Gravitational wave astronomy: a new window to the cosmos a new window to the cosmos
- Authors: Bishop, Nigel T
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:581 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018923
- Description: [Introduction] Since recorded history began, humankind has wondered about, and tried to understand, the Universe. Until about 400 years ago, the only tool available was the naked eye. In 1609 Galileo applied the new invention of the telescope to astronomy, and so opened a window to the cosmos. This window has been getting wider and clearer with every technological improvement. But always the medium bringing information about the Universe has been light, because radio waves, X-rays, gamma-rays etc. are light at different energies, or in other words different colours of light. But that is about to change. In a few years time we will have measured gravitational waves, and so will have opened a new window to the cosmos. And that window is very different to the one open to light in its various forms, because these are all emitted from the surface of an astronomical body. Gravitational waves are caused by the relative motion of matter, and as such are generated primarily in the deep interior of the body.
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- Authors: Bishop, Nigel T
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:581 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018923
- Description: [Introduction] Since recorded history began, humankind has wondered about, and tried to understand, the Universe. Until about 400 years ago, the only tool available was the naked eye. In 1609 Galileo applied the new invention of the telescope to astronomy, and so opened a window to the cosmos. This window has been getting wider and clearer with every technological improvement. But always the medium bringing information about the Universe has been light, because radio waves, X-rays, gamma-rays etc. are light at different energies, or in other words different colours of light. But that is about to change. In a few years time we will have measured gravitational waves, and so will have opened a new window to the cosmos. And that window is very different to the one open to light in its various forms, because these are all emitted from the surface of an astronomical body. Gravitational waves are caused by the relative motion of matter, and as such are generated primarily in the deep interior of the body.
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Jakes Gerwel (1946 to 2012): Humble intellectual, scholar and leader
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:7897 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016447
- Full Text:
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:7897 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016447
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Redressing apartheid's legacy of social exclusion: social equity, redress and admission to higher education in South Africa
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:7931 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016481
- Full Text:
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:7931 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016481
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Rhodes University Research Report 2013
- Rhodes University, Roberts, Jaine, Mantolo, Thumeka, Jacob, Patricia, Macgregor, Jill, Dore, Sally
- Authors: Rhodes University , Roberts, Jaine , Mantolo, Thumeka , Jacob, Patricia , Macgregor, Jill , Dore, Sally
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59330 , vital:27549
- Description: From Foreword by Dr Saleem Badat: Rhodes University has positioned itself as a research university that, alongside excellence in undergraduate teaching, also takes scholarship seriously. This has strongly shaped the intellectual identity of the university and, today, research income and expenditure are significant components of the university’s finances. Rhodes University values the scholar-teacher model of combining research with teaching and learning, and other scholarly activities. This has a strong influence on the quality of intellectual endeavour at the University, and is critical in advancing the University’s pursuit of a strong postgraduate trajectory. This is an opportunity to briefly reflect on research at Rhodes over the eight years of my Vice-Chancellorship. It is gratifying to see that scholarship and publishing has continued to blossom at Rhodes, and has also occurred over a wider academic base, and that there has also been increased enrolments of postgraduates, as part of overall University strategy. Postgraduate enrolments increased from 24% (1 397) in 2006 to 30% (2 302) in 2013, with considerable increases in the numbers of Masters and Doctoral students. Between 2006 and 2013, Honours and Postgraduate Diploma graduations increased from 453 to 719, Masters graduations increased by 73% (from 171 to 296) and Doctoral graduations by 70% (from 46 to 78). Concomitantly, there was an increase in the numbers of black and women PhD graduates. The number of Postdoctoral Fellows at Rhodes rose from 19 in 2007 to 68 in 2013, an increase of 258%. , A publication of the Rhodes University Research Office, compiled and edited by Jaine Roberts, Thumeka Mantolo, Patricia Jacob and Jill Macgregor. Design and Layout: Sally Dore
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- Authors: Rhodes University , Roberts, Jaine , Mantolo, Thumeka , Jacob, Patricia , Macgregor, Jill , Dore, Sally
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59330 , vital:27549
