2010

Since SA won the bid for the Soccer World Cup, 2010 was presented as a magical year, a watershed year. Maybe we shall use the phrases "before 2010" and "after 2010" in future. Who knows?

During the holidays I watched the movie Invictus. The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of the South African rugby team, Franscois Pienaar, to help unite our country during the Rugby World Cup in 1995. I left the movie theatre with a prayer on my lips that we as a nation, might experience the same magic during 2010.

For you as a person, my wish is that you will remember 2010 as a year in which the good times exceeded the bad times by far and that every day will have a little bit of magic. Maybe we only need to learn to look for the magic around us, in the gratitude of a student, the cameradie of a colleague and the wonder of new beginnings and opportunities.

The poem, Invictus, that inspired Mandela in prison and which he shared with Franscois Pienaar as motivation, ends with the words "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." May you also remember 2010 as the year in which you contributed to take this organization to new heights by the decisions you made, the positive energy you released, the professional service you delivered and the personal growth you experienced. I want to thank you in advance. It is a priviledge to work with you and you are part of the reason why I am looking forward to 2010 with expectation.

A challenge

In the latest Online, William Badke published a letter from a student in which he described the research process he followed to complete an assignment. Although it made me smile, it poses a definite challenge to all information specialists preparing for information literacy training. I want to reiterate Badke's challenge that our training should not only be to teach students how to use the tools but that students should discover that research is fun. If we can help them understand why they are doing it, namely to discover and solve problems and not simply to get a pass rate, our information literacy training will really add value.

Badke, W. (2009). The Great Research Disaster. Online, 33(6), p 48-50.

Introduction

This is simply a test and will be expanded. Watch this space