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Rhodes University Library Library and Information Services (LIS) Strategic Plan (2020 -2022)

- Danster, Nomawethu

Authors: Danster, Nomawethu
Date: 2020
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/155082 , vital:39852
Description: The Rhodes University Library strategic plan 2020 - 2022 is informed by the 2020 Academic Library standards developed by the Committee of Higher Education Libraries in South Africa (CHELSA), a coalition of all 26 Higher Education Libraries in South Africa. The standards seek to advance the role of academic libraries as partners to the teaching, learning and research endeavors of South African higher education institutions. The framework is further influenced by the principles as laid down by the 2018 National Policy for Library and Information Services (LIS) in South Africa which seeks to promote and develop the LIS Sector to contribute to the development of a responsive, responsible, and deliberative informed and reading nation. The Strategy is aligned to the Rhodes University (RU) Institutional Development Plan (2018 -2022) and the seven (7) RU goals outlined in the 2020 RU Annual Performance Plan. The seven RU goals are premised from the two most important documents that define the academic project; the RU Institutional Development Plan (IDP) and transformation imperatives document, the RU Institutional Transformation Plan (ITP). The Strategy is made up of the four strategic elements; the overall RU Vision and Mission, the LIS Purpose Statement, Values, Broad Focus Areas (BFAs)and Key Performance Areas (KPAs) that are all aligned to the seven (7) RU goals. Both the vision and mission are derived from the institutional IDP. The LIS further developed purpose statement, values, developed the BFAs and KPAs that translated to action plans and activities that form the Annual Operating Plan for the LIS.
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Date Issued: 2020

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The weak to strong state involvement and political accountability levels schema

- Mbatha, Cyril N, Mkize, N N

Authors: Mbatha, Cyril N , Mkize, N N
Date: 2020
Subjects: South Africa -- Socio-economic development South Africa -- Politics
Language: English
Type: text , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165364 , vital:41237
Description: The propositionis that socio-economic development from local to national levels often straddles at least four pathways that are driven by two main variables:the relative strength or weakness of (1) state (and government) involvementin the management of public affairs and resources and (2) the mechanisms for ensuring political accountability. The four pathways, with associated attributes, have presented opportunities or challenges that have promoted or collapsed the sustainable economic development of many post-colonial countries. Using the two main variables we can locate different countries in distinct categories (quadrants) across a two-dimensional Cartesianplane, with state involvement on the Y-axis and state and government accountability to citizens on the X-axis.
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Date Issued: 2020

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A cohort analysis of subjective wellbeing and ageing: heading towards a midlife crisis

- Otterbach, Steffen, Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, Moller, Valerie

Authors: Otterbach, Steffen , Sousa-Poza, Alfonso , Moller, Valerie
Date: 2018
Subjects: Aging -- Social aspects Gerontology
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65401 , vital:28782 , ISBN 978086810641
Description: In this paper, we analyse how different domains of subjective wellbeing evolve within seven years in three different cohorts born 10 years apart. On average, general life satisfaction – as well as satisfaction with leisure time, social contacts and friends, and family – declines substantially between the ages of 15 and 44, with the most significant decrease taking place at a young age (early 20s). Nevertheless, trajectories among the three cohorts differ markedly, indicating that, ceteris paribus, responses on subjective wellbeing differ greatly between cohorts born just a decade apart. The results further indicate that the two older cohorts assess family life and social contacts more favourably than the youngest cohort.
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Date Issued: 2018

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The Confessions and Professions of an Accidental Academic

- Garman, Anthea

Authors: Garman, Anthea
Date: 2018
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150908 , vital:39016
Description: [Introduction] A series of accidents brought me to this place today where I get to address those who’ve become an important part of my life about what my life’s work means and adds up to. Many people don’t get such an opportunity, but the academic community believes in the values of history and reflection, so such an opportunity is afforded to me, and I count myself fortunate (and a little bit terrified) to have it. Those accidents (which I will talk about a little more) have meant that I have had a whole career (as a journalist) before I became an academic and so I am a little older perhaps than most professors standing in the same spot. I am close-ish to the ending of this career and I intend to have another one (as a fully-fledged writer) before I finish altogether. What I want to talk about are thedeep preoccupations of my life which are: the personal and the political, talk and listening,and of course, writing.
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Date Issued: 2018

