Libraries and Learning Services
Care for items in an archive is more than just ensuring there is a secure room and a shelf to sit on. The environmental conditions must be appropriate; handling should be done with care, and material needs to be findable—all elements to ensure those archives will be safe and assessable into the future. Read more…
Special Collections is thrilled to have Colin McCahon’s 1959 painting Landscape through a Victorian window on display in the Reading Room.Read more…
This imagined day in the life of the library, written for the University’s 140th anniversary this year, is based on sources mainly in Special Collections.Read more…
28 October 2022 marks the anniversary of the signing of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene: the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand in 1835. Te Pūtake o te Riri, He Rā Maumahara, or the National Day of Commemoration for the New Zealand Wars, is commemorated on the same date. Read more…
Fakatalofa atu – welcome to Vaiaso o te ‘Gana Tuvalu -Tuvalu Language Week, which includes Tuvalu Independence Day on 1 October. This year’s theme is fakatumau kae fakaakoi tau ‘gana ke mautu a iloga o ‘ta tuā – preserve and embrace your language to safeguard our heritage identities. Read more…
He mihi tēnei ki a koutou katoa i runga i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Haere mai ki Te Tumu Herenga ki te whakanui i tō tātou reo rangatira. Nō reira, kia kaha te reo Māori.Read more…
The Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound (AMPS) has been around for a long time, gathering and caring for recordings from all around Aotearoa and throughout the span of the Pacific, and providing access to those recordings to communities and researchers. Read more…
‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Language week kicks off from Sunday 30 July to Saturday 5 August 2023. In the latest 2018 Census, 80,532 people of Cook Islands descent live in Aotearoa and 46,668 people of Cook Islands live in Tamaki Makaurau.Read more…
The University of Auckland art collection is a significant part of Cultural Collections, and we are extremely excited to have a painting from the collection recently installed in the Special Collections Reading Room, Ground Floor, General Library.
The painting, ‘In the Lee of a Looted Island’ (1966), is by Don Binney and has recently been returned from having some routine conservation. Read more…
To mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of Auckland University College (AUC), Special Collections goes back into the classroom to look at university teaching before PowerPoint, Zoom and Canvas.Read more…
This week is International Archives Week, marking the foundation of the International Council of Archives (ICA), under the auspices of UNESC0, on 9 June 1948. This year the event also celebrates 75 years of the ICA’s work to promote the importance of records and archives and the work of those who care for them.Read more…
To mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of Auckland University College (AUC), Special Collections has taken a closer look at the appointment and careers of the first four professors.Read more…
Sleeping porches were a fashionable feature of homes designed at the turn of the 20th century. See an example in a Titirangi ‘summer cottage’ in the final Special Collections Twenty at 20 series story. Read more…
Intriguing item no. 19 is a 1965 exhibition catalogue that contextualises an Auckland artist’s work, provides a snapshot of the gallery scene and wonderfully evokes the era. Read more. Read more…
Paul Beadle is probably best known as an influential sculptor, artist and first Dean of the Elam School of Fine Art. What is less well known is that he served with the Royal Navy as a submariner and navy artist. Dive deeper in the latest Twenty at 20 story. Read more…
Special Collections holds medical records requiring researchers to be patient. To learn why, read story number 17 in the Twenty at 20 series. Read more…
This correspondence register was made in Sydney, used in Port Vila, stored in Suva and shipped around the world twice before coming to Special Collections with the Western Pacific Archives in 2002. Somewhere on its travels it was eaten by beetle larvae. Discover more about its journey in the latest Special Collections Twenty at 20 story. Read more…
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators have selected some intriguing items for the Twenty at 20 series. No 15 examines an idyllic watercolour of a large country house at Turakina.Read more…
Ni sa bula! Welcome to Fiji Language Week Macawa Ni Vosa Vakaviti which runs from 3-9 October. Read more…
A Special Collections copy of the report on the 1939 Young Māori Conference held at Auckland University College differs from the standard version. Story number 14 in the Twenty at 20 series explains why.Read more…
Discover six things about Tuvalu and explore resources, including documentaries on the impact of climate change. Read more…
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators have selected some intriguing items for the Twenty at 20 series. Here is number 13. Written in lea faka-Tonga This 1912 letter announcing the baptism of Princess Elisiva FusipalaRead more…
