© CSIR 2008

Elephantom or

prerequisite for successful

African repositories?

Martie van Deventer

01 April 2009

© CSIR 2008

Let’s see what’s to come …

• Elephantoms• Healthy herds (collaborative trusting behaviour)

• Mammoths (consequences of mistrust in collaboration)

• Knowing where the water is (advantages of collaboration in developing IRs)

• Rogue elephants (disadvantages of collaboration)

• Elephant graveyards• Final word on being an elephant (what it really

takes to collaborate)

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Elephantoms

• Legend has it that elephant phantoms roam the African interior and have done so since the beginning of time. These phantoms are found on river banks, in the bushes and even in the forests of Knysna ...

• Elephant and man have shared the same space for as long as elephants can remember …

• Question: is the need for collaboration a scary ghost story or a prerequisite for success?

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Healthy herds – the behaviour

• Information is shared openly

• Mistakes are tolerated

• Innovative and creative culture is created

• Loyalty – even in absence

• Real issues are confronted

• Real communication & collaboration

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Healthy herds … 2

• Few meetings

• Transparency is created & valued

• People are candid & authentic

• High degree of accountability

• Positive momentum is palpable

Covey, 2006:237

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Healthy herds … 3

• Mean what you say – be straight without hidden agendas

• Show respect

• Fix what has gone wrong

• Show loyalty

• Deliver results

• Improve continuously

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Healthy herds … 4

• Confront reality

• Clarify expectations

• Practice accountability

• Listen first, speak later

• Keep commitments

• Extend trust

Covey, 2006:125-229

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Mammoths – causes of extinction

• Unnecessary duplication• Bureaucracy• Playing politics & delaying

tactics• Disengagement• Turnover• Loss in stakeholder trust• Dishonesty & deception

Covey, 2006:250

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Knowing where the water is … advantages of collaboration

• Facilitates communication between professionals

• Enhances efficiency … continuously working smarter

• Provides a framework for ongoing interaction and learning

• Enables us to provide better & more durable quality of service

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Knowing where the water is … advantages 2

• Allows the library-network of relationships to interact with the software development network as well as with subject experts

• ‘New’ network (multi-disciplinary) enhances the probability of identifying, developing and adopting functionality which will serve the stakeholder community (researchers) better

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Knowing where the water is … advantages 3

• NB … Adopting common standards: – allows networked collections;– Which increases the value of the

super-collection as well as the individual collections;

– reduces the costs of establishing a collection; and

– fast tracks collection development.

Based upon: Crabtree & Donakowski: 2007

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Rogue elephants … disadvantages

• Investment in time, resources and effort is often misunderstood or misinterpreted.

• Charity cases, hangers on, poor cousins and couch potatoes … efficiency drains.

• Playing perpetual catch-up ... Feelings of inadequacy.• Politics! Working across disciplines means you have to understand

so much more.• Much patience and time is needed when knowledge is ‘action’

transferred – often when it is least available! Interaction needs to be planned and manage or the teaching process could become all consuming!

• Essential expertise is often not core to the team … If one allows ICT infrastructure and/or software to be stumbling blocks … they will be.

• Built around key people. Personal knowledge transfer and personal networks remain key to ensuring successful collaborative partnerships. When they leave …

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When the end comes …• Alexander passed on

– 09 Feb 2009• Friend helped as long

as he could – protected the carcass from vultures & hyenas

• Accepted death• Moved on

Source: Beeld (see http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2467012,00.html)

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Back to the $m question …

• Collaboration … phantom or prerequisite for success?

• There is space for lone bull elephants … but be aware of the implications of your choice!

• I prefer that the CSIR remains part of the herd … but I too need to take note of the implications of that choice!

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On being an elephant …

• Focus on South Africa and Africa.• Keep the individuality of your own institution

in mind.• Value your personal contribution.• Know the requirements of the ‘digital age’ in

which we are living and working.• It’s the IR content that matters … not the

repository software or its functionalities or the supporting documentation!

• Collaboration is amongst ourselves but also with the discipline/ subject experts in your own institution.

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Thank you

Questions?

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Acknowledgements• Crabtree,J. & Donakowski, D. 2007. Building

relationships project 2007. Journal of digital information. Available: http://journals.tdl.org/jodi/article/viewArticle/191/172

• Covey, SMR. The speed of trust: the one thing that changes everything. Simon & Schuster: NY

• Pienaar, H. & Van Deventer, M. 2007. Capturing knowledge in institutional repositories: playing leapfrog with giraffes. IFLA KM workshop. Durban.

• Van Deventer, M.J. & Pienaar, H. 2008. South African repositories: bridging knowledge divides. ARIADNE

• Watson, L. 2003. Elephantoms: tracking the elephant. Penguin Books SA: Rosebank

• Mariaan Myburgh – creating the graphics for my presentation

© CSIR 2008

The Legend of an Elephant Graveyard May Be Trueby Dirk Vander Ploeg, UFODigest, www.ufodigest.com

Elephant, Keith Levit, Fine art print,

http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--1976/PG--3/posters.htm?TNID=1&ui=C69CAAFA817F4E469E15557508E59A68

Tusk, Ridder, Fine art print,

http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--1976/PG--4/posters.htm?TNID=1&ui=C69CAAFA817F4E469E15557508E59A68

The Eye of an Elephant , flickr.com,

flickr.com/photos/47734890@N00/289479952/

© CSIR 2008

Gentle Giants, Ruane Manning, Fine art print

http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--1976/Elephants.htm?

ui=6AAEBC343F3D45FEA9B1FBB3B7C6087D

Protective care, Ruane Manning, Fine art print

http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--1976/Elephants.htm?

ui=6AAEBC343F3D45FEA9B1FBB3B7C6087D

Elephant Walking with Calf , wall poster

http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--1976/Elephants.htm?

ui=6AAEBC343F3D45FEA9B1FBB3B7C6087D

Touch of Security, Ruane Manning, Fine art print, http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--1976/PG--3/posters.htm?TNID=1&ui=C69CAAFA817F4E469E15557508E59A68]