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Inequality, social comparisons and minimum income aspirations: Evidence from South Africa

- Posel, Dorrit, Rogan, Michael

Authors: Posel, Dorrit , Rogan, Michael
Date: 2017
Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59510 , vital:27621 , ISBN 9780868106359 , DOI 10.21504/10962/59509
Description: We investigate the formation of minimum income aspirations in South Africa, a country with high rates of poverty together with very high and rising rates of inequality. A number of empirical studies in both developed and developing countries have shown that income aspirations increase with the individual’s own income and with the income of others in their community, relationships which are explained by processes of adaptation through habituation and social comparison. However, the relationship between income aspirations and inequality has received far less empirical attention. We analyse the minimum income question (MIQ) asked in nationally representative household survey from 2008/2009 to test for evidence of aspirations failure among the poor in South Africa, and to investigate whether high levels of local inequality dampen or stimulate minimum income aspirations, and particularly among those living in poverty.
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Date Issued: 2017

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Rhodes University Library Report for the period 2015-2016 : maintaining the scholarly heartbeat in a time of disruption

- Satgoor, Ujala

Authors: Satgoor, Ujala
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54313 , vital:26455
Description: Disruption has been one of the key drivers for the reshaping of academic libraries over the years. New technologies; high cost of information resources and dwindling budgets; changing user profiles, learning styles and needs; demand for alignment to institutional imperatives and a demonstration of value to the academic project; new roles and new competencies for staff are identified as key disruptors for academic libraries. By adopting strategic thinking and strategic planning, academic libraries embrace disruption easily and become more adept to change. The Rhodes University Library (RUL) is guided by a Strategic Plan (2013-2015) which was adopted in 2012. This Plan takes into cognisance the trends and developments impacting academic libraries with specific reference to the librarian’s role in research, undergraduate student success, information literacy, new roles and competencies for librarians, and the library as place within the academic context. Therefore, the challenges presented by load-shedding and the #RUReferencelist, #Rapeculture and #Feesmustfall protests during 2015 and 2016 were seen as opportunities to review processes, reconsider and adapt practices and services through a participatory process of discussions and engagements. The RUL’ culture of learning and exposure to best practices and innovative thinking has been carefully nurtured to empower staff for optimal personal, institutional and user benefit. This report therefore highlights through its various strategies how the RUL has shaped itself within the context of national and local disruptions and added value to the teaching, learning and research endeavours of the University during 2015 and 2016.
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Date Issued: 2017

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Spatial differences in stunting and household agricultural production in South Africa:(re)-examining the links using national panel survey data

- Otterbach, Steffen, Rogan, Michael

Authors: Otterbach, Steffen , Rogan, Michael
Date: 2017
Subjects: Human growth -- South Africa Malnutrition -- South Africa Poverty -- Case studies Economic development -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59522 , vital:27622 , ISBN 9780868106342 , DOI 10.21504/10962/59522
Description: One explanation for the increasing prevalence of stunting in South Africa over the past 15 years while other development indicators have improved is that Big Food retail chains have been contributing to a low quality diet across the country, particularly in poor urban households. We thus use nationally representative longitudinal data (2008–2014) to trace 6 years of stunting’s evolution among South African children, adolescents, and young adults aged 0–19, with particular attention to how the prevalence of under-nutrition differs between urban and rural areas and how the drivers of poor nutrition vary spatially. The results of our random-effects logistic regressions on the nutritional impact of household agricultural production suggest that, conditional on household income, subsistence farming is associated with a lower probability of stunting. Even more important, although under-nutrition retains a strong spatial component, once observable differences in living standards are controlled for, the higher tendency for children in deep rural households to suffer from (severe) stunting reverses.
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Date Issued: 2017

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The myth of a green economy and green jobs: what strategy for labour?