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators share item number twelve, our favourite piece of ephemera: a 1948 Ashes football test match souvenir programme. Read more…
August 15, 2022 will mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, or the 75th Year of Independence Day of India. Independence Day commemorates the end of British rule and the establishment of a free and independent Indian nation.Read more…
What links kittens, Crunchies, and a Victorian portrait album? Read the latest Special Collections Twenty at 20 story to find out.Read more…
Back in the winter of 1958, historian Sir Keith Sinclair proposed the University of Auckland follow Canterbury University’s lead in establishing a special series of lunchtime lectures on topics that could be addressed by speakers from a range of departments and faculties. Make a cup of tea and begin to explore almost 40 years’ worth of free public lectures.Read more…
What was this ingenious 17th century revolving book diagram used for? Read the latest Special Collections Twenty at 20 story to find out.Read more…
Te Tumu Herenga | Libraries and Learning Services commemorates Mervyn McLean for the enduring legacy that he has left behind, in light of the news of his passing away 8 July 2022.Read more…
To mark this year’s 20th anniversary of Special Collections, the curators share item number nine, geographer Kenneth Cumberland’s Swanndri jacket which he wore on the 1980s television series Landmarks.Read more…
Notable Auckland architect Daniel B. Patterson’s letter book provides insights into his clients, contractors and collaborators. Read more in the eighth story in the Twenty at 20 series. Read more…
Te Tumu Herenga’s TV and Radio service is undergoing a few changes as we seek to make wise use of our resources and better align our service with Waipapa Taumata Rau’s IT strategy. Read more…
Many of the archival collections in the care of Special Collections have been part of Te Tumu Herenga | Libraries and Learning Services for much longer than two decades. Among these is the William Steadman Aldis papers, gifted to the Library in 1940 by his youngest daughter Amy Letitia Aldis.Read more…
The sixth story in the Twenty at 20 series is an election sweetener. A Labour-red lollipop was handed out to students in the Quad in 2002 and is the only confectionary item in Special Collections. Read more…
Special Collections has mounted an exhibition, James Joyce: in his wake, that highlights several works by the Irish modernist writer, including Ulysses, some early poetry and his final novel, Finnegans Wake. The exhibition also features writing, music, fine printing and art inspired by Joyce’s unique voice.Read more…
Tālofa! Susū mai! Afio mai! Maliu mai! Welcome to Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa – Samoan Language Week, Sunday 29 May-Saturday 4 June 2022, including Samoa’s 60th year of Independence on Wednesday 1 June 2022. Read more…
Tapa notebook poetry project: ‘Issa gift(s) that keeps on giving’. The fifth story in the Twenty at 20 series explores spoken word poet, Zechariah Soakai’s ‘tapa notebook’. The notebook is inspired by other poets’ work held in Special Collections.Read more…
Colin McCahon drawings identified in the James Hackshaw architectural papers helped to authenticate windows at a Rotorua school. Learn more in the fourth Twenty at 20 series article.Read more…
Title pages were once very crowded with lengthy descriptive text. The third story in the Twenty at 20 series examines the book in the Special Collections stacks with the wordiest title page. Read more…
Have you ever sat in a classroom in one of the University’s older buildings and wondered about the staff and students who came before you? We take a step back in time to reflect on student life in the 1920s.Read more…
Students managing their complicated timetables this semester will be surprised by the simplicity of the first lecture timetable after the University’s opening in May 1883, our second 20th anniversary of Special Collections Twenty at 20 item.Read more…
Special Collections is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a programme of exhibitions, stories, talks and events. This collection of illuminated manuscript fragments was gifted to the University by Emeritus Professor Frank R. Horlbeck, Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin – Madison.Read more…
45 years ago, the Ōrākei Māori Action Committee, led by Joe Hawke, began the occupation of Takaparawhā | Bastion Point reserve to protest the Government’s plan to subdivide the land for private housing developmentRead more…
Wednesday 17 November 2021 marks 100 years since Robert Jack made New Zealand’s first radio broadcast featuring speech and music. Listen to the first broadcast and hear about these early days of radio.Read more…
Welcome to Te vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau, Tokelau Language Week 24 – 30 October 2021. This year’s theme is Tokelau! Tapui tau gagana ma tau aganuku, i te manaola ma te lautupuola which means Tokelau! Preserve your language and culture, to enhance spiritual and physical wellbeing. Read more…
To mark Niue Language week, Special Collections are pleased to provide online access to a petition sent by Patu-iki Togia-Pule-toaki to the British High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, in October 1899.Read more…
