Recovery

The recovery of Special Collections is a long term plan to restore the world-class preservation library as far as possible. Recovery work is based in Maitland House 2, situated in Mowbray.

About

The Special Collections Department, which includes two units – Published and Primary – has respectively been engaged in various processes, specific to the collections, to ensure their recovery. Recovery work is based in Maitland House 2, situated in Mowbray.

For Published Collections this includes

Acquisition and cataloguing of new and donated books to rebuild the African Studies Library
Checking off all salvaged books on the cataloguing system, Primo, to mark them from ‘Lost in the fire’ to ‘Survived the 2021 Fire’.
Checking for mould while cataloguing of salvaged books
Shelving of all books so they are available
Digitisation of salvaged VHS-version of African Studies Film Collection

For Primary Collections

Ordering of crates to re-establish the collections in their order
Stocktake of all boxes of collections (some collections include hundreds of boxes)
Replacing folders and enclosures for all materials affected by water damage
Establishing losses in the archives and informing depositors and donors
Digitisation of AV archive

Key Moments

Official visit of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

Mr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology visited the Jagger Library site on 14 May 2021. UCT Chancellor Dr Moloi-Motsepe was amongst the VC led delegation.
Soot cleaning of the African Studies Periodicals

A focused Special Collections team worked hard to dust soot off salvaged materials from the African Studies Periodicals collection. Sooting cleaning took place off-campus at Meulenhof and the Library Learning Lounge situated on upper campus.
Removal of map cabinets from Jagger Library basement

The empty map cabinets were one of the last items removed from the Jagger Library's basement. They were transported to Maitland House, the new premises for Special Collections.
Jagger Library roof installation

The roof installation took place over a period of two months.
Relocation to Maitland House

From 1 July 2021, Special Collections began the relocation to a new home, Maitland House 2 in nearby Mowbray to embark on its recovery. The goal has shifted to rebuilding the collections that were destroyed, consolidating those that were separated in the salvage, ongoing rehabilitation of what was damaged and salvaged, and reconstituting the new archive and library.
Salvaging work inside the AC Jordan Building

The Special Collections team use classrooms inside AC Jordan Building to continue salvage processing work. The building was also used as a temporary storage location.