Abstract

GARABA, Francis. The demise of the Lutheran Theological Institute Library and Archives in retrospect - Reflections of a Manuscript Librarian in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Missionalia (Online) [online]. 2018, vol.46, n.3, pp.355-366. ISSN 2312-878X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.7832/46-3-251.

The closure of an information centre - be it a library, archives or a museum - should be a cause for concern for the information professional, considering that information available in these centres may be risky, particularly when there is a joint ownership which ends due to conflict. This leaves the record vulnerable, both physically and electronically. To compound the situation, the lack of a proper transition mechanism to oversee that library and archives equipment (with the information from these centres) is handed over to the new custodians of the material, for temporary storage, has far reaching consequences in terms of access and preservation. The dramatic scenes that ensued at the Lutheran Theological Institution's (LTI) Library and Archives are worth documenting for the benefit of sister institutions and for the information sector in general, particularly in situations where conflict is concerned as was the case here. The demise of LTI was an unmitigated disaster owing largely to internal dissension. Teijgeler (2006), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2017) and Ngulube (2018) acknowledged that like many other forms of cultural heritage, documentary works are under constant threat of destruction due to a number of reasons, and conflict was singled out as was the case at the LTI Library. However, a number of lessons can be learnt from this debacle and a few will be highlighted here. Firstly, faith-based collections (religious archives) need to be legislated like their counterparts' - public archives. Secondly, sister institutions need to ensure that both records and archives management functions are harmonised to minimise over-reliance on donors for material in the archives.

Keywords : Pietermaritzburg Cluster of Theological Libraries; collection management; Library and Information Science; professional associations; conflict; faith-based collections; catalogue; information professional; archives.

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