Niven Library Manager, Susan Mvungi, holds a copy of the journal Antarctic Science in the Niven Library, below a painting of Sir Percy FitzPatrick, flanked by his daughter Cecily Niven (after whom the library is named) and her son Patrick Niven
Continuing with featuring South African institutions with polar connections, the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa earlier this month visited the University of Cape Town’s Niven Library, housed in the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology (affectionately known as the Fitztitute) within the Department of Biological Sciences.
“Situated at the tip of Africa, the Fitztitute is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the vast untapped biological resources of the continent. Members of the department are committed to developing a greater understanding of these, through the training of scientists and the pursuit of primary research, from evolutionary ecology to conservation biology. The Institute is also home to the Niven Library, which holds what is probably Africa’s most comprehensive ornithology collection and reprints of the Institute’s vast publication record.”
At the Niven (an old haunt of mine as I worked as a marine ornithologist in the Fitztitute from 1973 to 1996) I met with its Library Manager, Susan Mvungi, and discussed updating its entry in the Scott Polar Research Institute Polar Directory, now achieved (click here).
The Niven Library’s polar holdings consist of books, monographs, journals, newsletters, conference proceedings, postgraduate theses, maps and reprints dealing with Antarctica, sub-Antarctic islands and the Southern Ocean, especially south of Africa. Holdings are primarily scientific in nature but include some books of historical interest, going back to the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. Polar journal runs include Antarctic Science, British Antarctic Survey Bulletin, Polar Biology, Polar Record and the South African Journal of Antarctic Research.
The Niven Library is open to university staff and students but not to the public without prior application.
Previously, the polar collections of the Durban Natural History Museum and the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld have been featured by ALSA. More institutions to follow in the New Year.
Photographs by John Cooper.
John Cooper, Principal Investigator, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, Department of Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch University, 19 December 2016
