News Releases

UWI shares 4,500 books with other universities

For Release Upon Receipt - March 18, 2008

St. Augustine


The University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine Campus Libraries are spearheading an initiative to share a collection of over 4,000 items with other universities in the region. The UWI Libraries received the collection (3,964 books, 535 serial titles and 26 newspapers) as a donation from the Library for Caribbean Research collection of the New York-based Research Institute for the Study of Man (RISM).

The UWI St Augustine Campus first shared an electronic catalogue of the available material with UWI campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and the UWI Open Campus. Later, the e-catalogue was shared with the libraries of the University of Guyana and the University of Trinidad and Tobago. The items have been requested by these universities account for about 30 per cent of the collection; those items are now being sorted for distribution. The RISM donation will strengthen these libraries in the areas of West Indian history, anthropology, economics and West Indian literature.

University Librarian, Professor Margaret Rouse-Jones, who is based at UWI St Augustine Campus Main Library, also revealed plans to make some of the remaining materials available to students and staff of the St. Augustine Campus.

The University of the West Indies received the items in 2006, when RISM transferred its library holdings, research collections and archives to the New York University Bobst Library, leading to duplicate copies in the collection. It was thought fitting that the St. Augustine Campus should receive the materials because RISM, which was founded in 1955 by Vera Rubin, has had a long association with the Trinidad and Tobago through collaboration with UWI in the conduct of research.

The University Librarian and other staff at the St. Augustine Campus Libraries worked closely with the American Foundation for The University of the West Indies (AFUWI) and the Executive Director of the RISM to effect the transfer of the materials. Support from Trinbago Express Shippers, who sponsored the cost of shipping the books from New York to Trinidad and Tobago, and from the St. Augustine Campus Bursar’s Office ensured the safe and cost-effective delivery of the collection to all the libraries.

RELATED IMAGE CAPTION : Professor E. Nigel Harris, Vice Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI) and Professor Margaret Rouse-Jones, University Librarian.

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