{"id":2337,"date":"2016-09-19T21:16:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T19:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=2337"},"modified":"2016-09-19T21:16:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T19:16:45","slug":"saco-research-library-filling-its-shelves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2016\/09\/19\/saco-research-library-filling-its-shelves\/","title":{"rendered":"SACO Research Library Filling Its Shelves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"the_saco_library_in_port_elizabeth_is_already_open_to_the_public_pic_by_paula_holmes\"<\/a>While South Africa lost an invaluable part of the collection of the law library at the University of KwaZulu-Natal\u2019s Howard College, this month, another one is steadily growing.<\/p>\n

The South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) has been building a digital and physical library to assist both staff and the public\u2019s research efforts on arts, culture, heritage and economics.<\/p>\n

SACO\u2019s primary objective is to advance applied research in the field of cultural information systems and to support existing or developing information networks by enhancing collaborative research projects between multidisciplinary teams.<\/p>\n

The SACO Knowledge Manager, Tazleen Jooste, says this developing library is central to the work the SACO does. \u201cThe library is critical because it will be the \u2018home\u2019 for all of the research produced by our staff and will, in future, be an accessible interactive database of knowledge and information for our target groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cA sound repository of information will generate trust and social capital so that there is confidence in cultural indicators and acceptance of public statistics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The library is growing at a pleasing rate, says Jooste.<\/p>\n

Both hard and soft copies of local and international texts have been acquired, and are readily available for use within the SACO headquarters in Port Elizabeth and online through the SACO website.<\/p>\n

The expanding collection includes: books, dissertations and theses, government publications, loose leaf publications, microforms and microfiches, music scores, non-print material, out of print material, pamphlets and serials.<\/p>\n

These resources have been sourced through generous donations, staff purchases, special requests and corporate acquisitions.<\/p>\n

Jooste believes that when it comes to the library\u2019s projected growth, the possibilities are limitless. \u201cWe would like to grow quite significantly, so putting a restriction on this wouldn\u2019t be just,\u201d she says. \u201cOur aim for this library is to have an abundance of resources available to practitioners and academics. Whether you want to know about the economic growth of the Arts, Culture and Heritage (ACH) sector or just the ratio of painters to sculptors is in South Africa, we want to have the source of this information readily on-hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SACO library is in no way trying to replace existing repositories of archival material. Rather, it aims to supplement such archives.<\/p>\n

Recently appointed librarian, Marlene Scharf, says a burgeoning library is good for everyone operating in the sector, and also supports SACO\u2019s strategic and facilitative role in raising public awareness of the importance of historical and archival records and collections on cultural activity and the cultural economy.<\/p>\n

While, the SACO library\u2019s resources are available to both staff and the public at large, it is a reference library and usage is restricted to the NMMU Missionvale campus and the SACO\u2019s Donkin Street Offices for now. Researchers are welcome to use the books within the SACO\u2019s resource centre but they must be returned before leaving.<\/p>\n

Plans are underway to digitize the library for wider access.<\/p>\n

The public are invited to browse available sources here: www.sacolibrary.co.za\/ActiveConnect\/default.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Alternatively, texts can be accessed via the documents library, which houses full documents for download. View the library here:
\nwww.southafricanculturalobservatory.co.za\/document-library<\/a><\/p>\n

About the South African Cultural Observatory<\/strong>
\nLed by the Department of Arts and Culture, the South African Cultural Observatory is a statistical research institute which charts the impact of the cultural and creative industries in South Africa. It does so through a range of innovative statistical methodologies, audits and research tools. The main purpose of the Cultural Observatory is the development of a comprehensive cultural information system which continuously captures cultural data and monitors and evaluates government initiatives in the sector.<\/p>\n

The Cultural Observatory is headquartered in Nelson Mandela Bay and hosted by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) on behalf of the Department of Arts and Culture, along with Rhodes University and the University of Fort Hare.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit www.southafricanculturalobservatory.co.za<\/a>. Alternatively connect with them on Twitter (twitter.com\/SACulturalObs<\/a>) using the #CountingCulture2016 and #SACO2016 hashtags.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Issued by The Famous Idea on behalf of The South African Cultural Observatory<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While South Africa lost an invaluable part of the collection of the law library at the University of KwaZulu-Natal\u2019s Howard College, this month, another one is steadily growing. The South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) has been building a digital and physical library to assist both staff and the public\u2019s research efforts on arts, culture, heritage… Continue reading SACO Research Library Filling Its Shelves<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}