Ms. Veliswa Tshetsha, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa, presented on South Africa on Thursday, October 20, 2016 in the MuntiPurpose Room. Her presentation began with discussion of the eleven official languages, the South African freedom movement, public holidays, and heritage sites that were established as a result of political movements. She spoke of South African political history, student movements in the 1970s, and the current turmoil in higher education in South Africa. Veli explained her strong motivation to visit VT, which, besides being her first visit to the USA, is also based on CPUT’s need to advance library research support necessary for the expansion of scholarly communication (SC) in the university. Veli’s talk was wide-ranging, covering topics Open Journal System (OJS), editors, students, coding opportunities, Open Educational Resources (OER), Copyright, Creative Commons, Researcher profiles, SC, Open Access (OA), Impact/Altmetrics, and SC Literacy Curriculum.
Professor Gail McMillan, Director of Scholarly Communication, designed an intensive program for Veliswa to experience every aspect of our program. Gail mentors our South African visiting scholar several times a week. Members of the team got together and threw Veli a “covered dish” lunch, an American custom in which every participant brings a favorite food to contribute to a communal meal. Many folks have extended a heartfelt Hokie welcome to Veli, such as Jana Doyle for making her downstairs apartment available again this year, Inga Hausen for sharing her office, and Anita Walz for making arrangements for Veli to attend the Open Education Conference in Richmond.
Steve Tatum and Paul Hover meeting Veliswa Tshetsha at Roanoke Airport on Saturday, October 15. Although the flight was very long, Veli, as her friends call her, was elated to be in America!
Attendees at Veli’s first of two presentations, entitled “South African Perspectives.” Her second presentation, delivered a week later as part of VT’s Open Access Week, had as topic “Access to Research in South Africa.”
Veli explained that the Zulu ethnic group comprised the majority in South Africa, closely followed by her own Xhosa. The two languages, members of the Bantu language group, are closely related.
Our 3rd speaker in the Destination Areas Global Speakers Series, Robbie Fried, is a VT grad who is building a business in China, and expanding rapidly. Entitled ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM: SCALING A BUSINESS IN CHINA AND BEYOND, the event takes place Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7:00pm. See you there!
Veliswa Tshetsha, VT’s second visiting South African librarian scholar, hosted by Research & Informatics / Scholarly Communication Department
Ms. Veliswa Tshetsha, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa, presented on South Africa on Thursday, October 20, 2016 in the MuntiPurpose Room. Her presentation began with discussion of the eleven official languages, the South African freedom movement, public holidays, and heritage sites that were established as a result of political movements. She spoke of South African political history, student movements in the 1970s, and the current turmoil in higher education in South Africa. Veli explained her strong motivation to visit VT, which, besides being her first visit to the USA, is also based on CPUT’s need to advance library research support necessary for the expansion of scholarly communication (SC) in the university. Veli’s talk was wide-ranging, covering topics Open Journal System (OJS), editors, students, coding opportunities, Open Educational Resources (OER), Copyright, Creative Commons, Researcher profiles, SC, Open Access (OA), Impact/Altmetrics, and SC Literacy Curriculum.
Professor Gail McMillan, Director of Scholarly Communication, designed an intensive program for Veliswa to experience every aspect of our program. Gail mentors our South African visiting scholar several times a week. Members of the team got together and threw Veli a “covered dish” lunch, an American custom in which every participant brings a favorite food to contribute to a communal meal. Many folks have extended a heartfelt Hokie welcome to Veli, such as Jana Doyle for making her downstairs apartment available again this year, Inga Hausen for sharing her office, and Anita Walz for making arrangements for Veli to attend the Open Education Conference in Richmond.
By HaveLanguageWillTravel • 1. International Students & Faculty, 2. Strategic Global Collaborations, 3. International Events, 4. Global Opportunities, 5. International Librarians 0