UKZN Library’s Special Collections Hosts Eswatini Delegates

Forty delegates from the National Archive of Eswatini and other departments recently visited the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Library’s Special Collections. 

Organised by the Eswatini Archives in collaboration with UKZN Library’s Special Collections the visit aimed to share skills in archiving, digitisation, cataloguing, and museum and gallery management.

During the visit, delegates were introduced to various equipment and resources used in the UKZN Library’s Special Collections, including microfilms, microfiche, audio cassette converters, multiple scanners, accession registers, inventories, and online catalogues. They engaged with UKZN Library’s Special Collections staff members on topics such as the preservation of special collections, internal environmental management, stack management, preventative measures, disaster management, climate change, and other issues impacting rare collections in South Africa and Eswatini.

The visit included a tour of the Killie Campbell Collections and the Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre. 

Delegates were enthusiastic about exploring the different library collections and museum artefacts and appreciated learning about the University’s library strategy on digitisation and heritage management in South Africa.

Inspired by their experience at the UKZN Library’s Special Collections, delegates were eager to apply their newly acquired technical skills in their own country and expressed their intent to visit South Africa again.

Words and photograph: Senzo Mkhize