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Life agter graduation day: The reality of the Information Industry

Siphethile Muswelanto, CSIR

CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), is a leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organisation in Africa. Employees are provided with a number of career options, and space to realise their potential in an environment that allows creativity and innovation, whilst fulfilling personal ambitions and goals. CSIR Research Space is a new initiative designed, built and implemented as a direct result of a global trend towards open access, which aims to make full use of a range of communication technologies. It is an open access database that has been designed with the desire to position CSIR as a major generator of knowledge and contributor to national development through its knowledge outputs. This paper aims to discuss how it has been like to be a graduate student fresh from university to being employed, then given the prospect to participate in successful projects like the CSIR Research Space. The paper will describe some of the advantages of being part of a rich learning environment, an environment made up of people who demonstrate collegiality, people that have a sense of community and a standard of excellence. Through experiences to be discussed the paper will show how the information industry has grown by highlighting current developments in the industry, applications and opportunities. Topics for discussion include

• Career development, encompassing current projects (CSIR Research Space)
• New applications (Open Access)
• Opportunities that have contributed to my growth.
• Challenges
• Expectations and experiences
• Lessons learnt (Can one learn from these)

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