SABC Media Library's best 5 tweets this month

Twitter Ads are compiling interesting Analytics with regards Timeline Activity, and this is our "Best" tweets this past month.

Best Tweets of SABCMediaLib

1. Our Video Biography via Vizify got marked as a favourite:

SABC Media Libraries Twitter Bio video via Vizify: Just made a movie of my twitter: https://t.co/e4aghsjeTy Le... http://t.co/jq6PWKmYLp
— SABC Media Library (@SABCMediaLib) June 18, 2013

2. Our daily newspaper about Knowledge Management and Knowledge Café got marked as favourite
    The Daily Knowledge Café:

The Daily Knowledge Cafe is out! http://t.co/vVgZPHMN8y
— SABC Media Library (@SABCMediaLib) June 16, 2013

3.  The blog post about The Use of Vine in Libraries and Archives also got marked as a favourite:

The use of Vine in libraries and archives: Vine is a mobile app that is available on iOS and Android. It recor... http://t.co/bn7G2AXBs2
— SABC Media Library (@SABCMediaLib) June 11, 2013

4. Another The Daily Knowledge Café got 2 Retweets.

The Daily Knowledge Cafe is out! http://t.co/vVgZPHMN8y ▸ Top stories today via @IamDdanz @coveo @LoulouVance
— SABC Media Library (@SABCMediaLib) June 11, 2013

5. The daily SABCMediaLib.li about libraries and archives got marked as favourite:

SABCMediaLib.li is out! http://t.co/ycfSzfBZ9s ▸ Top stories today via @sdeeble @EllysEyeland @SuiteBrigitte
— SABC Media Library (@SABCMediaLib) June 11, 2013

To get to these analytics, it is necessary to sign in at Twitter Ads, and to set the account to Advanced under Billing History.

It is not necessary to set up any campaigns to get the Analytics.


Blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Interview with an intern at the SABC Information Library: Veronica Machate

Veronica Machate
Intern: SABC Information Library

The SABC Information Library has acquired the services of two interns since March of this year.
The interns are here in the SABC Media Libraries for a couple of months to acquire valuable skills, but also to help with the workflows in the SABC Information Library.

Veronica Machate is a qualified Librarian.

Questions are asked to understand the type of skills that they have to offer, but also to get a better understanding of what they are doing here in the SABC Information Library.


Please tell us about your personal history as well as your studies. How did you become an intern here at SABC?

I was born and raised in Bushbuckridge in a place called Acornhoek. I started school in 1994 and matriculated 2006. I went to the university of Limpopo Turfloop campus in 2007 where I studied for a bachelor degree in information studies which I obtained in 2010 and I will be graduating on the 14th of this month. During my final year of my study I worked as a part-time student assistant in our university library and also worked as a computer laboratory assistant. I heard about this internship from our lecturer. I applied and fortunately I was called for an interview. In January I was called and told that I was appointed.

What does your job entail here at SABC?

My job differs according to the sections in the Information Library. They have a newspaper, magazine and book section. After every three months I have to rotate. During my first three months I have worked in the newspaper cutting section where my job entailed the scanning of daily newspapers, using a flatbed scanner, indexing SABC articles and also responding to requests. From May until July I will be working in the magazine section and in this section my job entails indexing and cataloguing magazines articles. Thereafter I will be rotating to the book section.

What have you learned already while you have been there?

I have mastered responding to requests, scanning of daily newspapers and more especially indexing of SABC and magazine articles.

Tell us of any interesting anecdotes story with regards to your internship

During my first month I was always hanging my access card on my neck even on the street where I live so that people could see that I’m working at the SABC.

What are you planning to do after this?

My plan is to get a job as librarian either in the SABC or any other sector and to further my studies in the field of Information Studies.


Related posts:

SABC Radio Archives: Interview with an intern - Thakhani Ramufhufhi
Interview with an intern at the SABC Radio Archives: Obakeng Phiri
Interview with an intern at the SABC Radio Archives: Nokuthula Mzelemu
Intern in the SABC Radio Archives: Mbali Jezile - an interview

Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Interview with the Principal Librarian at the SABC Information Library

Monica van Deventer
SABC Information Library

This is an interview as part of a series of blog posts to gain a better understanding of the SABC Media Libraries and what we do in the different sections that we belong to.