- Cottle, Eddie

Authors: Cottle, Eddie
Date: 2017
Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59500 , vital:27620 , ISBN 9780868106106
Description: This paper seeks to analyse the policy position of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to that of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in relation to the green economy and green jobs. It is argued that the ITUC position is consistent with the paradigm of the UNEP that the source of the ecological and jobs crisis lays within the problem of a lack of investment in appropriate alternative technologies and not that of capital accumulation and the nature of material production itself. It is further argued that both the ITUC and the UNEP’s paradigm is flawed on the basis of an assumption that technological efficiencies based upon alternative technologies will reduce the carbon footprint of countries. On the contrary this paper argues that the ITUC and UNEP failed to locate their perspective on a historical understanding of the contradiction of technological efficiencies as part of capital accumulation itself and the continuous expansion of production and secondly, that alternative energy production is still reliant of fossil fuels which will not lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, this paper argues that the ITUC does not have an alternative position as the notion of the ‘Just Transition’ is trapped within the existing social democratic, sustainable development paradigm which is committed to a system of capitalist growth. The paper argues that the only viable alternative is for labour to develop and struggle for an alternative eco-socialist society.
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Date Issued: 2017

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Across developmental state and social compacting: the peculiar case of South Africa

- Fine, Ben

Authors: Fine, Ben
Date: 2016
Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions National Development Plan -- South Africa South Africa -- Social policy Economic development -- Political aspects -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3082 , vital:20367 , ISBN 9780868106090
Description: This paper is concerned with the shifting fortunes of the Developmental State Paradigm (DSP) and the Social Compacting Paradigm (SCP) and, with some reference to South Africa, how they do or do not have continuing presence and relevance. For each, there is a dual trajectory in terms of an evolving intellectual content, on the one hand, and an evolving set of global and national circumstances on the other. I show that both paradigms have increasingly diverged from the material realities that they are intended to confront. This is primarily because of the neglect of financialisation as the key characteristic of the past thirty years, which itself underpins neo-liberalism. Whilst, in the post-war boom, both developmentalism and neo-corporatism offered some purchase on material realities and the prospects for policymaking, this has been eroded or, more exactly, transformed by financialisation. Unless the latter is satisfactorily addressed, neither development nor compacting can be expected to succeed, or be progressive, in any meaningful sense.
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Date Issued: 2016

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Rhodes University Research Report 2016

- Rhodes University, Gillitt, Tarryn, Mantolo, Thumeka, Macgregor, Jill, Roberts, Jaine

Authors: Rhodes University , Gillitt, Tarryn , Mantolo, Thumeka , Macgregor, Jill , Roberts, Jaine
Date: 2016
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/58288 , vital:27197
Description: From Foreword by Dr Sizwe Mabizela: The results of the 2016 academic year were celebrated during a bumper graduation weekend in April 2017, in which a record 2 464 graduates were capped at 6 graduation ceremonies, 46% of whom were Postgraduates, 59% were women, and 21% were international students. A record number of 88 PhD degrees were awarded (up from 67 of 2016). We celebrated a new record of 29 PhD degrees for the Faculty of Humanities, up from the previous record of 19 achieved last year. The Faculty of Science produced 38 PhD graduates, the Faculty of Commerce 6, the Faculty of Education 13, and the Faculty of Pharmacy 2. All Faculties have done exceedingly well. Our warm congratulations go to all our Faculty Deans, Heads of Department and the academic and support staff who made this possible. , A publication of the Rhodes University Research Office, compiled and edited by: Tarryn Gillitt, Thumeka Mantolo, Jill Macgregor and Jaine Roberts.
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Date Issued: 2016

