The Department of Library Services (DLS) aims to proactively develop and deliver high-quality innovative library services. The Library makes available information resources and enabling spaces that support the university's teaching, learning, and research. The expertise of our staff support and enable the academic activities of the University. All these efforts are grounded in the university's goals for teaching, learning, and research; including the research themes that are linked to the achievement of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, all of which are based on sustainability.
The Library maximises the use of technology to support its core activities and allows the influence of the digital era to transcend academic boundaries and stimulate transdisciplinary study by offering access to new digital technologies and high-tech services. This includes a well-established and popular MakerSpace facility and a service robot, “Libby”. The DLS raises awareness and builds on UP’s reputation by continually carrying out new initiatives, which are recognisable, fair, sustainable, responsive, and inventive.
The Library is constituted of nine branch libraries; these are the Merensky 2 Library, the Oliver R. Tambo Law Library, and the Music Library, which are located on the Hatfield campus. In addition, there is the Education Library on the Groenkloof campus, the Jotello F Soga Library, a veterinary science library on the Onderstepoort campus, Mamelodi Library on the Mamelodi campus, and three health sciences libraries - the Basic Medical Science & Dentistry (BMS) Library, Medical Library, both in the Prinshof campus and Klinikala Library located at Kalafong Hospital.
The Library provides access to a wide range of information resources, such as books, journals, reports, standards, and special collections. Institutional research output is made available through the UPSpace institutional repository while the data that support the research is made available through the Figshare data repository. Institutional open journals are hosted through the Open Journal System (OJS).
The digital library is available 24/7 to our community.
To be a leading research library in Africa, internationally recognised for advancing inquiry, excellence in teaching and learning, and innovation for the greater good.
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"This country has given me so much that I am only too happy to be allowed to help it to develop and to be able to give back to it a fraction of what it has given to me..." - Hans Merensky, at the opening of the Merensky Library.
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The management structure of the DLS consists of a Director and three Deputy Directors who provide strategic direction for the development and management of library and information services. The three Deputy Directors manage the following portfolios: Academic Support; Information Resources, Access, and Operations; Scholarly Communications, and Digital Services & Systems.
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The DLS publications communicate the library’s key achievements and progress on strategic projects to the university and the wider community. The publications include the Annual Report that captures the library’s key achievements and progress on strategic initiatives; the “DLS at a Glance” which highlights DLS’s service offerings and usage statistics, and lastly a quarterly newsletter that keep the university community informed of the DLS news and events.
The library’s planning process is aligned with the University's Strategic Plan, and the DLS’s strategic goals are linked with the University's goals. It is based on a comprehensive planning process that includes an assessment of emerging trends, challenges, and the analyses of performance data relating to resource utilisation and service delivery. The strategic plan and annual plan are used by library units to set the direction and identify strategic initiatives for each unit. All plans are founded on a clear understanding of user needs. Regular reviews of these needs are conducted through user surveys, targeted focus groups, and feedback mechanisms.
You have a basic right to information as a student, staff member, and South African citizen. The Department of Library Services supports the principle of humans being autonomous and dependent on information to make meaningful decisions.
Learn more about the Department of Library Services’ code of conduct.
As is the case on the physical campus of the University of Pretoria, the library grounds are managed under a set code of conduct. Some basic rules and regulations are in place to ensure people's safety and academic freedom.
Learn more about the Department of Library Services’ rules and regulations.
Get a snapshot of the stature, volumes, service offerings and utilisation of the Department of Library Services at a glance here.
Printed books
Licensed eBooks
eJournals
7 DHET accredited journals on OJS
Copyright © Department of Library Services 2021. All rights reserved.
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