The interview this week is with Monica van Deventer, the Principal Information Librarian who overseas the Newspaper Cutting Section, the Book Lending Section as well as the Magazines in the SABC Information Library. She has been with the Information Library for almost 21 years.

“The core business of the Information Library is to deliver a World Class Service to the users of the library. When given a request to handle, this must be done immediately and very professional.
 Staff must also have sufficient knowledge of the unique nature of the broadcasting environment, in which they work. They must be able to work under stress and also to understand that the journalists work under stressful circumstances.”
(Quote from the SABC Media Libraries website)


Monica, please tell us a little bit about your life and career (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Information Library)

I was born in 1961 and grew up in Westdene, Johannesburg.  I studied at Vorentoe High School and after that at the Rand Afrikaans University (now UJ). There I obtained my BA Social Work Degree – at that stage it was still a four year degree. After that I worked as a Social Worker at Transvaal Cripple Care Association in Westcliff, Johannesburg for a period of 2 years. After my resignation there, I started to work as a Library Assistant at Rand Afrikaans University at the circulation desk. I studied part-time for my B.Bibl Degree and obtained that a week before our daughter was born. After that I moved to the cataloguing section as a Junior Librarian. I worked there for almost 6 years, resigned and started my career at the SABC – and I am still here! I am also still a registered social worker and would like to practise social work again when I retire from the SABC one day.
On 30 July this year I will be married for 28 years. My husband works at UJ. We have 2 children – a daughter (23 years) and a son (20 years). We love the outdoors and like to do camping, boating, diving and we also like to fish. We live in Krugersdorp and have 3 dogs and 1 parrot.

Please tell us about a normal day in your office. What information and tasks do you give priority to?

A normal working day consists of replying to emails; attend meetings as and when requested; requesting quotations from books and magazines agencies. I do my utmost to manage the Information Library the best I can. We handle information requests immediately and our newspaper articles are being scanned in on a daily basis. We also do our best to have a good magazine and book collection. At the moment all SABC related information – old and new – is our main priority.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve in the library.

Our collection consists of books, magazines and newspapers and newspaper articles. Our collections are very broad and include broadcasting related material, biographies, and travel books – everything that you will find in any other library. Our newspaper article collection is huge and we have more than 3 million articles in files. We also have a collection of old SABC Radio Bulletins, of which we are currently scanning on our Newbase System and indexing on our Inmagic Genie System.

Do you struggle with technical and other difficulties, and if so, what?

Not really. We have good, solid specialised systems. When we experience problems, we receive good support from Ronnie Singh at BIT, who looks after our systems from the SABC’s side. If he cannot solve the problem, we contact Mindex or Digital Archiving Systems and our problems usually then get sorted out quickly.

If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting information, please share it with us.

A lot of things happened in the Information Library over the years. We had very nice and enjoyable International Library week’s celebrations, where we invited all SABC staff members to the Library and had nice snacks, competitions and prizes.
Once we also had a client, for whom we borrowed an old book on the Olympic Games from another Library. He didn’t return the book and we got a reminder from that library for the amount of R1000-00. He insisted that he had returned the book and complained for a few months about the library staff not believing him. Eventually, one day, he turned up with the book and a very sincere apology. He found the book in his safe at his home! We were just very relieved that the book has been returned.

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

I love working with people and I love handling information requests. The Information Library broadened my general knowledge – specifically when I worked in the newspaper cutting section - and also taught me to build and maintain very good interpersonal relationships. I have a passion for what I do!

Related posts:
Interview with the Librarian at the Newspaper Cutting Section
Interview with the Librarian at the SABC Information Library: Newspaper Cutting Section
Interview with the Information Librarian at the SABC Information Library

Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Interview with the Librarian at the SABC Newspaper Cutting Section

Themba Mtshali
SABC Newspaper Cutting Section

This is an interview as part of a series of blog posts to gain a better understanding of the SABC Media Libraries and what we do in the different sections that we belong to.

