Author / Marna van Rooyen / Approved by / RISA Executive
Subject / Circulation and Loan Policy / Date Approved / 7 December 2009
Policy Number / 8/3/1/P / Date revised
Date written / September 2009 / Version number / 1.01
Printed copies are valid for only five days post thedate of printing: 2018/10/17
NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
CIRCULATION AND LOAN POLICY
Information Research & Services Policy: 8/3/1/P
September 2009
Contents
Preamble
1.Loans and Circulation
1.1Purpose
1.2Copyright restrictions
1.3Scope
2.1Lending Period
2.2Recalls
2.3Renewals
2.4Overdue Notices
2.5Lost or Damaged Material
2.6Resignation of NRF employees
3.Interlending
3.1Requesting an item on ILL
3.2Lending period
3.3Renewals
3.4Costs
3.5Overdue, lost, damaged items
3.6Document supply
4.Journals
4.1Printed Journals
4.2Electronic Journals
4.3Current Content Service (Alert Services)
5.Electronic databases
6.Newspapers
7.National Facilities
8.External Users
9.Amendment of Policy
Addendum A: Borrower/User Authorization for Deduction from Salary
Preamble
The functions of the NRF as set out in Section 4 of the National Research Foundation Act No. 23 of 1998 (the Act”), involve the collection development of the RISA Information Resource Centre (“the Resource Centre”). Section 4(3) of the Act states that the NRF “may not conduct research itself other than research regarding the efficient and effective execution of its functions referred to in subsection (1)”.
According to Section 4(1) the functions of the Foundation are to:
a) promote the development of appropriate human resources and research capacity in the areas of science and technology;
(b) stimulate, promote, support and protect research in the field of indigenous technology;
(c) obtain funds for research, both locally and abroad;
(d) allocate funds for research and promote multi-disciplinary collaboration through its divisions;
(e) promote and support research by awarding contracts, grants, scholarships or bursaries to persons or research institutions;
(f) evaluate the status and needs of research;
(g) provide financial support for the acquisition or establishment of research facilities by research institutions;
(h) review research proposals and results promoted by the Foundation;
(i) promote the transfer of technology and the implementation of research results and findings;
(j) facilitate and promote liaison between researchers and research institutions both nationally and internationally;
(k) promote participation in international scientific activities through maintaining membership of appropriate international science organisations;
(l) make available scientific knowledge or technology through any medium;
(m) administer, support and monitor the operation of national facilities;
(n) promote the provision of an information infrastructure linking research institutions to facilitate co-operation and the sharing of research information and knowledge;
(o) compile and maintain a national registry of research funded by the Foundation;
(p) initiate liaison with structures involved in the protection of intellectual property rights.
1.Loans and Circulation
1.1Purpose
The aim of the Loan and Circulation policy of the Resource Centre is to:
1.1.1ensure availability and the fair use of information resources required for the execution of functions by the NRF staff as referred to in section 4 (1) of the Act; and
1.1.2create awareness with regards to procedures for borrowing and the use of material from the Resource Centre as well as material sourced through other means, i.e. e-Resources, Interlibrary Loans.
1.2Copyright restrictions
The South African Copyright Act98 of 1978, as amended, governs all aspects of copyright in South Africa. It sets out what is protected, from what it is protected and for how long it is protected. More information pertaining to intellectual property can be accessed through the links below:
- Intellectual property laws of South Africa
- Fair dealings
- Frequently asked questions
1.3Scope
The policy applies to:
1.3.1All NRF staff members (permanent or contract) of RISA, including corporate functions;
1.3.2All staff members (permanent or contract) at National facilities of the NRF[1];
1.3.3External users[2].
- Lending
Material/Resources will be lent to RISA staff members on condition that the staff member signs for the borrowed item. A maximum of ten items may be borrowed simultaneously (excluding material paid for by the NRF Business Units).
2.1Lending Period
Type of material / Loan PeriodOpen shelf / 1 month
Reference / Overnight or 1 weekend
Material paid for by the NRF Business Units / 1 year (permanent loan)
Periodicals (latest number/volume) / 1 day (to make photocopies)
Periodicals (excluding latest number) / 1 week
2.2Recalls
All material is subject to recall. No renewals will be granted when there is a waiting list for the item. The current user will be notified that the item must be returned as soon as possible and by no later than the due date.
2.3Renewals
Most library materials may be renewed once via phone, e-mail, or in person. Exceptions to this rule include recalled material as well as reference material.
2.4Overdue Notices
The borrower is responsible for returning the material on time. As a courtesy, the Resource Centre will send borrowers a notice by e-mail if they fail to return an item before the due date.
2.5Lost or Damaged Material
2.5.1If a book or journal is lost, the borrower will be charged for the cost of replacement.
2.5.2In order to effect the above provision, all borrowers will be required to sign a document authorising the NRF to deduct from their salaries the abovementioned costs should they fail to honour the invoice issued by or at the instance of the Resource Centre when the loss or damage is discovered.
2.6Resignation of NRF employees
A formal letter from the NRF’s Human Resources Department should inform the Resource Centre before the 3rd of every month of any resignations. Employees who have resigned must return all publications they have borrowed by the 10th of the month or they will be responsible for the replacement costs of these publications. A tax invoice will be issued to them before the 20th of the month in which they are leaving the NRF. In cases where staff members do not respond to payment, the HR Department will be contacted to debit their salaries accordingly.
