Two years after the Jagger Fire
Explore the exhibitions held to commemorate the second year since the Jagger Fire. A collaborative initiative between UCT Libraries and DStv.
Whose copyright is that? Perpetual copyright and indigenous languages in archives
Copyright is a limited-time monopoly. Which is a fancy way of saying that it doesn’t last forever. Eventually, it expires. Except when it doesn’t. How many things in South African archives have perpetual copyright? So very many.
Fragments of the African Film Collection Survived the Fire
Initially believed to be entirely destroyed by fire, the AV team has recovered at least 850 titles of the original African Studies Film Collection. They were kept in VHS format and have now been digitised.
Published Collections: Our Ongoing Recovery - Nearly Two Years On
Nearly two years on, significant gains are evident during the recovery and rebuilding of our African Studies and Rare Books collections. Our goal is to enable access to users during this interim period, albeit in a small way.
Crate by Crate: Making Progress Visible in AV Recovery
The AV Archive (AVA) used to live in the basement of the Jagger Library. It was one of the first areas to be salvaged following the fire. As the water used to douse the flames accumulated in the basement, a decision was made to expedite...
Exploring architectural archives in recovery
Promoting public awareness of our rich architectural legacy at the University of Cape Town. The collections include the professional papers and project plans of 20th-century Cape Town architects.
A Labour of Love: Scrapbooks, Clippings, and the Preservation of Memory
Scrapbooks and albums are more than just collections of paper; they are carefully curated keepsakes of lives lived, moments cherished, and histories remembered.
Special Collections in Recovery – Four Years On
April 18, 2025, marks the 4th anniversary of the Jagger Library fire, and the past year has witnessed the relocation of Special Collections to a new premises and ongoing renewal in the form of steady rebuilding of services...
Special Collections
Special Collections is the preservation library and archive of UCT Libraries, with an array of rare holdings in a
range of formats.