Wishing Farewell to Our Retiring Staff Members

As our staff members transition into this new phase of their lives, we want to acknowledge the lasting impact they have made on our company and the relationships they have built with their colleagues. Their expertise, guidance, and presence will be greatly missed, but we take solace in knowing that they leave behind a legacy of excellence and professionalism.

Join us in expressing our heartfelt appreciation to Amelia Breytenbach and Fay Fabris-Rotelli for their remarkable contributions. 

Amelia Breytenbach

On 31 May 2023, I will close my office door at the Department of Library Services (DLS) for the last time after a career of 43 years. It has been an honour and a privilege to work for the University of Pretoria for the last four decades. When you love what you do, work does not feel like work. Thank you for making it a happy experience to show up in my office every day.

I started my career as a library assistant on  February 1 1980, in the journal section of the Merensky 2 Library. In 1980, I received my BBibl degree from the University of Pretoria and started as a cataloger. On February 1, 1993, I was transferred to the Veterinary Science Library (now known as the Jotello F. Soga Library) as the cataloger for all material related to veterinary science. Under the supervision of my leaders here, I grew personally and professionally over many years. Besides cataloging and classifying information resources, I have had many other highlights in my career. I specialized in metadata, metadata applications, and the creation of information products such as Libguides for open access resources of veterinary science, the South African National Veterinary Repository, Sustainable Development Goals, and the faculty newsletters and publications.

In addition to my tasks at the Veterinary Science Library, I was a member of the project committee for the establishment of UPSpace. As a metadata specialist, I was responsible for implementing the Dublin Core metadata strategy in the repository, quality control of the metadata in UPSpace, internal and external metadata training, providing advice on all issues and decisions regarding metadata, and monitoring and communicating new metadata developments and applications. One of the greatest highlights of my career was coordinating the development and metadata tagging of historical information resources for the establishment of the South African National Veterinary Repository (SANVR) for the Faculty of Veterinary Science, South African Veterinary Association, and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute.

All these wonderful opportunities opened doors for me to become the author and co-author of several papers presented at various conferences, workshops, and training sessions. Additionally, I was a co-author of the article entitled "The African Elephant: a digital collection of anatomical sketches as part of the University of Pretoria's institutional repository - a case study" published in OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives. This article was chosen as an outstanding paper award winner at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence in 2009. In my wildest dreams, I never thought that such a prestigious award would be bestowed upon our article.

With financial assistance from the University, I completed four online workshops covering various topics such as metadata, controlled vocabularies, RDA, and taxonomies. These courses helped me find solutions and understand problems I encountered during my career.

While I look forward to enjoying my retirement, I will miss being part of the veterinary team and the Department of Library Services. I trust that the friendships I have made here will last well into the future. I want to thank the University of Pretoria, the executive members of the Department of Library Services, and each staff member for the many opportunities you have given me over the years. I have grown both personally and professionally and am very proud of the work I have done, the students I have been privileged to work with, and the departmental and institutional contacts I have made through the years. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with my co-workers and superiors, and I hope my successor experiences the same joy, pride, and enthusiasm for the job.

Chrissie Boeyens

I joined the Department of Library Services as an evening staff member in 1990 and transitioned to working full-time in Journal Cataloguing in 1992. Throughout the years, I have taken on various roles and now conclude my career as the Coordinator of Acquisitions. 

I am grateful for the numerous opportunities I have been afforded and for the relationships I have formed with countless individuals. Each person has played a significant role in my life, and I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my team for their unwavering support. It has been a wonderful experience collaborating with them.

Fay Fabris-Rotelli

Fay has been a valued cataloguer in the Library Technical Services Unit at the Department of Library Services since 2001 and retired at the end of February 2023.