Each year, International Open Access Week is celebrated worldwide to promote the open sharing of knowledge and to inspire collective participation in making Open Access the new norm in research and scholarship. This year’s theme — “Community over Commercialisation” — reminds us that the true value of research lies not in profit, but in connection, collaboration, and equitable access to knowledge.
For the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA), this theme resonates deeply with our mission. As part of the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), ALSA is dedicated to preserving and sharing the human stories, scientific achievements, and cultural heritage that have shaped South Africa’s involvement in Antarctica, the Prince Edward Islands, Gough Island, and the Southern Ocean. By making this information freely available, ALSA strengthens the global and local research community and ensures that South Africa’s polar history remains accessible to all.
The ALSA Digital Repository – Preserving and Sharing Our Polar Heritage
Based at the Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, and funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) project plays a vital role in safeguarding the legacy of over 70 years of South African Antarctic expeditions. Beyond the scientific findings, these missions have produced an extraordinary collection of photographs, videos, maps, logbooks, journals, artworks, newspaper articles, and oral histories that document life and work in some of the world’s most remote environments.
ALSA collates, digitises, and archives these historical records — including out-of-print South African research articles and previously unpublished materials from governmental archives, museums, and university departments. Through this effort, ALSA ensures that these valuable resources are preserved for future generations and remain openly accessible to the public, educators, researchers, and the broader SANAP community.
Visitors can explore these rich collections through the ALSA digital repository, accessible via the project website: www.antarcticlegacy.org. The repository currently houses over 30,000 digital records, forming one of the most comprehensive collections of South Africa’s polar heritage.
Building Knowledge Through Community
In line with the 2025 Open Access Week theme, ALSA’s repository is built by the community, for the community. Each photograph, document, and story in our archive represents the collective contributions of researchers, support personnel, and their families who have been part of the South African Antarctic journey. By keeping this legacy open and accessible, ALSA not only honours their work but also invites others to engage, learn, and contribute to our shared understanding of the polar regions.
As we celebrate International Open Access Week 2025, ALSA reaffirms its commitment to community-driven knowledge sharing — ensuring that the stories, science, and history of South Africa’s polar legacy remain freely available to all who seek to explore, research, and preserve them.