This one-day satellite meeting will highlight the management and promotion of African special collections using the Bleek and Lloyd Collection* as an introduction and conceptual framework for further discussion.

* About the Bleek and Lloyd Collection: The University of Cape Town Libraries is the repository for a unique collection of material about the /Xam Bushmen, compiled by philologist, Dr. Wilhelm Bleek, and his sister-in-law, Lucy Lloyd, between 1870 and 1881. They worked with a series of Bushmen informants to record the language, stories, life-histories and way of life of the /Xam. An important part of the collection is the series of notebooks in which Bleek and Lloyd recorded this information, in the original language, most of which they then translated into English. There are also drawings made by the informants as well as other material including photographs, maps and ephemera.  A large portion of the notebooks and material from this collection has been digitised and is available online through the Libraries digital collections site.  The University also has a number of academic researchers and units that have engaged in various ways with the material. The National Library of South Africa in Cape Town and Iziko South African Museum also have collections of Bleek and Lloyd material. These collections are listed in Unesco's Memory of the World Register as documentary heritage of international importance.

Preliminary programme :

Managing and Promoting Special Collections in Africa: The Bleek-Lloyd Collection and Beyond   Chair: David Farneth (USA, Getty Research Institute)

Session 1.  The Bleek-Lloyd Collection.  Moderator: Krister Östlund (Sweden, Uppsala University)

• UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register: Nomination procedure, The Bleek-Lloyd Collection, and current nominations from Africa / Jan Bos (The Netherlands, National Library of The Netherlands).

• The Bleek-Lloyd Collection: History, Significance, Contents, Locations, Challenges, and Opportunities / Renate Meyer (South Africa, University of Cape Town).

• Digitising the Bleek-Lloyd Collection: Transformation, Limitation, Responsibility / Pippa Skotnes (South Africa, University of Cape Town).

• The ǀXam term ǀkā̍ïnya becomes the color term “green”: negotiation of meanings over 79 years / Matthias Brenzinger (CALDi – Centre for African Language Diversity, University of Cape Town)

• The Square Kilometre Array initiative in the context of the Bleek and Lloyd documents/John Parkington, representing Janette Deacon, Simon Hall, David Morris, Pam Christie, Russ Taylor, Jose de Prada and Neil Rusch.

Session 2. Managing African Collections.  Moderator: Fabiano Cataldo de Azevedo (Brazil, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro)

• L'état de conservation des collections de manuscrits en Afrique du Nord à travers d'expérience de la Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc [The state of manuscripts collections conservation in North Africa through experience of the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco / Hassan Aakki (National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco).

• Highlighting the training outcome of an African intellectual elite in AOF (Afrique Occidentale française) : the case of the "Cahiers William Ponty" Collection/ Mrs. Nafissatou Bakhoum Ndour (Senegal, IFAN).

• Challenges in Managing Heritage Collections in Africa: The Case of Rare / Julias Juma Ogega (Kenya, Col. Hugh Stoneham Collection Library at Kitale Museum).[not confirmed]

• Preserving African cultural heritage: issues and challenges for libraries and archives in Nigeria / Abiola Abioye (Nigeria, University of Ibadan). [not confirmed]

Session 3.  Africa in images.  Moderator: Isabel Garcia-Monge, (Spain, Spanish Bibliographical Heritage Union Catalogue)

• Captured on camera: a historical and archival appreciation of the Arthur Elliott Collection / Dr. Gustav Hendrich (South Africa, Western Cape Archives and Records Service).

• Working in and with African photo archives / Jürg Schneider and Rosario Mazuela (Switzerland, University of Basel).  The paper will be read by Paul Weinberg, Senior Curator of Visual Archives, University of Cape Town Library.

• Sharing Collections with the world: The Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African Photographs / Esmeralda Kale (USA, Northwestern University).

Session 4.  Providing access to African cultural heritage

A panel discussion exploring the cultural and political issues around providing access to African cultural heritage. (Participantsto be announced).

Please note: There will be no registration fee for this meeting, but pre-registration is essential as space is limited to 50 people. Lunch will not be provided, but a number of food and refreshment venues are available on campus.