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The memoirs of C.S. Douglas

- Douglas, Cuthbert Sholto

Authors: Douglas, Cuthbert Sholto
Date: 2015-06-05
Subjects: Surveying -- South Africa -- History , Surveyors -- South Africa -- Biography
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:547 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018500
Description: In this transcription of original memoirs, Cuthbert Sholto Douglas, 21.1.1887 - 6.8.1973, the son of a Methodist minister, describes his youth in Sea Point, and his studies in Land Surveying in Cape Town in the early years of the 20th century. His early career as a surveyor took place in Piet Retief, before he joined the Department of Irrigation. His responsiblities included work on the Hartebeespoort Dam, and the reconnaissance into the feasibilty of the Kalahari water scheme proposed by Prof. Schwartz. He worked on the Sundays River Valley irrigation canals, before proceeding to work in Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg and finally Pretoria as Surveyor General. His memoir contains numerous interesting details of life in the field in the early days of land surveying in South Africa, as well as the social history of the time. He was married to Honor Broadhead, daughter of a Methodist minister, and father of Sholto, Kenneth, Hugh and Malcolm Douglas. , Donated by Geoff Douglas, 2015
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A question of inclusivity: how did average incomes change over the first fifteen years of democracy?

- Visagie, Justin

Authors: Visagie, Justin
Date: 2015
Subjects: Income -- South Africa Economic development -- South Africa Income distribution -- South Africa South Africa -- Economic conditions
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3071 , vital:20366 , ISBN 9780868106052
Description: This paper attempts to assess the extent of inclusivity in post-apartheid income growth by focusing on one intuitive part of the income distribution: the actual middle (or middle-income strata). If South African macro and social policy explicitly aims to be ‘inclusive’, it is important to know how the average [median] South African income level changed over the first fifteen years of democracy. Common summary measures of economic progress such as GDP per capita may mask the standard of living experienced by the majority of the population in any particular period. Tracking the progress in the middle strata of South Africa’s income distribution provides a fresh perspective on the nature of economic progress in the country. This is against a worrying backdrop of rising income inequality post-1994 (Van der Berg and Louw, 2004; Hoogeveen and Özler, 2006; Leibbrandt et al, 2010). The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 motivates for the importance of focussing on the actual middle of the income distribution and highlights the emphasis on reducing income inequality within South African macroeconomic and social policy. Issues of comparability in the data and the choice of definition for the middle are discussed in section 3. Section 4 presents descriptive statistics relating to changes in incomes, and ends with a brief analysis of non-income measures of progress. The final section summarises the main findings and concludes.
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Date Issued: 2015

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Labour after globalisation: old and new sources of power

- Webster, Edward

Authors: Webster, Edward
Date: 2015
Subjects: Globalization Labor market Labor and globalization Labor and economy Labor economics Labor supply -- Effect of automation on
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3093 , vital:20368 , ISBN 9780868104867
Description: In this paper I focus on building a conceptual framework for an understanding of the changing dynamics of labour and workers’ sources of power. I begin by identifying worker action that draws on traditional sources of structural and associational power. I then show how the emergence of new forms of labour action is drawing on both old and new sources of power. New global forms of worker power are examined, and I conclude by suggesting that the missing dimension in the three sources of power identified – structural, associational and societal – is institutional power. If these new initiatives are to be sustainable they will need to include one of labour’s traditional sources of power, institutional power. These four-fold sources of power provide the basis for a strategy of union renewal in the age of globalisation.
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Date Issued: 2015

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Rhodes University Library Services Annual Report 2014 : "Our Scholarly Heartbeat"

