Ball remembered at conference

The South African Institute of Tribology has instituted The Tony Ball Memorial Session in memory of the late A-rated scientist who headed UCT's materials engineering department at UCT.

According to the organisers, Ball made a major contribution to local and international tribology (according to the dictionary, the science of the mechanisms of friction, lubrication and wear of interacting surfaces that are in relative motion). It is this legacy that will be honoured.

The United Kingdom's Dr Richard Wellman and Professor Margaret Slack have prepared a comprehensive session on UCT's materials depertment and its ongoing contribution to the field.

The Tribology 2004 conference (the eighth in this string of international events) will be held from March 24 to 26 at the University of Pretoria Conference Centre.

Gool lecture series

Dr Selim Gool will present a lecture series on the Abduraghman/Gool family, the first of these, Dr Abduraghman and the Politics of Choice, on March 2, followed by Councillor Mrs Z "Cissie" Gool and the Politics of Confrontation on March 23, The "Young Turks" - Goolam, Jane and Halima Gool (et al) and the Politics of Hope: The Challenges of a New Genration, on March 30 and on April 13 A Critical Evaluation of the Strategies and Politics of the Above. The lectures will be held at the District Six Foundation's Memorial Hall annex, at 25A Buitenkant Street at 18h30 for 19h00 until 21h00.

Oxford online

UCT staff and students can now access a comprehensive collection of Oxford's acclaimed reference titles without leaving their desks.

Go directly to http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/global.html or follow the link from the databases list on the UCT libraries' web page.

UCT's subscription to Oxford Reference Online for 2004 gives the university community access to the Core Collection.

This contains about 100 dictionary and language and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. It is a fully indexed, cross-searchable database of these books, giving unprecedented access to a comprehensive information resource.

With a variety of subjects on the databases, the collection continues to grow with the following titles being added in February 2004:

A Dictionary of Weights, Measures and Units by Donald Fenna

This comprehensive dictionary provides clear definitions of all units, prefixes and styling of the Système International (SI), as well as industry-specific and traditional terms currently in use.

An A-Z of Food and Drink by John Ayto

From Absinthe to Zabaglione, this is a lively and authoritative guide to over 1 300 gastronomic terms.

A Dictionary of British Place-Names by A D Mills

This dictionary gives the meaning and origin of place names in the British Isles, tracing their development from earliest times to the present day.