The South African ''South East Academic Libraries System'', commonly known as SEALS, was conceptualized in 1998 as a regional library cooperative, and fully constituted in 1999 as a regional consortium, under the auspices of the Eastern Cape Higher Education Association (ECHEA) in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
.
Purpose
“The vision of SEALS is to create a virtual library for the Eastern Cape to promote and enhance information literacy, education, research, and economic development for all who need it.”.
History
At various stages since 1992, higher educational consortia were formed to foster collaboration between the various previously disparate tertiary institutions. One of these consortia was the Eastern Cape Higher Education Association (ECHEA). These consortia aimed at consolidation efforts in increasing capacity and value within the regions. In this regard academic library consortia were established, with the South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) cooperative of specific interest to the Eastern Cape region.
The original consortium member institutions were the library services of the eight tertiary institutions in the Eastern Cape,
including:
Fort Hare
Fort Hare was an 1835 British-built fort on a rocky outcrop at the foothills of the Amatola Mountains; close to the present day town of Alice, Eastern Cape in South Africa.
History
Originally, Fort Hare was a British fort in the wars between ...
,
Port Elizabeth Technikon, Border Technikon,
Vista University
Vista University, South Africa was established in 1981 by the apartheid government to ensure that urban black South Africans seeking tertiary education would be accommodated within the townships rather than on campuses reserved for other populatio ...
,
Eastern Cape Technikon,
Rhodes University
Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...
,
University of Port Elizabeth, and the
University of Transkei. Although established in 1998, the consortium was formally recognised as an academic library consortium in 1999, The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endowed funds to SEALS in 2000 to implement a single shared library management system for all member institutions within SEALS.
In 2004 the higher education environment in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
was restructured, realigning the previously advantaged and disadvantaged institutions. Some of the eight member institutions of the SEALS consortium merged to form the
Walter Sisulu University,
Rhodes University
Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...
, the
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Nelson Mandela University (formerly known as ''Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)'' ) and before that - the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), the Port Elizabeth Technikon and Vista University's Port Elizabeth campus. This South Af ...
and the
University of Fort Hare
The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across s ...
.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Academic libraries in South Africa
Library consortia