- Description: From Foreword by Dr Saleem Badat: Rhodes University has positioned itself as a research university that, alongside excellence in undergraduate teaching, also takes scholarship seriously. This has strongly shaped the intellectual identity of the university and, today, research income and expenditure are significant components of the university’s finances. Rhodes University values the scholar-teacher model of combining research with teaching and learning, and other scholarly activities. This has a strong influence on the quality of intellectual endeavour at the University, and is critical in advancing the University’s pursuit of a strong postgraduate trajectory. This is an opportunity to briefly reflect on research at Rhodes over the eight years of my Vice-Chancellorship. It is gratifying to see that scholarship and publishing has continued to blossom at Rhodes, and has also occurred over a wider academic base, and that there has also been increased enrolments of postgraduates, as part of overall University strategy. Postgraduate enrolments increased from 24% (1 397) in 2006 to 30% (2 302) in 2013, with considerable increases in the numbers of Masters and Doctoral students. Between 2006 and 2013, Honours and Postgraduate Diploma graduations increased from 453 to 719, Masters graduations increased by 73% (from 171 to 296) and Doctoral graduations by 70% (from 46 to 78). Concomitantly, there was an increase in the numbers of black and women PhD graduates. The number of Postdoctoral Fellows at Rhodes rose from 19 in 2007 to 68 in 2013, an increase of 258%. , A publication of the Rhodes University Research Office, compiled and edited by Jaine Roberts, Thumeka Mantolo, Patricia Jacob and Jill Macgregor. Design and Layout: Sally Dore
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RUL News, Quarter 1, 2013
- Authors: Rhodes Library Services
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:16125 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020860
- Description: [From Introduction] Message from Ujala: A new year is always welcomed as a time for new beginnings, new ideas, new considerations for continuity and sustainability - so too with the Rhodes University Library! In 2012 staff embraced wholeheartedly the exercise to identify the strategic focus areas for 2013-2015 and defining the organizational culture. I’m pleased to share the organizational plan and culture that will guide the RUL for the next three years. Introducing new students to the RUL is an exciting process as it gives us the opportunity to become familiar with and understand the evolving learning needs of the young student. We also need to assure new and returning students of certain constants within the Library. To this end, we have introduced the Personal Librarian programme for 1st year students, who through this initiative will be able to work consistently with a librarian to learn about and use the library resources optimally. Regular training sessions, offered by the faculty library teams, on how to access information, the use of databases and other eresources, Libguides, etc. are critical for a dynamic undergraduate learning experience. The RUL is committed to its ongoing support for research and making the RU research output visible. Digitisation of research outputs and the creation & management of institutional repositories at academic institutions have become the key ways of ensuring this visibility. The retrospective digitization of theses and dissertations, going back to the 1930s, is moving along consistently. Proper harvesting and metadata protocols will ensure the optimal visibility and access of these items. We also need to seriously consider the physical environment for a digitization unit within the library. This team has been enhanced by the placement of an intern who is being taught and exposed to a new skills set. The SEALS Consortium is a very successful example of collegiality and institutional collaboration. Whilst its primary goal is to ensure a stable shared library management system in the region, discussions have also commenced on how we may use this platform to enhance staff skills and development. The importance of benchmarking, standardization of skills sets and workplace development is critical for ensuring a cohort of strong professionals for succession planning in the region. To date, two workshops on Systems Librarianship and Skills Development were held. The aim was to understand how each institution is addressing these issues, what is the role of SEALs, and what should be addressed going forward. Task teams have been identified to continue the conversation on Systems Librarianship and the 21st Century academic librarian. I strongly believe that the success of an organization resides in the ability of its staff to give expression to their ideas, concerns and professional goals in alignment with the organisation’s goals and strategies. I’m confident that the RUL staff will succeed in this and collectively strengthen this dynamic organization in 2013
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- Authors: Rhodes Library Services
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:16125 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020860
