Monthly Archives: November 2016

Request training

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This blog invites clients to request training on how to search the catalogue.

One of the benefits of becoming a member of The Technical Library is that each person is given a username and password to access The Technical Library catalogue. Each client is able to conduct their own searches for books, conference proceedings, journals and journal articles, and submit requests for these items.

It is the responsibility of the staff of The Technical Library to ensure that all clients know how to conduct these searches to that relevant information is retrieved.

Please contact Katinka van Straaten should you required training on how to search the catalogue.

This blog is written to promote the products and services offered by The Technical Library. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Debbie Lievaart

29th November 2016

Requests for information : Publication requests

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This blog explains the information supplied from conference proceedings and journals

Listed below are the types of publication requests (journal articles and conference papers) that are received :

  • The result of research requests conducted by library staff (either in-depth or a quick question) is often a list of references in bibliographic format from the library catalogue. Clients select the most relevant items they would like to receive in full text.
  • Clients submit single requests or a list of bibliographic references they would like to receive in full text. These are often references listed in published articles. The in-house journal collection includes mining, geology and metallurgy volumes going back to the early 1900s.
  • The library produces a monthly bulletin of new articles added to the library catalogue, which have been selected from paper and electronic journals or received on inter-library loan. Clients ask to receive copies of these articles.

Should any article or conference paper not be in the library collection, it can be requested on inter-library loan. There is a cost for this service.

Please contact Luke Ngubane for any publication requests.

Library jargon definition of the week

Adopted standard.  National standards organisations like the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), British Standards Institute (BSI), Deutsches Institut fur Normung (DIN) or the American National Standards Institute are members of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

As members of ISO and the IEC, these national organisations have the option of adopting any international standard as a standard from their country. These are then republished as SABS ISO (for example SABS ISO 9000), or BS IEC or BS ISO/IEC, and are referred to as an adopted standard.

This weekly blog is written promoting the products and services of The Technical Library. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Debbie Lievaart

14th November 2016

Requests for information : Quick questions

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This blog explains the quick reference enquiry

Should you need the answer to a question, don’t forget that the library staff are available to research it for you. A quick question takes less than ten minutes to answer. Library staff use their network of resources and their searching skills to find these answers.

The Technical Library’s web page contains several links which could answer your quick question.

  • Under the ‘Team‘ tab are email links to library staff who will tell you how to renew a book or journal on loan, how to request an article or book, how to request in-depth research or alerts and how to request training
  • Under the ‘Useful Links’ tab are links to a currency converter website, the Infomine Technical Dictionary, some Legislation and Mine Safety websites.
  • The ‘Marketing Videos’ tab leads you to our very popular YouTube videos.

Contact Katinka van Straaten whenever you need a quick (work-related) question answered.

Library jargon definition of the week

Peer reviewed journal/journal article. The goal of peer review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication. The article is submitted to impartial experts for review. The manuscript is checked for accuracy, and the research methodology and procedures are validated. In this way, articles that are accepted for publication in peer reviewed journals are of a very high standard.

This blog is written promoting the products and services of The Technical Library. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Debbie Lievaart

4th November 2016