Page 3 - Annual Report 2023

FOREWORD
As the University of South Africa (Unisa) celebrated its sesquicentennial existence in the 2023 academic year, the role of the Library and Information Services (LIS) in supporting the vision, mission and strategy of the University became evident. As we travelled down memory lane with this august University, the LIS emerged as a point of reference for those who were writing Unisa’s history and herstory of a decade and a half. One product that came from the resources of the LIS is the “sesquicentennial exhibition” publication that focused on “reimagining the archives and artistic reflection of Unisa’s existence.” This is a testament to the LIS’s role as custodian of the Unisa memories, history, herstory and experiences that need to be tapped.
In order to ensure that the knowledge produced by Unisans is visible, accessible and able to improve Unisa’s global standing, the LIS continued to participate in the development of negotiation principles for a transformational transition to open access. This may go a long way towards ensuring the removal of unfair practices and inequalities in publishing, as well as the elimination of biases such as geography, language and peer review. It is often difficult for novice researchers in the global periphery to publish their work in prestige journals in the global arena, with editors citing scope and audience as a hindrance. With open access, this should not be the case, as the published content can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.
Unisa LIS has contributed to open science in a variety of ways, such as transformational agreements, growth of the University’s institutional repository, digitisation of archival materials, as well as the curation and management of research data. This will allow Unisans to access LIS resources from anywhere in the world. I hope that in the long term, the adjective “open” will not be used in any library, including Unisa LIS. Science should be open by default, so that people can access knowledge that addresses key societal problems. This will enable knowledge produced by universities across the country to be visible and accessible, even to the public. I yearn for a library of the future that can be accessed openly by anyone, irrespective of their affiliation. Libraries are by design organically open access. For example, libraries build collections to be accessed by patrons free of charge, as long as they are affiliated to the particular library, whether it is an academic, special or public library. Therefore, it is necessary for Unisa LIS to integrate digital technology into all areas of the library to fundamentally change how it operates and provides Unisans and the public at large with comprehensive access to information
PROF P LENKABULA
PRINCIPAL AND VICE-CHANCELLOR
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