29th Annual Mortenson Distinguished Lecture

Welcome Dr. Reggie Raju

Dr. Reggie Raju is the Director of Research and Learning Services at the University of Cape Town Libraries.  He has been in academic libraries for more than 35 years and holds a PhD in Information Studies.  Dr. Raju is the author of several publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals, chapters in books and a book publication. His research focus is on research librarianship with an emphasis on open access and library publishing. He is currently a member of the Academic and Research Libraries Standing Committee of IFLA as well as being the convenor of its Special Interest Group: Library Publishing. Reggie is currently the Chair of SPARC Africa and is driving the social justice agenda of open access for Africa. He serves on the editorial board of Journal of librarianship and scholarly communication.

Dr. Reggie Raju will deliver this year’s lecture.

Professor Jaya Raju

Professor Jaya Raju is Head of the Department of Knowledge and Information Stewardship (Humanities Faculty) at the University of Cape Town. She has a PhD in Information Studies.  She has researched and written extensively in the area of LIS education and its implications for the LIS services work environment. Jaya Raju served as Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science from 2013 to 2018. She also serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the Southern African Journal of Communication & Information Science; African Journal of Libraries, Archives and Information Science; International Journal of Information, Diversity & Inclusion; Libri: The International Journal of Libraries and Information Studies, and De Gruyter’s Open Information Science.  She is co-editor of the ALISE Book Series on LIS education and research. She has published in peer-reviewed national and international journals and presented papers at local, national and international conferences. She is currently Co-Chair of IFLA’s Building Strong LIS Education (BSLISE), an active global network of LIS educators and researchers. In 2018, Jaya Raju became Subject Chair for Library and Information Science on the Scopus Content Selection & Advisory Board.

At the epicenter of a changing higher education landscape is the rapid development of technology. This has significantly influenced the shaping of the higher education landscape. The academic library is not exempt from this influence of technology; in fact, it ought to be adding a new layer of support in this changing higher education landscape. Within this paradigm, there is continuous demand for re-calibration of LIS practice and pedagogy, supported by commensurate technology, to deliver library and information services that address the issue of social justice.

At no time in the history of academic librarianship have libraries been so vulnerable to becoming redundant. Paradoxically, this presents an ideal opportunity to exploit the potential to become noteworthy partners or collaborators in the evolving teaching and learning and research processes of the higher education sector. The development of flexible and robust academic library services that meet the demands of an evolving user community and that remain relevant and fit for purpose in a technology-driven age, are opportunities to be exploited. The re-calibration of services and the introduction of new ones make provision for the delivery of new and innovative services responding to the need for a paradigm shift in 21st century academic librarianship.

In this digital era that propagates the advancement and re-definition the traditional roles and responsibilities of libraries, one of the golden threads is that of social justice and the inclusion of the marginalized. There is growing demand for the free exchange of knowledge between the global north and global south to address the challenges of the global knowledge village. By the same token, there are demands for unique and relevant services such as the demand for support of a decolonized higher education which has the domino effect of growing diamond open access scholarly communication, specifically publishing, with a de-northernization agenda. This presentation explores such a social justice perspective in relation to evolving LIS practice and pedagogy.

Publications by Dr. Reggie Raju