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.
January's website of the month is:
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture (Zondo Commission)
An important part of South Africa's political history, this site carries announcements, links to transcripts, statements and documents, decisions and objections, court judgments, and video recordings of the hearings in retrospective chronological order.
Below is a link to a search on Encore Duet, the Unisa Library's in-house search engine, for books on the subject of state capture.
STATE CAPTURE ←Click on this link to view the search results.
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.
Noteworthy days and time periods in January 2019 include:
1 January: New Year's Day
4 January: United Nations (UN) World Braille Day
17 January: SADC Double Troika Summit, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
19 January: State Capture inquiry resumes
22 to 25 January: World Economic Forum 2019, Davos, Switzerland
24 January: UN International Day of Education
24 to 25 January: South Africa hosts Kingdom of Eswatini delegation on bioeconomy
28 January: World Leprosy Day
28 January: UN International Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Holocaust
28 January: 'Twitter is changing ... ' by Timothy Rangongo
29 January: Department of Labour on implementation of National Miniumum Wage
If you are looking for 2019's forthcoming conferences, the following websites are helpful:
Appreciative Inquiry is a different kind of AI. Find out more by taking a look at the following books from the Unisa Library:
COOPERRIDER, David L., WHITNEY, Diana and STAVROS, Jacqueline M. (2008) Appreciative inquiry handbook: for leaders of change. Brunswick, OH: Crown Custom Pub.; San Francisco, CA; BK, Berrett-Koehler. Pretoria Open Collection at shelf number 658.4063 COOP.
REED, Jan (2007) Appreciative inquiry: research for change (e-book). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. NOTE: To access this title, click on the embedded link. You will be prompted to enter your student number and myUnisa password OR your Unisa staff Network username and password, and then click on LOGIN.