- Description: [From Introduction] Message from Ujala: A new year is always welcomed as a time for new beginnings, new ideas, new considerations for continuity and sustainability - so too with the Rhodes University Library! In 2012 staff embraced wholeheartedly the exercise to identify the strategic focus areas for 2013-2015 and defining the organizational culture. I’m pleased to share the organizational plan and culture that will guide the RUL for the next three years. Introducing new students to the RUL is an exciting process as it gives us the opportunity to become familiar with and understand the evolving learning needs of the young student. We also need to assure new and returning students of certain constants within the Library. To this end, we have introduced the Personal Librarian programme for 1st year students, who through this initiative will be able to work consistently with a librarian to learn about and use the library resources optimally. Regular training sessions, offered by the faculty library teams, on how to access information, the use of databases and other eresources, Libguides, etc. are critical for a dynamic undergraduate learning experience. The RUL is committed to its ongoing support for research and making the RU research output visible. Digitisation of research outputs and the creation & management of institutional repositories at academic institutions have become the key ways of ensuring this visibility. The retrospective digitization of theses and dissertations, going back to the 1930s, is moving along consistently. Proper harvesting and metadata protocols will ensure the optimal visibility and access of these items. We also need to seriously consider the physical environment for a digitization unit within the library. This team has been enhanced by the placement of an intern who is being taught and exposed to a new skills set. The SEALS Consortium is a very successful example of collegiality and institutional collaboration. Whilst its primary goal is to ensure a stable shared library management system in the region, discussions have also commenced on how we may use this platform to enhance staff skills and development. The importance of benchmarking, standardization of skills sets and workplace development is critical for ensuring a cohort of strong professionals for succession planning in the region. To date, two workshops on Systems Librarianship and Skills Development were held. The aim was to understand how each institution is addressing these issues, what is the role of SEALs, and what should be addressed going forward. Task teams have been identified to continue the conversation on Systems Librarianship and the 21st Century academic librarian. I strongly believe that the success of an organization resides in the ability of its staff to give expression to their ideas, concerns and professional goals in alignment with the organisation’s goals and strategies. I’m confident that the RUL staff will succeed in this and collectively strengthen this dynamic organization in 2013
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RUL News, Quarter 3, 2013
- Authors: Rhodes Library Services
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:16124 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020859
- Description: [From Introduction] Message from Ujala: This has indeed been an extremely engaged period for all staff at the Rhodes University Library (RUL). In addition to ensuring the delivery of professional services to the Rhodes community, strategy development, quality of service, continuing professional development, human resources management and national professional engagement defines this period. The LibQual online library quality survey conducted during 13-31 August 2012 was a success, which surpassed our expectations. The comparison between the 2005 and 2012 results show a significant improvement in the perceptions of the RU community towards the quality of service, information resources and the library as place. This affirmed that the new Library building and Faculty Library liaison model are serving to locate the library positively in the academic endeavor. However while we savour these results, concerns have been raised about the lack of awareness and proper use of the wide array of electronic resources available. Therefore we will be focusing on a concerted marketing and training campaign to ensure that the subscription -based electronic resources are optimally used by the RU community, especially the academics. I wish to acknowledge the sterling and creative work of the team that led this project. This collection development & management workshop held on 17 September 2012 was attended by all professional library staff. The workshop was aimed at establishing an understanding of basic aspects of collection development & management, the supporting policy and guidelines, as well as the Information resources (IR) grant. The discussions took cognizance of the context in which the RUL functions as well as the various industry trends such as patron driven acquisition (PDA) and demand driven acquisition (DDA). As this is a key responsibility of librarians, it is critical to regularly revisit collection development patterns and trends to ensure the continued development of core balanced collections. The successful migration of the SEALS consortium libraries to the III SIERRA next generation library management system during September-October 2012 may be attributed to professional collaboration and collegiality. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the RU ITD especially Jonathan McKeown who together with Ms Allwright worked across time zones with the III team (US-based). The level of support and professionalism displayed is to be commended. By the end of November 2012 task teams were able to present their identified strategies to all staff. The e-Strategy, Staff Development, User Services and Marketing strategies, as well as the RUL Culture Statement will be collated into a single document that will be aligned to the RU Institutional Development Plan (IDP). The level of interaction, inclusion and participation augers well for taking these strategies forward in 2013 as staff were able to experience the dynamism of participative engagement. I wish to congratulate staff members for their various achievements during the course of 2012! I also wish to thank you for your willingness and openness to engage with the various ideas and processes proposed during this year. It has indeed been an exciting, challenging and fulfilling year which was made possible by your support and involvement. Happy holidays and best wishes for 2013!
