SAJS: Land-cover change puts biodiversity at risk August 12, 2010
Posted by Andrea in : SAJS, Uncategorized , add a commentLand-cover transformation poses one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity and, in light of extensive land-cover change, protected areas are often viewed as a ‘Noah’s Ark’ for conservation. However, there has been growing awareness that formally protected area systems are failing to protect global biodiversity effectively.
Conservation initiatives have had to look beyond reserve fences, to the actual management of the surrounding landscape, to enhance the functioning of protected areas. Land-cover transformation beyond the borders of the protected areas may have potentially devastating impacts on the ongoing conservation efforts undertaken within these, should it continue unchecked. (more…)
Women still under-represented in S&T, is consensus at TWOWS Conference July 12, 2010
Posted by Andrea in : International Relations, Liaison , add a commentRepresentatives from the South African chapter of the Third World Organisation for Women in Science (TWOWS) attended the TWOWS Fourth General Assembly and International Conference on “Women Scientists in a Changing World”, which was held in Beijing, China on the 27-30 June 2010. (more…)
SciELO SA is growing! June 10, 2010
Posted by Louise in : Open Access Scholarly Publishing , add a comment
The Scholarly Publishing Unit of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is happy to report that four more journal titles are in the process of being added to the SciELO SA Open Access platform! They are:
- Psychology in Society (PINS)
- South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (SAJIP)
- South African Journal of Animal Science (SAJAS)
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension (SAJAE).
This will bring the total number of journals on the SciELO SA platform to eleven titles. ASSAf is continually negotiating with the editors of prestigious South African journals regarding placing their titles on this platform.
To date, 1064 articles have been added to the SciELO SA collection. According to Google Analytics, the SciELO SA site has been visited 14, 830 times by 163 countries and 2 112 cities between 10 May 2010 and 9 June 2010. At present, the countries accessing SciELO SA the most are South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, India, Germany, Canada and China.
SciELO Brazil visits ASSAf June 8, 2010
Posted by Louise in : Uncategorized , add a comment
- Working out who will win the World Cup?
Front: Roberta Takenaka, Louise van Heerden and Solange Santos
Two representatives from SciELO Brazil Solange Santos (the SciELO supervisor) and Roberta Takenaka (SciELO System Analyst) visited ASSAf from 24 May to 2 June 2010 for SciELO IT and SciELO workflow training. The following Scholarly Publishing staff attended the training: Tawanda December (Systems and Database Manager); Louise van Heerden (Metadata Librarian) and Zweli Ndayi (Project Officer). The training has enabled the SciELO-team to understand the SciELO network and how it is set up; as well as the SciELO methodology, including the markup and conversion of articles and sending them to the public SciELO site.
The SciELO SA and SciELO Brazil teams will work in parallel for a few months.
What’s in a name? The naming of Australopithecus sediba May 10, 2010
Posted by Alan in : SAJS, Uncategorized , 1 comment so farProf Alan Morris, UCT; Associate Editor of SAJS
The first person to describe a new fossil gets the rights to name it. This has got be done at the time of the first publication as the privilege is not retrospect. Hesitate and someone else will pip you at the post. The payout is pretty impressive because the once the fossil has been named, the name is there forever with your priority stamped all over it in Latin.
But not everything in the name game is about priority and bragging rights. The whole system of classification is an art, not a science, and the choice of name tells you as much about the researcher as it does about the fossil. (more…)
Science Education in SA May 4, 2010
Posted by Diane in : Projects , 2commentsProf Diane Grayson, Committee Member, ASSAf STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education Committee
South Africa can never produce enough scientists, engineers and technologists until the quality of science education offered at schools improves. The factor that affects this quality the most is the quality of teaching. This, is turn, is affected by the school environment and available resources. But most of all it is affected by teachers’ understanding of the subject matter and how to teach it effectively, sometimes called content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). (more…)
World Bank group announces that it opens data to all April 28, 2010
Posted by Andrea in : International Relations, Liaison , add a commentThe following announcement has been made by the World Bank, and might be of interest. Click here to read the complete announcement on the World Bank website.
Development Indicators, and Global Economic Monitor are now free, open, and easy to access at data.worldbank.org.
Recognizing that transparency and accountability are essential to development, the World Bank Group now provides free, open, and easy access to its comprehensive set of data on living standards around the globe – some 2,000 indicators, including hundreds that go back 50 years. The data is available in Arabic, French, and Spanish in addition to English. (more…)
Securing the Humanities in an Age of Failing Economics April 7, 2010
Posted by Peter in : Humanities and Education Studies, Projects, Uncategorized , add a commentProf Peter Vale, Co-Chair, ASSAf Consensus Panel on the Humanities
From almost every corner of the Anglophone world, the complaint is the same: “The Humanities are under threat”. I use the qualifier because, sadly, my ability to access other language worlds – beyond the Dutch-Afrikaans link – is limited.*
The question is what is to be done to recover and revive the Humanities?
Research and deliberations into ASSAf’s own Consensus Report on the Humanities in South Africa is well under way and the hope is to issue a preliminary report in late October, 2010. My own view of this issue is framed by an understanding of political economy – the rise of neo-liberal economics has emphasized economic growth and efficiency and, in this particular universe, the Humanities have no place ( the State of Science in South Africa, pg 210). This is a fallacy, of course. Take the creation of jobs. In this country alone, right now, one of the strongest areas of economic growth is Afrikaans cultural production – most of this is both creates jobs and pushes economic growth. (more…)
Role of libraries in research March 24, 2010
Posted by Zweli in : Events, Humanities and Education Studies, Open Access Scholarly Publishing , add a commentSouth African Library Week 2010 will be celebrated from 22 – 27 March 2010 with the theme: “Reading changes lives“. SALW2010 was launched on Saturday 20 March at the National Library of South Africa to coincide with the date of the declaration of the first public library in South Africa in 1818.
The Academy is made up of researchers wanting to benefit society through their research. Libraries play a crucial role in this endeavour.
During Library Week we acknowledge the role that libraries play in the production of research. Whereas the internet at large provides general information resources, libraries provide authoritative information resources such as books, journals and access to academic electronic resources. Click here to read more about SALW2010.
Earth Hour March 23, 2010
Posted by Zarina in : Uncategorized , add a commentOn the 27 March 2010 at 8:30pm, the world will yet again be celebrating Earth Hour. Earth Hour is a global movement that encourages people to switch off their lights for one hour, in support of action against climate change. In 2009 it is estimated that approximately 1 million South Africans participated in the event, which resulted in an energy saving of approximately 400MW.
‘It’s also a saving of 400 tons of carbon dioxide, 224 tons of coal and some 576 kilolitres of water’, says Dr Steve Lennon, Eskom’s MD for corporate services. If more people pledge to switch off their lights this year and maybe even their geyers, which consume more energy, imagine the amount of not only energy but also water and other resources we can save. It can be a small stepping stone to creating awareness for achieving Low Carbon Cities in our country. For more information please see http://www.earthhour.org.za
