Research Output

Our staff members are very active researchers, publishing widely in international and local accredited journals, presenting many papers at international and local conferences, and producing many other research outputs of a high international standard for the scholarly and professional communities.

The following research has recently received much acclaim:

Publication of books

• Cambridge University Press’s Elements in Book and Publishing Culture presents new research on print and reading cultures in Africa, from the mid- 19^th century to the present day, and published works of Prof Archie Dick, Reading Spaces in South Africa, 1850-1920s, in which he analyses reading culture in South Africa, from the colonial to Union government, and Prof Elizabeth le Roux’s book, Publishing against Apartheid South Africa: A case study of Ravan Press, in which she examines a South African publishing house during the apartheid and post-apartheid periods.

• Professor Ina Fourie, has recently published and edited a research collection titled Autoethnography for Librarians and Information Scientists, with contributions from leading international experts on autoethnography such as Professors Carolyn Ellis, Art Bochner and Kathy-Ann Hernadez. Two of our other staff members, Ms Naailah Parbhoo-Ebrahim and Anika Meyer, also contributed by co-authoring chapters together with Professor Fourie.

• The book by Preben Hansen and two of our staff members, Professor Ina Fourie and Ms Anika Meyer has recently been published. Third space, information sharing and participatory design, enables students, researchers, and practitioners within a multi-disciplinary research field, including information studies and Human–Computer Interaction approaches, to gain a deeper understanding of how the core activity of information sharing in participatory design, in which Third Space may be a platform for information interaction, is taking place when using methods utilized in participatory design to address contemporary societal challenges.

• Professor Theo Bothma, Dr Erica Cosijn, Professor Ina Fourie and Dr Cecilia Penzhorn, all current or past faculty members in the Department of Information Science, co-authored an interactive digital textbook titled Navigating Information Literacy in a Digital World in 2017. It first appeared in 2006 as a print book and has now been renewed and updated in 2021 for its 6^th edition as an e-book only.

Prof Dick’s renowned work

• Professor Archie Dick’s, former head of department of Information Science, influential work on book and reading culture is renowned. His book, The Hidden History of South Africa’s Book and Reading Culture published in 2012, was again used to demonstrate the command Prof Dick has in this area, in an essay titled, Of libraries, books, and reading: a journey of meaning making by Edwin Smith, published in the journal Tydskrif vir Letterkunde at the end of 2020. For more information, click here.

• Professor Archie Dick was hosted by Chai FM and interviewed by Charisse Zeibert, to share his knowledge on the discovery of stolen books at the University of Johannesburg library by notorious and acclaimed University of Pretoria Professor Van Vleeshauer. This discovery was discussed at length in Professor Dick’s book, The Hidden History of South Africa’s Book and Reading Culture.

Research reports