Science Library
The Science Library is a special library located within the Natural History Museum of Jamaica. It is mandated to stimulate an interest in science. It is open to the public and consists of over ten thousand volumes and an audiovisual facility.
The Science Library houses a reference collection of over 10,000 titles including rare publications, on Jamaica’s flora and fauna. The Library is open to the general public; the facilities are often used by visiting researchers, students of secondary and tertiary institutions and professional staff members of the Natural History Museum of Jamaica. The opening hours are: Monday - Thursday 9:00- 4:30 and Friday 9:00 - 3:30.
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NHMJ Library.
Collection, Rare Book.
Collection, Rare Book.
History
The Legislative Council in the early 19th century accumulated a collection of science books, particularly botanical books.
In 1879, when the Institute of Jamaica was established, the Legislative Council, reckoning the institution as the appropriate body for such holdings donated the collection to them. Since then, the library has grown with personal writings and contributions of the NHMJ research and scientific staff, as well as through the donations and select purchase of key biodiversity publications and is an integral part of the functions and activities of the NHMJ, being as it is one of the main information dissemination centers for the division.
Objectives
The Science Library is an integral part of the functions and activities of the Natural History Museum of Jamaica, being as it is one of the main information dissemination services for the division.
The main aims and objectives of the Science Library are as follows:
• Provides a wide array of resource materials on the natural history of Jamaica.
• Provides scope to the biodiversity issues.
• Maintaining an effective and efficient collection of resource materials on the flora and fauna of Jamaica.
• Reflects past and current areas of biodiversity research in its collection.
The Collection
The Science Library hosts a collection of materials, these are:
• Open Shelf Books
• Reference Collection
• Special/Rare Books
• Journals/Periodicals
• Pamphlets
• Newspaper clippings
• Audiovisuals –DVDs, CD-ROMs, Slides
• Photographs
• Paintings/Drawings
Open Shelf Books
The open shelf book collection contains a wide variety of subjects and topics. The subjects range from economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, sociology, biology, geology, zoology, anthropology, taxonomy, entomology, ornithology, as well as topics on nutrition, health, dietetics, marine life, natural history among many others.
Reference Collection
The reference collection also boasts a diverse array of subjects and topics.
These include all types of dictionaries (Spanish /English, Concise etc.),
encyclopedias, business and marketing books, astronomy, health and medical
books, gardening, information technology, natural history, politics and
government, agriculture, directory of personalities, Caribbean history, English
books and The Handbook of Jamaica.
Special/Rare Books
The Special/Rare book collection includes titles such as:
• Voyages of the HMS Challenger Series
• Hans Sloane’s Volumes: A Voyage of the Inlands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St. Christophers and Jamaica with the natural history…
• Sloane’s Jamaica plate
• Patrick Browne’s The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica in Three Parts…
Journals/Periodicals
These include titles from a wide cross section of local and overseas publishers in scientific and other disciplines.
Some of these are:
• Biodiversity Journal of Life on Earth
• Caribbean Journal of Science
• Explorations Magazine
• Fieldiana - Botany
• Fieldiana - Geology
• National Geographic
• Cajanus – The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Quarterly
• Jamaica Journal – Publication of the Institute of Jamaica
• Jamaica Naturalist
• Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
Pamphlets
These are divided into General Pamphlets and West Indian Pamphlets and consist of information on all types of plants and animals.
Newspaper clippings
These are collected daily; specific articles are clipped and mounted for research purposes.
Audiovisuals –DVDs, CD-ROMs, Slides, Videocassettes
These are available to researchers for viewing and listening purposes. They contain information on a wide range of scientific and science related subjects and topics.
• CD-ROMs: Includes information in areas such as Anthropology, Conservation
Finance, Biodiversity presentations / posters, Pictures of plant specimens, Global Warming, Bird Songs in Jamaica, Caribbean Sea Squirts – The Goodbody Collection, Scale Insects, Botany: Endemic trees, Invasive species: Invaders in our Natural Habitat as well as CD-ROMs of some periodicals housed in the Science Library collection.
• Slides: Comprised of information on the Flora and Fauna of Jamaica.
• Videocassettes (VHS): Includes information on the Mason River Reserve,
Manatees: Preserving the Legacy, Coral reef Exhibits / Animals of Living Coral Reef, Biodiversity, Explorations – Scripps Institute of Oceanography publication series among many others.
• Cassettes (TDK): Coral Reef Diorama, Mangrove Wetland Songs, Bird Songs of the Plains, International Biodiversity, Ocean’s Relaxing Surf Sounds etc.
