannesburg
Through information-packed presentations, the POPI conference will help delegates tackle pertinent issues around the POPI Act and the impact the Act will have on personal and company information.
Join some of South Africas top experts in exploring the number of provisions and implications behind the POPI Act.
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:
Five challenges for disability-related research in sub-Saharan Africa
Leslie Swartz
African Journal of Disability, Volume 3, Issue 2, Jan 2014, p. 1 - 6
Malcolm MacLachlan, Malcolm MacLachlan and Gubela Mji
African Journal of Disability, Volume 3, Issue 2, Jan 2014, p. 1 - 5