Page 29 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

established in the Department of National Education (DNE) to manage all governmental libraries. Staff were appointed and remunerated by the DNE in order to improve their professional standing. During this period the library kept
ONDERSTEPOORT 100
a high level and decisions could be taken quickly. Such a supervisor was also in contact with the researchers and could communicate their needs and monitor whether they were
a filing system separate from that of the Institute. Both these files and those that are still available at the Department of Agriculture, only provide information since 1958.
“During a physical re-organisation project in the 1980s, it was decided to divide the library’s book collection into ‘dead’ and ‘live’ subject classes and to shelve it accordingly, but from scratch it was alarmingly clear that such an arbitrary selection was not foolproof...”
taken care of. At other times the Institute had a manager of all support services, including the library. Before the Faculty became independent from the Institute, the information collected covered a wider scope than just diseases. Literature on disciplines such as obstetrics and gynaecology, sur- gery, radiology, anatomy and others was procured until 1972. Thereafter, there was little or no growth in these classes as re- flected on the bookshelves. The scope of the Institute was thereafter limited to mainly microbiological and parasitological disciplines, toxicology being an exception: the book, Plant Poisonings and Myco- toxicoses of Livestock in Southern Africa by T.S. Kellerman, J.A.W. Coetzer and T.W. Naudé (Cape Town: Oxford University Press,
The Onderstepoort librarian reported to
the Chief Librarian of that department, with
its various names over the decades. The DNE
era brought standardization throughout the
Public Service. The Onderstepoort librarian
reported to another trained librarian and
professionally trained librarians became
available in each library as time went by.
DNE’s programme of continuing education
courses for librarians further enhanced the
quality of service delivery. One drawback of
this dispensation was that the budget of
each library was not managed by the DNE. Instructions from the DNE with financial implications were not always welcomed by the local supervisor appointed by the Institute. In fact at times the librarian was caught between opposing opinions on more than just financial matters.
Southern Africa, 1988) was the major contribution to South African veterinary literature in this era.
During a physical re-organisation project in the 1980s, it was decided to divide the library’s book collection into ‘dead’ and ‘live’ subject classes and to shelve it accordingly. The dead classes were moved to the room occupied by staff, in order to minimize interference between browsers and other library users. Some of the classes that were only in the domain of the
The local supervision structure at Onderstepoort varied. Most of the time the librarian reported to the Deputy Director: Research. This was a very sound set-up as reporting was on
Asignificant event during this era was the severance of the Faculty from the Institute in 1973. Little could be established regarding library service to undergraduate students before this separation. Anna du Plessis reported that few undergraduate students used the library during her term. The ‘veteran veterinarians’ consulted confirmed that
they did not often use the library as students even though some service was also provided by the Merensky Library of the University of Pretoria. There was a so-called ‘hostel library’ and there are catalogue cards bearing an inscription in this regard. The present faculty library owns books bearing stamps of the institute library, altered in ink to ‘Pta Univ’ and ‘OP Hostel’. It seems that the latter library was mainly recreational, but also contained a few books from the Institute’s library. There is no indication that a fully-fledged branch library for the Faculty existed before 1973.
Another ‘library’ to be mentioned is the one at the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Laboratory. This entity has maintained a reading room since its inception. It houses a reprint collection, some books and other publications. Journals on circulation from the Institute’s library are displayed and administered by an official library liaison officer, by lack of a better name. Some other research divisions have similar set-ups, but FMD is the closest that we have to an officially recognized branch library. During the period when the FMD Laboratory was an independent Onderstepoort Institute for Exotic Diseases, it paid the Onderstepoort library for services rendered.
119
OVI Library
1908-2008
Years