- Satgoor, Ujala

Authors: Satgoor, Ujala
Date: 2015
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:7947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020651
Description: Library Director's Message: 2014 was indeed a momentous year for South Africans who embraced the opportunity to assess, evaluate and celebrate what has come to pass during these two decades of democracy. The library and information services (LIS) sector adopted the theme “Celebrating libraries in 20 years of democracy” which enabled several conversations to be held around three simple questions posed by Michael K Buckland: 1.What kind of work we do? 2.How can we do our work? 3.Why do we do our work? Buckland further asserts that modern society exists on a foundation of documents of all genres and forms, which are not just objectified knowledge but that they affect us aesthetically and emotionally. The use of documents is a cultural activity, be it through discussion or the exchange of documents. Vesa Souminen, in his book, Filling Empty Spaces, identifies that the crux of a good librarian’s role is to create arrangements of documents that are meaningful for users. In the face of technological advances, the relevance of libraries and librarians is raised and the need to create an awareness of what we do has never been as important as it is today. There are four accepted practices that define how we do our work: •Organization of information – selecting, collecting, organizing, categorizing, indexing, filtering and retrieval •Information in society and information policy – complementing and balancing the effects of the influence of the distribution and use of information in society •Technology for information which enables existing services to be performed differently as well as to develop different and better services •Management of information services – the art of achieving results through well-‐skilled competent people and how to survive and thrive in a political and economic environment. So why do we do what we do? Because it matters what people know! What people know is important to the individual, to an institution and to society. We do not only support technical knowledge but also cultural understanding, aesthetic insight and human behavior. Our role is to facilitate understanding of our shared identity that are collected and preserved in the records, documents, texts, etc that are our specialty. So when we say our purpose is to serve a community, we must be able to relate to the priorities and values of our role in that community. Given the above, the Rhodes University Library (RUL) embraced the 2nd year of its strategic plan (2013-‐2015) wholeheartedly with the express aim of consolidating practice, technology, providing universal access and ensuring an enabling environment and services for the broader Rhodes community. It therefore gives me great pleasure to present the 2014 annual report of the Rhodes University Library (RUL) which details how collectively the staff ensured that the defined practices were translated into reality.
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Date Issued: 2015

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Rhodes University Research Report 2015

- Rhodes University, Gillitt, Tarryn, Goba, Busi, Macgregor, Jill, Roberts, Jaine, Dore, Sally

Authors: Rhodes University , Gillitt, Tarryn , Goba, Busi , Macgregor, Jill , Roberts, Jaine , Dore, Sally
Date: 2015
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59298 , vital:27546
Description: From Foreword by Dr Sizwe Mabizela: A further feature of research at Rhodes University has long been international collaborations, many of them responsible for raising the international competitiveness and voice of scholarship involving Rhodes academics and students. In March 2015, Rhodes University became a founder member of the African Research Universities’ Alliance (ARUA), launched at the African Higher Education Summit in Senegal. Leading universities with strong programmes of research and Postgraduate training formed the network of 16 institutions, which aim to bring together intersecting and complementary strengths in the interest of building critical mass in the key development priorities of the African continent. , A publication of the Rhodes University Research Office, compiled and edited by Tarryn Gillitt, Busi Goba, Patricia Jacob, Jill Macgregor and Jaine Roberts. Design & Layout: Sally Dore.
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Date Issued: 2015

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Schooling inequality, higher education and the labour market: evidence from a graduate tracer study in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

- Rogan, Michael, Reynolds, John

Authors: Rogan, Michael , Reynolds, John
Date: 2015
Subjects: Educational equalization -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa College graduates -- Employment -- South Africa College majors -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3104 , vital:20369 , ISBN 9780868106045
Description: This study attempts to link schooling, demographic, socio-economic and academic factors to firstchoice degree completion and labour market outcomes. More specifically, this study investigates those factors that are most directly associated with whether the degrees that university graduates obtain reflect their first qualification choices, and also examines the effects of those factors and degree types on labour market outcomes. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section reviews the literature on the transition from schooling to higher education in South Africa with a particular focus on programme choice, followed by the recent literature on graduate employment and unemployment, and the broad findings of the graduate tracer studies which have been conducted in South Africa to date. Section three describes the graduate tracer study design and the analysis upon which the empirical section of the paper is based. In section four, the results of the descriptive statistics and a multivariate analysis are presented in two parts. Finally, section five discusses the results and reflects on the implications for higher education in South Africa.
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Date Issued: 2015

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