Broadening e-access to resources at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)
Shaw, M. (2007). Broadening e-access to resources at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), in: Konjevic, S. et al. (2009). From treasures of the seas - To treasures of the Libraries: Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Meeting of the European Association of Aquatic Science Libraries and Information Centres (EURASLIC): Krimskoe Primor'e, Crimea, Ukraine, May, 2-4, 2007 [CD-ROM]. pp. 1-11 In: Konjevic, S. et al. (Ed.) (2009). From treasures of the seas - To treasures of the Libraries: Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Meeting of the European Association of Aquatic Science Libraries and Information Centres (EURASLIC): Krimskoe Primor'e, Crimea, Ukraine, May, 2-4, 2007 [CD-ROM]. Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas (IBBS): Sevastopol. 1 Cd-rom pp., more |  |
| Abstract | The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), located inGrahamstown, houses South Africa’s largest fish collection and a range of fisheries and biodiversity resources. SAIAB is a division of South Africa’s National Research Foundation and is affiliated to Rhodes University. Coinciding with the opening in March 2007 of the new storage facility for the National Fish Collection, the SAIAB Information Portal was launched to provide web-based access to six inter-linked categories of the Institute’s research resources. The first part of this paper focuses on the proposed widening of e-access to resources within SAIAB’s Margaret Smith Library, particularly its rare books collection and back issues of publications of the Institute. The rare books, which have been stored at SAIAB since the 1950s, have recently been fully catalogued, with possible plans for digitizing selected texts of specific value. A policy decision was made in 2006 to digitize all back issues of publications of the Institute, which date back to the 1950s, and to make them available via the website. In addition, it has been proposed that the SAIAB Library play a partnership role in the initiative to digitize freshwater African fisheries and aquaculture information, and to contribute this and otherAfrican material to the IAMSLIC Aquatic Commons. The second part of the paper outlines the newly created SAIAB Information Portal, a web-based tool for enabling access to SAIAB’s considerable research resources. Alongside the library window of the portal, five categories of resources are accessible electronically: the Fish Collection Database, the Image Collection, Biodiversity Informatics, Online GIS and Taxonomic Data. The steps taken to broaden e-access to SAIAB’s resources create the need for new training and skills as the SAIAB librarian promotes information literacy amongst researchers using the Institute’s facilities. |
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