Tuesday 12 October 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of New Zealand’s first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) general election.Read more…
![Architectural drawing of Auckland University College Arts Building [University of Auckland ClockTower] (sheet 8), Lippincott Collection (LP2).](https://www.news.library.auckland.ac.nz/files/2021/09/clocktower-lippincott-wordpress-feature-image-option01.jpg)
2021 marks 100 years since Roy Lippincott and Edward Billson won the competition to design the University’s first significant purpose-built building, now known as the ClockTower.Read more…
Interested in studies about books, authors, publishing, readers and related topics? Registrations are open for the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand 2021 virtual conference, 22-23 November. Read more…
To mark Tonga Language Week 2021, the Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound presents the first two episodes of the AMPS 50th Anniversary Podcast, a series of talanoa (conversations) with five significant academics from the University of Auckland. Read more…
The Library is marking the 40th anniversary of the controversial 1981 Springbok tour with a display that captures the passions the tour provoked.Read more…
The 32 atolls and coral islands that form the Republic of Kiribati are most often associated with the immediate impacts of global climate change and rising sea levels. However, Kiribati also has a unique oral tradition, art and culture.Read more…
The New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre went live 20 years ago on 20 July 2001, making it one of the country’s longest-running poetry hubs.Read more…
Chiara Corbelletto’s ‘Twins’ (2003) have now found a new home at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS), making way for the new Recreation Centre on the City Campus.Read more…
30 May to 6 June 2021 is Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa – Sāmoan Language Week. Explore all the ways in which you can celebrate Sāmoan Language Week with Te Tumu Herenga.Read more…
Watch a range of ANZAC documentaries within TV and Radio, drawn together into a playlist by Media Services. Read more…
A pirate ship cabaret and tearooms is one of the treasures housed in a collection of architectural drawings by architect S S Alleman (1901-1978).Read more…
James Hector (1834-1907) was a leading scientist and administrator in Aotearoa. For Hector Day, Special Collections highlights a handwritten note by Hector left in a zoological journal.Read more…
The papers of Robin Hyde, held by Special Collections, and the Alexander Turnbull Library, have been inscribed on UNESCO’s New Zealand Memory of the World Register. Special Collections is marking this occasion with the exhibition ‘torrents of amber’.Read more…
The stacks in Special Collections contain countless items that deserve close inspection by researchers. Here are a few that caught the eye of Special Collections staff during 2020.Read more…
The architectural drawings collection of W. Philcox and Sons provides a unique insight into an Auckland building firm from the turn of the 20th century. Search the new collection listing.Read more…
A personal library is more than the sum of the books a person owned. The books we keep can provide unique insights into our life story.Read more…
Celebrate Tokelau Language Week. Consult the Tokelau Dictionary online and explore other Tokelau related resources held by Te Tumu Herenga.Read more…
45 years after the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal, we reflect on its position in Aotearoa New Zealand society.Read more…
Supporting the International Year of Plant Heath; discover Special Collections resources about our native trees and plants, mātauranga and forestry.Read more…
Rennie Atfield-Douglas chose artwork that would get people thinking to display at our new campus in South Auckland.Read more…
Learn some fun Tongan phrases and enjoy our collection highlights including artwork, music, documentaries and PhD research.Read more…
Welcome to Cook Islands Language Week. Celebrate Cook Island culture by exploring the maps, letters, old records and research we have curated.Read more…
Watch the playlist and explore selected resources as you celebrate Kiribati Language Week.Read more…
Help future researchers by contributing your pandemic experiences and activities to our Covid-19 archive.Read more…
A series of photographs are hanging in the Special Collections Reading Room in the General Library. Read their backstories and discover more about Cultural Collections.Read more…
To celebrate the milestone, we’ve compiled a New Zealand music playlist which has something for everyone.Read more…
View the display Celebrating 50 years of the Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound, 1970 – 2020, at Special Collections in the General Library until Friday 3 April.Read more…
The Fine Arts and Architecture and Planning collections are in their new home in the Library. Visit the General Library and view the new locations.Read more…
View the artists’ books display at Special Collections in the General Library until Friday 6 March.Read more…
Replacing tape splices on reel-to-reel magnetic tapes is a fiddly but critical task to ensure rare recordings can be preserved and digitised.Read more…