3.Interlending
- Interlibrary loans (ILL) is a service between Libraries which supports and enhances the provision of information. It provides another option for acquiring material not available in the Resource Centre. The Resource Centre subscribes to the ReQuest system of Sabinet Online to acquire material from other participating South African libraries. The service consists of the provision of copies of journal articles and the borrowing/lending of books.
- An Interlibrary loan service is provided to all RISA staff members.
- All items borrowed from participating libraries should only be handled through the Resource Centre.
- The Resource Centre is not responsible for any material/item borrowed from other institutions by an NRF staff member.
3.1Requesting an item on ILL
3.1.1Material may be requested through the ILL service if the required item cannot be obtained through any other means.
3.1.2Items will be checked for availability at participating libraries before requesting them.
3.1.3Delivery time cannot be guaranteed as it depends on the response time of the lending library as well as the mail service.
3.1.4If the lending library is situated in Pretoria and the request is urgent, the NRF driver will be requested to collect the item.
3.1.5The borrower will be notified as soon as the requested item is available at the Resource Centre.
3.1.6The borrower must sign for the book.
3.2Lending period
3.2.1The lending period will depend on the due date supplied by the lending library.
3.2.2Borrowed items must be returned to the Resource Centre 3 days before the specified due date in order to return the item to the lending institution on time.
3.2.3Penalty for late returns: lending libraries block the service from any further requests if books are returned late.
3.3Renewals
3.3.1Requests for renewals depend on the lending library.
3.3.2If the lending library allows renewals, a request for renewal can be forwarded to the institution 3 days before the due date.
3.4Costs
The Resource Centre will carry ILL costs within reason and budget allocation.
3.5Overdue, lost, damaged items
3.5.1If an item borrowed through ILL is overdue, damaged or lost, the borrower is responsible for any processing fee or replacement costs as determined by the lending library.
3.5.2Should the borrower fail to pay, the money owed will be deducted from the borrower’s salary in accordance with the provisions of clause 2.5 above.
3.6Document supply
The Resource Centre cannot supply material to other participating libraries, but can only request material through Sabinet’s ReQuest system.[3]
4.Journals
The Resource Centre acquires journals in both electronic fulltext and printed format.
4.1Printed Journals
4.1.1It is recommended that staff members make use of the journals in the Resource Centre rather than borrowing them so that it is always available for use by all NRF staff.
4.1.2Journals will be issued for a maximum period of one day should users want to make photocopies.
4.2Electronic Journals
The NRF subscribes to several databases on the EbscoHost platform. The databases provide access to electronic journals, newspapers and other material. The databases contain both full-text and bibliographic references. Some of the databases included are:
4.2.1 Academic Search™ Premier contains indices and abstracts for more than 8,300 journals, with full text for more than 4,500 of those titles;
4.2.2 Business Source® Premier is the industry's most popular business research database, and it includes the full text for more than 2,300 journals;
4.2.3 MasterFILE™ Premier contains full text for nearly 1,750 periodicals.
4.3Current Content Service (Alert Services)
4.3.1 Staff members can request to receive the latest contents of a particular journal on a regular basis.
4.3.2 The Resource Centre will send an e-mail with the contents from any received journal currently in the collection.
4.3.3 If the user wants access to the fulltext of a particular article:
4.3.3.1the fulltext, or the link to the fulltext of the article from that issue will be e-mailed to the requester, if available;
4.3.3.2if the fulltext is not available, the individual journal will be signed out to the requester for one day to make the necessary copies.
5.Electronic databases
The NRF subscribes to a number of databases containing bibliographic information and citations, citation analysis and fulltext. Access to databases is arranged for NRF staff and the National Facilities[4] per license agreement with the database publisher or by license agreement through SASLI (The South African Site License Initiative). NRF staff members are encouraged to make use of this service as it contains a wealth of information which can be downloaded. External users[5] may make use of the databases on the premises of the NRF if this is allowed by the database publisher.
6.Newspapers
The Resource Centre receives a number of daily and weekly newspapers. These newspapers are kept in the Resource Centre and KnowledgeCommons for staff members’ perusal. The newspapers may not be removed from the Resource Centre and Knowledge Commons on the date received. Older newspapers may only be borrowed for a short period of time (1 hour maximum) with permission from the responsible Information Specialist.
7.National Facilities
The National Facilities have information services available with the exception of the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) and the National Zoological Gardens (NZG). The Resource Centre will provide a service to the National Facilities that have an MOU/SLA with the Resource Centre as per agreement.
8.External Users
External users (non-staff members) are allowed to use the material in the Resource Centre but are not allowed to borrow any material. Any photocopies made must be paid for at the rate determined by and payable to theNRF Finance Department.
9.Amendment of Policy
This policy may be amended by at the discretion of the Resource Centre and any amendment shall only become effective once Resource Centre users/borrowers have been notified by way of a general email communication addressed to all NRF staff members to that effect.
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[1] Refer to Section 7 on national facilities
[2] Refer to Section 8 on external users
[3]The NRF does not subscribe to SabiCat, the cataloguing module of the South African Joint Catalogue (SACat), and is therefore not able to add the RISA Information Resource Centre’s holdings to the SACat. The ReQuest System uses the SACat as basis system.
[4] Refer to Section 7 on national facilities
[5] Refer to Section 8 on external users