The interview this week is with Themba Mtshali, the Information Librarian who works in the Newspaper Cutting Section of the SABC Information Library.

This section has a collection of 3200 000 newspaper articles. The following newspapers are ordered for this section: Beeld, Sowetan, Business Day, Star, Citizen, Mail and Guardian, Rapport, Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Sunday World and the City Press. Every day articles are scanned in on the Newbase System and then electronically get cut, pasted and indexed.

Themba, please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Information Library)

Answer: My name is Themba Mtshali. I was born in Soweto. I studied and passed my matric in KZN during the 1976 unrest. In 1981 I joined Standard Bank and worked as a Clerk. After that I worked at a NGO Company in Braamfontein as project coordinator for 5 years. In 1995 I joined the SABC as Desk Help Officer for late Dr Ivy Matsepe Cassaburi’s office. In 1996 I joined the SABC Media Libraries at the Cutting Service Section.

Please tell us about a normal day in your office. What newspaper articles do you give priority to?

Answer: My normal day in office starts with fetching newspapers from the security office at ground floor in the morning. I look through the papers for SABC articles to be scanned first and start scanning other newspapers thereafter. We give priority to current affairs news mostly form politics, sport, health etc. I also give attention to information requests that come to our office and cut, paste and index sports articles.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve in the library.

Answer: Our collection consists of newspaper articles that are scanned as well as newspaper articles that were cut and pasted and filed into files before we got the digital system. The focus is mostly on politics of the past and present government; SABC collections from when the SABC was established to present date. The newspaper collection is very vast and varied in its scope.

Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?

Answer: Not much, but when we do have problems with our system server, we have BIT to assist us.

If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting information, please share it with us.

Answer: As I am a sports fan, particularly soccer fan, I would like to preserve the history of soccer in South Africa.

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

Answer: The job keeps me well informed about what’s happening around me.

Related posts:
Interview with the Librarian at the SABC Information Library: Newspaper Cutting Section
Interview with the Information Librarian at the SABC Information Library

Questions and post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Interview with the Librarian at the SABC Information Library: Newspaper Cutting Section

Thelma Hlapolosa
SABC Information Library

This is an interview as part of a series of blog posts to gain a better understanding of the SABC Media Libraries and what we do in the different sections that we belong to.

The interview this time is with Thelma Hlapolosa, the Information Librarian who works in the Newspaper Cutting Section of the SABC Information Library.

This section has a collection of 3200 000 newspaper articles. The following newspapers are ordered for this section: Beeld, Sowetan, Business Day, Star, Citizen, Mail and Guardian, Rapport, Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Sunday World and the City Press. Every day articles are scanned in on the Newbase System and then electronically get cut, pasted and indexed.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Information Library)

Answer: My name is Nonhlanhla Thelma Hlapolosa, a mother of three. I grew up in Soweto (Mzimhlophe to be specific). I am currently studying Human Resource Management through UNISA. I did not have any experience when I started here in the SABC. I was fresh from school with my Matric and employed as a temp.  (That was 1994). I was employed as a library assistant. Then my contract was extended from six months to a year from a year to permanent post in May 1995.

Please tell us about a normal day in your office. What newspaper articles do you give priority to?

Answer: My normal day starts on my way to work with news post on the road of headlines from different newspapers. By the time I am in the office I already know what the requests are going to be, from scandals of celebrities to politics and sports and current affairs. Newspapers are scanned by Themba Mtshali. Then we select what we view as important topics. Information requests from clients come by email, telephone or otherwise (internally/externally). Data cleansing is done while indexing. We search information on Sabinet, Newbase, Media24 and other search engines; export articles to the intranet; monitor the Newbase server; update topic list on the system and administrate and correct minor mistakes done during indexing and scanning processes.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve in the library.

