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Access to the Special Collections

The Collections are open to registered postgraduate students and staff of The University of the West Indies and to visiting researchers.

Researchers can identify those items they wish to consult from printed guides and in-house databases; the books (including some of the rare books) are accessible via the Library's online catalogue. Researchers are required to consult the material in the Special Collections Reading Room. Researchers are allowed to bring only pencil, paper and/or a laptop computer into the Reading Room; erasers are not permitted.

Only one folder or book can be consulted at any one time.

Reprographic Services 

PRICING INFORMATION

Hours of consultation

Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Researchers wishing to consult Rare Books and Special Collections after 4:30.p.m. must obtain prior permission from the librarian(s) in WISC.

Donating your personal or family papers to the Alma Jordan Library

When you donate your personal papers to the UWI Alma Jordan Library, your family history becomes a part of the national and regional community’s collective memory.

The West Indiana & Special Collection Division’s staff carefully preserves collections of written, visual, and audio material created by private citizens both past and present. They ensure that these personal and family papers will be available for research by generations to come. The first priority of the staff is the preservation of historical materials. We can discuss with you the historical value of your papers. In addition, once you donate papers, the staff will continue to work with you as you locate or identify other materials to donate.

If your personal or family papers are deemed appropriate for our Special Collections, and you agree to donate them, you stand to gain many benefits. In our West Indiana & Special Collections Division, we store the papers in environmentally controlled, secure rooms and oversee their proper handling and use. Equally important, we provide research access to the contents of the papers, both to you and to the scholarly public. In future years, researchers, including students, professors, genealogists, journalist and many others, may thus find your papers both interesting and of value to their work.

Most repositories accept donations of as little as a single item and as large as dozens of boxes. However, at The University of the West Indies, we are more interested in a coherent body of material. Literary manuscripts must be carefully labeled with clearly identified titles, drafts, etc. If apart from text the material is in other formats, for example, photographs, tapes, films, these must also be clearly captioned, labeled and identified. We must evaluate all material offered and ask you to sign a donation agreement before accepting the materials. Do contact the Special Collections Librarian before weeding, discarding, or reorganizing your papers and records. Material should not be dropped off without first consulting the staff.

The Following is a list of the types of materials that are often valuable to a researcher. This list, which is suggestive and not definitive, illustrates the wide range of documentation often useful for historical and administrative research:

*Letters
*Memoirs/ Reminiscences
*Diaries
*Scrapbooks/ Photo Albums
*Professional Papers
*Genealogical Information
*Speeches/ Lectures
*Business Records
*Subject files
*Legal documents
*Minutes/ Reports
*Brochures & Flyers
*Photographs (labelled)
*Films/ Videos/ Audio Tapes (labelled)

Also of interest are files relating to your civic, business, religious, political, and social activities. Churches, political organizations, businesses, economic interest groups, community groups, voluntary associations, professional associations, and other collective enterprises all produce records which document their purpose, policies, and activities. An individual or family may hold the records of such a business or organization, and this material, too, may be significant.

The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, cannot accept everything that may be offered. However, the Librarian welcomes the chance to review material. If it is not appropriate for our Special Collections, there may be other libraries to which it could be referred, for example the National Archives or the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS). Some material, though, may be of more sentimental than historical value, and should be kept by the individual or family itself.

Donations:
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus can only invest materials and labour in the preservation of items which it owns. It will not normally accept individual or family papers on deposit or on loan. You will be asked to sign a donation agreement, which formally signifies that the papers become the actual property of the University of the West Indies.

Access to Collections:
The Alma Jordan Library does not allow materials from its Special Collections to be removed from the library. In order to ensure that they are preserved as long as humanly possible, access to donated papers is governed by the Library’s written policies regarding availability, and photo duplication. You may however discuss special needs or concerns with the Librarian before completing the donation agreement.

Restriction on Access:
While we desire to make all papers freely accessible to researchers, we will agree to reasonable and equitable restrictions for limited periods of time.

Copyright:
Assignment of copyright is often complex, and you should work with the Special Collections Librarian to clarify issues of copyright ownership. Generally, copyright belongs to the creator of writings and other material (such as photos and music), but can be legally transferred to heirs to others. Moreover, ownership of copyright is separable from ownership of the physical item (the letter of photo). We may ask you to donate not only the physical papers but also any copyright in them that you might own.

These guidelines are adapted from those published by the Society of American Archivists. The Guide was prepared by the Manuscript Repositories Section of the Society of American Archivists. © 1994 by the Society of American Archivists. All rights reserved.

© The Society of American Archivists info@archivists.org

Contact us

Dr. Glenroy Taitt
Head, West Indiana and Special Collections

Tel.: (868) 662-2002 Ext. 3365/ 3361
E-mail: Glenroy.Taitt@sta.uwi.edu

Ms. Karen Eccles
Divisional Librarian, West Indiana & Special Collections

Tel.: (868) 662-2002 Ext. 3506/ 3361
E-mail: Karen.Eccles@sta.uwi.edu

Ms. Lorraine Nero
Special Collections Librarian

Tel.: (868) 662-2002 Ext. 3599/ 3361
E-mail: Lorraine.Nero@sta.uwi.edu