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
South African History Online (SAHO) was established in 1998 and registered in June 2000 as a not for profit Section 21 organisation. SAHO has the largest and most comprehensive online website on South African and African history and culture. In 2019 the website was used by 6.3m local and international visitors.
SAHO is a unique history project – its website, the organisation’s flagship project, is linked to a partnership programme with universities, community based history projects, educational and the cultural department of government.
SAHO, an award winning project, has become a national cultural and heritage asset. In April 2018 the State President awarded the CEO and Founder of SAHO, Omar Badsha, the National Order of Ikhamanga, citing “for his commitment to the preservation of our country’s history through ground-breaking and well-balanced research and collection of profiles and events of the struggle for liberation.” SAHO is also a winner of the National Institute of Humanities and Social Science Annual Award for digital Humanities.
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.
Women's Month 2020
09 August National Women's Day SA - Government hosts the National Women’s Day 2020 virtual celebration
Watch: Women's Day 2020 address by President Cyril Ramaphosa
National Women's Day is an annual public holiday in South Africa on August 9th.
If National Women's day falls on a Sunday, a public holiday will be observed on the following Monday.
The holiday commemorates the national march of women on this day in 1956 to petition against legislation that required African persons to carry the 'pass'.
The 'pass' was an identification document which restricted a black South African's freedom of movement under apartheid. the pass allowed them to enter 'white' areas. The 'pass' had come into force under the Urban Areas Act (commonly known as the pass laws) of 1950.
On August 9th 1956, 20,000 women staged a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against proposed amendments to the act. They left petitions containing more than 100,000 signatures at prime minister J.G. Strijdom's office door. They stood silently outside his door for 30 minutes.
The women then sang a protest song that was composed in honour of the occasion: Wathint'Abafazi Wathint'imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock.).
In the 60 years since the events of 1956, the phrase has come to represent women's courage and strength in South Africa.
National Women's Day was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1995.
In 2006 a reenactment of the march was staged for its 50th anniversary, with many of the 1956 march veterans attending.
The month of August is now dedicated to women and is marked by several government events such as a trade fair for women's crafts and a symposium on labour issues.
09 August International Day of the World's Indigenous People 2020
12 August International Youth Day 2020
19 August World Humanitarian Day 2020
21 August International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
22 August International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
23 August International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
29 August International Day against Nuclear Tests
30 August International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
31 August - 04 September Arbor Week 2020
If you are looking for forthcoming conferences, the following websites are helpful:
Author Maphalala, MC and Mpofu, N
Source : Gender and Behaviour, Volume 15 Number 2, 2017, p. 9216 - 9224
The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges of women academics in institutions of higher education as documented in the literature. Higher education institutions exist to produce knowledge, to disseminate knowledge through research and for community engagement. To achieve these purposes, academics in higher education institutions should freely interact and have access to knowledge. However, in South Africa as in the rest of the world, the social construct of gender, one of many social inequalities, is seen by researchers as either limiting or ...
A legal analysis of gender discrimination at the Nigerian and South African workplace - research
Author Animashaun, O
Source : Gender and Behaviour, Volume 17 Number 4, Nov 2019, p. 14258 - 14271
The issue of workplace discrimination based on gender is contentious in countries like Nigeria and South Africa, with many authors questioning the status quo that seems to favour a particular gender. There have also been arguments on the legal regime and anti-discriminatory laws best suited to address the observed gender inequality in Nigeria and South Africa. Thus, this article examines the adequacy of the laws promoting gender equality at the workplace in Nigeria and South Africa ..
