The COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into an extremely unusual period of standstill. In an attempt to deal with the situation with the social distancing measures in place, a ‘new normal’ emerged involving most ‘normal’ tasks such as teaching and learning, working, non-essential service provision taking place remotely. With the rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), many individuals across various sectors fear being replaced by technologies such as robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

Scholars in their recent publication: “COVID-19 and the Digital Transformation of Education: What Are We Learning on 4IR in South Africa?” described 4IR as “the blurring of lines between InfoTech and biotech” (Mhlanga & Moloi, 2020). So too, libraries face the challenge of keeping up with technology trends to remain relevant in an ever changing world. Therefore the ‘new normal’ provided an opportunity for librarians in particular to embrace 4IR to provide innovative support to the user community.

An academic librarian will be sharing best practices on how 4IR was integrated into library support services and the academic librarians’ experience during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The presentation be followed by a short open discussion.

Join the webinar on 30 October 2020, 14.30 – 15.15 CET
Check your timezone and save the date!

Speakers:

  • Dr. Zainab Ajab Mohideen (speaker)
  • Dr. Edmund Balnaves (facilitator)
  • Dr. Lynn Kleinveldt (moderator)

Audience: This session will be of interest to librarians and academics who wish to understand more about 4IR or are actively involved in embracing 4IR in teaching and learning.

Organiser: Lynn Kleinveldt – lynn.kleinveldt@gmail.com

Sponsored by: Information Technology Section