This slideshow presents an image-based overview of the Carnegie Research Commons at Stellenbosch University including reference to the concepts, context, facilities, services, activities, staff and general aspects related to the facility located in the JS Gericke Library, Stellenbosch.

1. Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service
CARNEGIE RESEARCH COMMONS
11/02/15

2. RESEARCH COMMONS
11/02/15
layout

3. RESEARCH COMMONS
timeline
•
•
•
•
Stellenbosch University joins the RLC - 2009
•
Co-incided with Hope Project
Construction completed – January 2011
Soft opening – March 2011
Official opening - 10 May 2011
and strong strategic
shift to research orientation
11/02/15

4. RESEARCH COMMONS
national context
Pertinent documents:
• 1997 White Paper on Higher Education Transformation
• 2001 National Plan for Higher Education
• 2012 Green paper for post-school education and
training
• 2012 NPC – Vision 2030
Goals include:
• Increased targets for high publication output rate
• Increased enrolment in science, engineering and
technology
• Increased enrollment Masters and doctoral enrolments
• Increase number of HE permanent staff with doctoral
degrees
11/02/15

5. RESEARCH COMMONS
institutional context
• Research Policy of Stellenbosch University (2008) &
Strategic Plan for the Environment of the VR (Research)
(2009)
• Commitment to National System of Innovation and
Government Research Agenda
Specific goals :
• reduce ratio between undergrad and postgrad
• increased through-put rate
• half the completion time of masters & doctoral
• increased numbers of PhDs
• increased research output
11/02/15

6. THE RESEARCH
landscape is changing
• Problem-orientated
• Application-based
• Team-driven, partnership-based
• Multi-disciplinary, Interdisciplinary Transdisciplinary
• Heterogeneous, multi-cited
• Awareness of impact
• Social useful
• Beyond peer-review
• Data driven
11/02/15

7. strategic action
plans
RESEARCH COMMONS
2013
• Continuously develop a step-by-step guide as a
virtual generic training programme for consultation
and self-study
• Grow collaboration with cognate service divisions to
solicit services that support postgraduate throughput
• Provide research excellence seminars to enhance the
research skills of postgraduate students
11/02/15

8. RESEARCH COMMONS
service alignment
Institutional Repository
•Electronic theses and dissertations
•Open Access
•Publishing of online journals
Research Performance Management
•SciVal Experts
Informations Services
Digitisation and digital services
11/02/15

9. RESEARCH COMMONS
fundamentals
What
•High-level support, high-
facility
•Exclusive for masters, doctoral
and academic staff (card access)
Why
•Improve through-put
•Enhance output
How
•Provide a conducive space for research productivity, collaboration
and scholarly dialogue
11/02/15

10. RESEARCH COMMONS
holistic
The Research Commons takes
a holistic approach to
supporting research students
and staff by offering space,
services, facilities, equipment,
skills development, social and
emotional support as well as
access to other campus
support units
11/02/15
in one location

11. RESEARCH COMMONS
hours
Semester:
Mon-Th 08:00-22:00
Fri
Sat
11/02/15
08:00-18:30
10:00-16:30

12. RESEARCH COMMONS
facilities
• 33 individual study carousels
• 4 discussion rooms
• video-conferencing
• relaxation area; coffee
• wireless
• Laptops; ipads; recording
device; headphones
11/02/15

13. RESEARCH COMMONS
utilities
• Printing
• Scanning
• Photocopying
11/02/15

14. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
•
•
•
•
video conferencing
Free of charge, Polycom based
Meetings (CSIR, reading circles), ethical committees
PhD defenses
Meetings with supervisors
Fundamentally supports research networking and dialogue
11/02/15

15. RESEARCH COMMONS
lockers
Bring your own
lock and use a
locker on a day to
day basis
11/02/15

16. RESEARCH COMMONS
computers
Desktops are
standardised to
allow remote
management and
updating of
software
11/02/15

17. RESEARCH COMMONS
seminar rooms
Room 1: 12 seats, laptop, plasma, white board
Available for research groups, workshops, seminars,
training, defense of thesis, max booking: full day
Room 2: 10 seats, laptop, white board, video-conference,
Polycom system (internet connection per IP address), free
of charge
Seminar room 3 & 4: 4-6 seats, laptop, plasma, white
board. Available for consultations with faculty librarians or
other research support services, group work, discussions.
Bookings: 3 hours
11/02/15

18. RESEARCH COMMONS
style
• High quality – expression of
respect and value of researchers
• Architects:
Visser Kapperer De Bruin
• Style: Afro Chic
“African style meets couture with elegant
feathers, detailed textiles, bold shapes, and
refined colour”
• Indigenous South African
designs, furniture and fabric
11/02/15

19. RESEARCH COMMONS
inspiration
Artwork:
•Winter, Spring, and Rain - Larry
Scully (1922-2002)
•How do I know - Renee le Roux
•Rasputin's Blue Roses - Christo
Coetzee
•African Sentinel - Sculpture by
Eduardo Villa (1915-2011)
11/02/15

20. RESEARCH COMMONS
staff
Senior librarian (Lucia)
•
RLC Academy participant, 2010
•
USA Intern 2011
Librarian (Marié)
•
Marié
Lucia
RLC Academy participant, 2010
Peer-assistance
•
Six masters and doctoral
students with research
experience – work in shifts
http://library.sun.ac.za/eng/Researc
11/02/15
Assistant
h_Commons/Team.html

21. RESEARCH COMMONS
consultations
Individual consultations with
library experts and beyond
arranged on request
•Faculty librarians
•Writing laboratory
•Scholarly communications
11/02/15

