SOUTH AFRICA
We need to move beyond talking about the fourth industrial revolution and translate this into action. If we don’t embrace it, we’ll ultimately fail.
This is the view of Isak van der Walt, Digital Scholarship Centre and MakerSpace manager at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, on the recent introduction of a client service robot in its library.
The robot, known as ‘Libby’, is the first of its kind known to be employed in any university library in Africa and is part of the University of Pretoria’s Department of Library Services’ drive to become a 21st century service centre.
Part of strategic plan
“We’re implementing our strategic plan and Libby is just a part of this,” explains Van der Walt. “We’re actively busy with this [digital integration], it’s not planning phase anymore.”
According to a university statement, Libby weighs 19 kg and is…
