VUT Resources
Research stimulation funds are allocated to Faculties on an annual basis and are managed within the respective faculties. These valuable VUT resources are to be used by the university and its members, helping contribute toward crucial research in South Africa.
The VUT Library subscribes to about 25 online databases which can be accessed by all registered VUT staff and students. They contain bibliographic references to academic, peer-reviewed journal articles in your field of study, as well as references to theses, books and chapters which are not necessarily available in the library. Many of these databases also contain full-text articles which can be viewed, printed and downloaded. Examples of electronic resources that have reshaped choices include JSTOR, TDNet, SpringerLink, and aggregated databases produced by, EBSCO, Emerald Management Xtra and other Vendors.
VUT Goldfields LibraryA subject librarian is available to provide information services to the researcher/student. A subject librarian is a library staff member who has been formally assigned to be the primary contact person between the library and a particular Faculty. Their aim is to support, facilitate, and enhance research, study and teaching activities of students, academic staff and researchers in the Faculty. Subject Librarians undertake literature searches on a variety of databases, devising search strategies that are most appropriate for your research topic. Subject Librarians are available all day to assist with your research needs. Appointments may be made to avoid any disappointments. You may send your requests via e-mail or by phone to your Subject Librarian.
VUT ResearchA computer lab for post-graduate students is available in the library. The Library maintains a number of computers in the library. All the commonly used applications are installed in the post-graduate computer lab. All computers have access to the internet.
Large capacity printers and photocopiers are installed in the library. Students can load print credit and check their print credit balance in the Administration building. Lab assistants are available to perform general maintenance tasks and to keep the printers and computers up and running. As far as possible, a lab assistant will be available in the lab to answer general queries and to assist with basic software problems.
Language Editors for VUT
DigiResearch is the name for VUT’s institutional repository (IR) and includes electronic theses and dissertations online. The purpose of an Institutional Repository (IR) is to provide a suitable archival environment for the self-archiving of digital items, to facilitate easy access and to enhance research. DigiResearch will provide access to electronic theses and dissertations (ETD’s) through the library webpage, and will eventually include other scholarly publications.
Please click here to access DigiResearch
SATN in partnership with TIA and GTZ developed a database containing expertise, technologies and services available at Universities of Technology. People that need access to specialists and sophisticated instruments and equipment can locate them on this database.
Available instruments such as the following can found on this database:
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- Electron microscope
- 3D Printer
- Textile tension tester
- Five axis milling machine
- Autoclave
- Injection Moulding Machine
- 3D Body Scanner
- Light and Weather Fastness Machine
- Pastry Sheeter
- Spectrophotometer
- Centrifuge
- Spectrometer
- Thermal Camera
Kindly satn_brochure a brochure for more information regarding this database.
Please click here to access the Database of Technologies and Services,
Oasis Open Access is the immediate, online, free availability of research outputs without the severe restrictions on use commonly imposed by publisher copyright agreements. It concerns the outputs that scholars normally give away free to be published – peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers and datasets of various kinds. Institutions benefit from having a management information tool that enables them to assess and monitor their research programmes, and they have a marketing tool that enables them to provide a shop window for their research efforts.
Scholars works can gain instant worldwide visibility, and they also gain from research is available on an Open Access basis for them to access freely and read. The online content is intended to provide training and resources for anyone or institutions who wish to provide open access to their research publications.
Please click here to access the Open Access Scholarly Source Book
Several software programmes are available at the Research Directorate to support research. These programmes are available to all staff and postgraduate students:
Endnote
EndNoteEndNote is an industry standard software package for managing and publishing bibliographies on both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh platforms. It can help you find citations and format them. It can import records from major databases, and compile them into a complete bibliography. It can format in-text citations, footnotes, and full bibliographies using any one of over 2,800 bibliographic styles. In short, EndNote can help you with just about anything you would wish to accomplish in terms of citations or bibliographies.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
Turnitin
Turnitin is an online service used by educators to identify elements of plagiarism within student work. The service enables lecturers to submit student assignments to Turnitin where they are checked against Turnitin’s database of resources including books, articles, internet sites and previously submitted student papers, for originality and plagiarism. Lecturers receive an online Originality Report for each submission highlighting areas of concern.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
Available from the Library
SPSS
SPSS is a computer program used for statistical analysis. It is used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing organizations and others. Among its features are modules for statistical data analysis, including descriptive statistics such as plots, frequencies, charts, and lists, as well as sophisticated inferential and multivariate statistical procedures like analysis of variance (ANOVA), factor analysis, cluster analysis, and categorical data analysis. SPSS is particularly well-suited to survey research, though by no means is it limited to just this topic of exploration.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
Atlas.Ti:
The next milestone in professional qualitative data analysis.
ATLAS.ti is one of the most powerful tools for qualitative research. Managed documents, multi-document view, high-performance multimedia engine, intuitive margin-area coding for all data types, and much more.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
Design Expert:
Make breakthrough improvements to a product or a process with Design-Expert software. You can not only screen for vital factors, but also locate ideal process settings for top performance and discover optimal product formulations. Now handle hard-to-change factors with split plots.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
Grammarly:
Grammarly is the world’s most accurate grammar checker
Grammarly is trusted by students, professional writers, business people, bloggers, and people who just want to write better. No matter what your writing situation is, Grammarly adapts to your needs, giving you the confidence of mistake-free writing every time you write.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
Nvivo:
NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) computer software package produced by QSR International. It has been designed for qualitative researchers working with very rich text-based and/or multimedia information, where deep levels of analysis on small or large volumes of data are required.
This software is available from the Research Directorate from Ms Dorcas Kgekoane on dorcask@vut.ac.za
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