22. RESEARCH COMMONS
11/02/15
relaxing area

23. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
collaboration
Writing lab
Postgraduate & Internat. Office
Research Development
Centre for Statistical Consultation
Information Technology
Centre for Teaching and Learning
Community Interaction
Members form Research Support
11/02/15
Forum and meet quarterly

24. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
workshops
New! Your research footprint:
tracking and enhancing scholarly
and scientific impact
•
New! Finding sources for your
literature review: an advanced guide
for masters and doctoral students
•
•
New! Manage your author rights
New! Optimise your research
visibility
11/02/15
http://library.sun.ac.za/English/aboutus/news/events/Pages/training-postgrads.aspx

25. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
workshops
Choose the right research method for your project using SAGE
Research Methods Online (SRMO)
•
•
•
Copyright issues in theses and dissertation writing
Creating alerts to stay up to date in your discipline
How can Open Access increase the citation rate of my
publications?
•
•
•
Finding government statistics
Finding full-text easily
Making important decisions about publishing your research
11/02/15

26. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
•
•
workshops
An overview and comparison of free reference managers
Storing and sharing large files
Submitting your thesis/dissertation/articles to SUNScholar
11/02/15

27. RESEARCH COMMONS
social hour
15 min research-related talk
cheese and wine
Opportunity for dialogue,
discussion and interaction
Inspirational, motivating
11/02/15

28. 28
Social hour 23 Sept 2011

29. RESEARCH COMMONS
lectures
 Invited lectures by distinguished
researchers and visiting scholars
 Opportunity to share
research/knowledge and inspire
young researchers
… to be established
11/02/15

30. RESEARCH COMMONS
research café
One hour weekly social hour during which
coffee is served free of charge and RC users
are encouraged to get to know each other
and the librarians
… to be established
11/02/15

31. RESEARCH COMMONS
usage
May 2013
•Gate count: 7315
•Approx. 10% unique visitors (626)
•Bookings for seminar rooms: 76
•Queries: approx. 212 per month
•Coffee consumption: 875 cups
•Average occupation of computer
workstations: optimal
11/02/15

32. RESEARCH COMMONS
enquiries
Average number of enquiries per day 10-15
•Technical (computers, printing, username/passwords,
troubleshooting.)
•General (Refworks, referencing, Turnitin/plagiarism,
short catalogue and database searches, room bookings,
card access, coffee machine; lost items; enforcing good
conduct)
•Other: technical editing of thesis, reference
techniques, translation, etc.
•Subject/Information searches are handled by faculty
librarians
11/02/15

33. RESEARCH COMMONS
expertise
Connecting researchers with skills, information and facilities
•Troubleshooting
•Bibliographic management and reference techniques
•Technical guidelines for thesis writing
•Skype / video-conferencing facilities
•Editing, proofreading, translation contacts
•Document preparation
•Where to find assistance with ethical clearance procedures;
copyright procedures; high performance computing facilities;
specialised instrumentation (Central Analytical Facility)
•Where to find statistical assistance; equipment & devices for
research; find funding / scholarships information, etc.
11/02/15

34. RESEARCH COMMONS
Topics include
•Research process
•Research methods
•Scientific writing skills
•Reference techniques
•Data collection
•Statistical analysis
•Dictionaries
11/02/15
•Etc.
collection

35. RESEARCH COMMONS
11/02/15
new books

36. RESEARCH COMMONS
11/02/15
brochures

37. RESEARCH SUPPORT
Libguides
The research process
Steps in the research process – Description of the step,
useful reading, services & tools
User guide for postgraduates and researchers
Includes virtual networking spaces (SNSs) and tools and
applications
Where to publish your research article
Covers traditional publication, Open Access and Subsidy
information
Bibliometrics and citation analysis

38. RESEARCH COMMONS
• Newsletter
• Blog – Research Expressions
• Contributions to Postgrad
and International Office
• Newsletter
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Website
• Flyers
• Display brochures / books
Marketing

39. RESEARCH COMMONS
News
Electronic distribution to regular users (concept design)

40. RESEARCH COMMONS
value
The Library sees the
Research Commons’ role in
increasing research output
and improving throughput as
influential.
The problem is – how do we
demonstrate this?
11/02/15

41. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
feedback
Thank you for extra work space in
separate room!
The new Research Commons
motivates you to come here and DO
your work. Thank you! Baie dankie!
Great initiative!
Step up and unto the know ledge
Good coffee!!
Love the red couch
Oh orange chair, thank you for loving
my back…
This place is extraordinary
I LOVE the Research Commons
Thank you so much for the
stationary, really helpful, I LOVE this
place

42. RESEARCH COMMONS
• Suggestions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
focus group
and services required (29 Sept 2011)
Technical aspects of theses
Troubleshooting
Latex
Converting chapter of theses to article
Bibliographic tools – Refworks, Mendeley, Endnote,
Zotero
Facebook
Notice board
Add reference books
Upgrade wifi
Add desks / Do not add desks

43. RESEARCH COMMONS
11/02/15
website

44. recent and
planned initiatives
RESEARCH COMMONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increase works space
Communication with regular user
Banner
Touch Screen bulletin/display boards
Usage analysis (by faculty)
More events
New workshops
User assessment

45. RESEARCH COMMONS
•
Lack of display equipment (physical and
electronic)
•
•
•
Soundproofing
IT support
Need more research specific
software
•
concerns
Wifi

46. RESEARCH SUPPORT
challenges
• Research support charter
• Optimise service model (liaison vs specialisation ito
bibliometrics, scholarly communications support, etc.)
• Definition of research support
• Differentiation of services - PhD, masters, supervisors
• Data support
• Unique author identification
• Optimise SciVal Experts, Scopus, Web of Science, etc.

47. Thank you
11/02/15