Answer: The cutting section has a backlog of manual files of about a million articles (not currently scanned or indexed on Newbase). The Newbase system has a backlog from 2006 to date. Last year we managed to put all TRC collection on the system. However, the Mandela collection and the ANC, SABC and Elections collections still need to be scanned and indexed.

Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?

Answer: Some days we do experience technical difficulties, the server would just act up and we need to reboot our system, wait for BIT to assist us but we manage. It needs to be said that we have a good system (Newbase).

If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting information, please share it with us.

Answer: I can say all the collections, especially articles from the files. However I came across the ANC and NNP files and there is a lot that needs to be preserved. If it were up to me I would say every file in cutting service should be scanned and indexed immediately.

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

Answer: The satisfaction on the faces of all our clients and learning the history of the country on a daily basis is fascinating!



Related post:
Interview with the Information Librarian at the SABC Information Library

Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives

Interview with the Information Librarian at the SABC Information Library

Abel Thulare
SABC Information Librarian

The SABC Media Libraries consists of five sections, the SABC Information Library, the SABC Radio Archives, the SABC Record Library, the SABC Music Library and Audio Restoration. This is part of a series of posts of interviews to gain a better understanding of the work that we do. We work in silos and are not always aware what our colleagues are doing on a daily basis.

The interview is with Abel Thulare, an Information Librarian who works in the Newspaper Cutting Section of the SABC Information Library. He works very close with SABC Television and Radio journalists and producers in ensuring that they get the most up-to-date information about any requested topic that they are working on.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. (Where you grew up, where and what you studied and your work experience before you joined the SABC Information Library)

Born in a small town called Sabie, in Mpumalanga Province. I moved to Tembisa at the age of two.  After completing my matric I studied B.Bibl. at the university of Pretoria which I completed (Former Rand Afrikaans University) now known as University of Johannesburg. I conducted my in-service training at the Kempton Park Public Library in 1998. In 2000 I worked as a Professional Library Assistant at St John’s College Library. I then went on to further my studies at Havatech-Pretoria where I studied IT (Programming) which I found very exciting & challenging. In 2002 I worked as a Junior Librarian at Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA). In 2004 I moved to the Council on Higher Education where I managed the Resource Centre. Between 2007 & 2008 I worked for two different companies Spar North Rand (Dry Goods Receiver/Checker) and ABI Midrand (Supervisor). I then moved to the SABC in June 2008 and to tell the truth I’m here to stay!

Well-well-well! I’m a good cook, baker and mechanic.

Please tell us about a normal day in your office. What material do you give priority to?

Scanning SABC Radio Bulletins dating back as far as the mid 1950’s.

Electronic cutting and pasting of current newspapers for preservation.

Providing efficient information to internal & external stakeholders as fast as lightning.

I sometimes man the book & magazine section if my colleagues are not around.

I try by all means to keep a balance of my chores.

Tell us more about your collection and the scope of material you need to preserve.

The Newspaper Cutting Section in the SABC Information Library has a collection of 3 200 000 newspaper articles. The following newspapers are ordered for this section: Beeld, Sowetan, Business Day, Star, Citizen, Mail and Guardian, Rapport, Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Sunday World and the City Press. Every day articles are scanned in on the Newbase System and then electronically cut, pasted and indexed.

We select the articles which are newsworthy, broadcast related or important to keep for our heritage.

Do you struggle with technical difficulties, and if so, what?

Of course yes! First of all it’s our email. I always use more of it to send information requests to internal & external stake holders.

If you have an anecdote about a specific piece of interesting information, please share it with us.

“We will make sure the men in blue end up in orange if they commit crime” Gen Bheki Cele. That’s a good one for me.

Tell us why you enjoy doing the work that you do.

It keeps me busy and up to date with what is happening around us.



Questions and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives

Newbase software for press monitoring services

The Newbase system is a software that conducts inhouse internet and press monitoring services.

The Newbase system helps us import, capture, assess, archive, research and output media information in the form of print, Internet articles, e-clips and PDF.

The newspaper articles can be accessed on the Newbase web and also directly from the Cutting Services in the SABC Information Library.

Abel Thulare, Newspaper Cutting Section, Information Library