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- Authors: Rhodes Library Services
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:16124 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020859
- Description: [From Introduction] Message from Ujala: This has indeed been an extremely engaged period for all staff at the Rhodes University Library (RUL). In addition to ensuring the delivery of professional services to the Rhodes community, strategy development, quality of service, continuing professional development, human resources management and national professional engagement defines this period. The LibQual online library quality survey conducted during 13-31 August 2012 was a success, which surpassed our expectations. The comparison between the 2005 and 2012 results show a significant improvement in the perceptions of the RU community towards the quality of service, information resources and the library as place. This affirmed that the new Library building and Faculty Library liaison model are serving to locate the library positively in the academic endeavor. However while we savour these results, concerns have been raised about the lack of awareness and proper use of the wide array of electronic resources available. Therefore we will be focusing on a concerted marketing and training campaign to ensure that the subscription -based electronic resources are optimally used by the RU community, especially the academics. I wish to acknowledge the sterling and creative work of the team that led this project. This collection development & management workshop held on 17 September 2012 was attended by all professional library staff. The workshop was aimed at establishing an understanding of basic aspects of collection development & management, the supporting policy and guidelines, as well as the Information resources (IR) grant. The discussions took cognizance of the context in which the RUL functions as well as the various industry trends such as patron driven acquisition (PDA) and demand driven acquisition (DDA). As this is a key responsibility of librarians, it is critical to regularly revisit collection development patterns and trends to ensure the continued development of core balanced collections. The successful migration of the SEALS consortium libraries to the III SIERRA next generation library management system during September-October 2012 may be attributed to professional collaboration and collegiality. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the RU ITD especially Jonathan McKeown who together with Ms Allwright worked across time zones with the III team (US-based). The level of support and professionalism displayed is to be commended. By the end of November 2012 task teams were able to present their identified strategies to all staff. The e-Strategy, Staff Development, User Services and Marketing strategies, as well as the RUL Culture Statement will be collated into a single document that will be aligned to the RU Institutional Development Plan (IDP). The level of interaction, inclusion and participation augers well for taking these strategies forward in 2013 as staff were able to experience the dynamism of participative engagement. I wish to congratulate staff members for their various achievements during the course of 2012! I also wish to thank you for your willingness and openness to engage with the various ideas and processes proposed during this year. It has indeed been an exciting, challenging and fulfilling year which was made possible by your support and involvement. Happy holidays and best wishes for 2013!
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The landscape holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask : perspectives of an environmental scientist
- Authors: Ellery, William F N
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018944
- Description: [From the text] Implicit in the title of my talk is the idea that the landscape has a voice – it "holds answers". Our understanding of landscapes depends on the questions we ask about their appearance and dynamics. What I love about the voice of landscapes is its gentle nature – it whispers. It's a seductive voice, inviting one to hear secrets. I have long been curious about the intimate language of landscapes and this has stemmed from a personal connection with nature from a very early age. My interests led me into the fields of ecology and geomorphology, both of which have allowed me to unravel some of these secrets. So, in tonight’s talk there are a number of narratives that form a part of my story. The first narrative is about science. It’s about how we uncover nature’s secrets and thus create new understanding.
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- Authors: Ellery, William F N
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018944
- Description: [From the text] Implicit in the title of my talk is the idea that the landscape has a voice – it "holds answers". Our understanding of landscapes depends on the questions we ask about their appearance and dynamics. What I love about the voice of landscapes is its gentle nature – it whispers. It's a seductive voice, inviting one to hear secrets. I have long been curious about the intimate language of landscapes and this has stemmed from a personal connection with nature from a very early age. My interests led me into the fields of ecology and geomorphology, both of which have allowed me to unravel some of these secrets. So, in tonight’s talk there are a number of narratives that form a part of my story. The first narrative is about science. It’s about how we uncover nature’s secrets and thus create new understanding.
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