Upcoming Event: The Canterbury Bibliotheca

Learn about the origins of some of Canterbury’s libraries and reading rooms. Damian Cairns, who cares for rare books and special collections in the Macmillan Brown Library, will share some gems from the University of Canterbury collection and explain the pivotal role The Canterbury Association, and its supporters, had in establishing libraries in Canterbury.

Items will be on display during the talk and if numbers / time permits there will be an opportunity for a tour of the stacks at the Macmillan Brown Library.

Where: University of Canterbury, Undercroft 101 (Beneath the Central Library on the Ilam Campus)

When: 2pm, Thursday November 2, 2023

RSVP: Please rsvp to cantage@gmail.com by 30th October

Parking: Paid parking is available on campus for visitors. Parking options and location of Library on map below.

The Lubeck Bible (1494) Gifted to the Canterbury Association by Arthur Philip Perceval.

Library (Puaka-James Hight) is circled and paid parking options marked.

Foundation of Geological Time

Celebrating William Smith’s famous geological map, ‘A delineation of the strata of England and Wales’

In celebration of the 200^th anniversary of the creation of Smith’s iconic work, and the recent ‘rediscovery’ of the University of Canterbury’s original copy donated by Robert Speight, the Macmillan Brown Library and the Geological Sciences Department warmly invite you to attend an open day exhibition and public lecture on Monday 20 July 2015.

Open day exhibition – This exhibition will feature the University of Canterbury’s incarnation of Smith’s map, significant related geological works from the university’s Rare Books Collection, geological samples, equipment and images. The exhibition will highlight the history of our map, it’s relation to Canterbury and the significance of the map to the development of geological sciences and geological mapping, past and present, at UC.

Public Lecture – Presented by Emeritus Professor Patrick De Deckker (Australian National University). Patrick recently attended the 200th anniversary celebrations for the Smith map in England and is a Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London. In 2007, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for ‘service to science through research and teaching’. His more than 200 publications give clear evidence of his interest in a broad range of topics with special emphasis on geological records of climate and environmental change, and the history of science. The UC map will be displayed in the foyer before and after the public lecture.

Event: Open day exhibition
Day: Monday 20 July 2015
Time: 10:30am – 4pm
Venue: Undercroft 101 (view map)
RSVP: No RSVP required

Event: Public Lecture
Day: Monday 20 July 2015
Time: 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Venue: A1, North Arts Lecture Theatre (view map)
RSVP: RSVP by Wednesday 15 July by replying to events@canterbury.ac.nz

University of Canterbury Library’s Tokyo War Crimes archive receives international recognition

The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Collection held in the Macmillan  Brown Library, University of Canterbury has been inscribed on the regional register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.  The collection is the first item from New Zealand  to receive this recognition on the Asia Pacific Register. Two items from NZ appear on the international register –  the Treaty of Waitangi and the Women’s Suffrage Petition.  The objectives of the MOW Programme are to facilitate preservation, access and awareness of the world’s documentary heritage.  Says Macmillan Brown Library Manager, Jill Durney, “Its international, regional and national registers recognise and draw attention to outstanding items of documentary heritage through a rigorous nomination process.”

The Tokyo War Crimes Trial collection – the Pacific’s equivalent of the Nuremberg Trials – contains almost 380 volumes and nearly 110,000 pages from the trial of Japanese war criminals held between April 1946 and November 1948. After the trial ended Justice Erima Harvey Northcroft, New Zealand’s representative on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), donated his nearly complete set of trial documents to the then University of Canterbury College.  The value of this gift has risen exponentially, as other copies of the material have dwindled, disintegrated and been lost over the ensuing years.

A proposal is currently being developed to digitally preserve the collection, a collaboration with the newly established UC Humanities Computing Unit.

Read the interview in the  University of Canterbury News or view the register

Find out more about the Tokyo War Crimes Trial Collection, and browse the inventory.

Cantage Quarterly – No. 2

Cantage Quarterly – No. 2

Where: MacMillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury
http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/mb/

When: Thursday December 11
3:00 pm start. Conclusion approx 5:00 pm.

What to expect: A behind the scenes tour of the MacMillan Brown Library. The MacMillan Brown Library has a varied and interesting collection of resources including their art collection, architectural drawings, audiovisual, and other special collections. Come and view storage facilities and learn more about how the collections are managed. There’s something for everyone!

Note: Limited to 15 people. First in, first served.