Paintings/Drawings
The Science Library is the repository of many paintings and drawings of fruits, flowers, birds, plants and animals from various collectors. Some of these collectors are Mr. H.Q. Levy, Helen Adelaide Wood and Miss Lily Perkins.
• H.Q. Levy: He was one of Jamaica’s leading orchid growers and painted not only several orchid varieties but also many other varieties of Jamaican fruits and flowers. Some of the fruits painted are Breadfruit (Artocarpus incisa), Pawpaw (Carica Papaya), Mango (Mangifera indica – No.11), Coffee (coffee arabica), Akee (Gupania edulis) and “Ugli”Orange (originally called “Harry” orange).
• Helen Adelaide Wood: She was employed in July 1912 as a member of the Botany Department at the Institute of Jamaica. During her 15-year tenure at the Institute of Jamaica, she prepared many watercolor paintings of various flowers and birds.
• Miss Lily Perkins: She began drawing plants and animals as school girl and eventually became proficient in watercolours. Much of her finest work was done in the 1930’s and 1940’s. In 1985, when she was approaching 95 years of age, she offered to present her paintings and manuscripts to the Natural History Museum of Jamaica. The Natural History Museum of Jamaica was very happy to receive this gift and upon viewing her works, it is obvious why her paintings are regarded as part of its treasures.
Photographs
This collection consists of an assortment of photographs from a wide cross-section of plants, insects, birds, animals, fishes, flora and fauna, various sceneries such as landslides, land erosion, hillside farming, deforrestation and damaged coral reefs due to bad fishing practices.
Collectors/Educators who have had great impact on the Collections
In regard to the written record of Jamaica’s natural history, several men stand out and tower above all others. It is these men whose work are now a part of the diverse collection in the Natural History Museum of Jamaica, Science Library. These men are Sir Hans Sloane, John Taylor, Patrick Browne, Phillip Gosse and Richard Hill who are all known and recognized as the early naturalists in Jamaica.
There are also other persons who have published a great many important papers on Jamaica’s Natural History. They are Dr. George Proctor, Dr. Thomas Farr, Bernard Lewis, J.E. Duerden and Mary Rathbun.
• Sir Hans Sloane: He was a highly respected London physician who during his lifetime amassed a great collection of manuscripts and artifacts. These collections include many specimens collected by Sloane during his sojourn in Jamaica. In the period of 1701 to 1725 he published a huge tome entitled “A Voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica, which includes several sections – a long and rather tedious preface, an equally long introduction, an account of his actual voyage, followed by a large section on the natural history of Jamaica which includes many engravings, mostly of plants, which is full of interesting observations and remarks on the medicinal properties of plants.
• John Taylor: He was a trained surveyor who made an error of several per cent in calculating the height of the Blue Mountain Peak to be 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) high instead of 7,400 feet (2,256 metres). Taylor’s journal of his travels fills three large volumes and includes an account of the capture of Jamaica by the British and a description of the island and its plants, animals and birds.
• Patrick Browne: He was an Irishman hailing from County Mayo in the west. He trained in Leyden as a physician and came to Jamaica in the mid-eighteenth century, occupying himself entirely in collecting information about the minerals, plants and animals. In 1756 he published a large tome entitled The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, with a large number of engravings and a map of the island. Like Sloane’s work, Browne’s Natural History is a mine of information about the plants and animals he found in Jamaica and, like Sloane he dwells much on the medicinal properties of many plants including some things we may not be familiar with today: for instance, that bananas are good for treating worms in children.
• Phillip Gosse and Richard Hill: These men were great nineteenth-century naturalists. Gosse lived in Bluefields and made many observations on birds and other aspects of natural history, which he published in two separate books, Birds of Jamaica and A Naturalist’s Sojourn in Jamaica. In these books Gosse frequently introduces us to the habits of birds and more importantly he describes them carefully. What was special about Goose’s books was his dedication to the idea that natural history should be much more than a science of dead things, but should investigate and record living things in a state of nature. Additionally Goose’s writings about Jamaica were complemented by many contributions from his modest friend Richard Hill of Spanish Town, with whom he maintained regular correspondence.
• Dr. George Proctor: Former Plant Taxonomist at the Institute of Jamaica and renowned specialist on Jamaican ferns and Caribbean flora.
• Dr. Thomas Farr: Was entomologist at the Institute of Jamaica and a regular contributor to the National History Notes with articles about insects, particularly his papers on robber flies.
• Bernard Lewis: Founding member of the Natural History Society of Jamaica and former director of the Institute of Jamaica. He was an excellent naturalist who took a keen interest in the Natural History Museum of Jamaica and in fostering the study of plants and animals. He used his leverage as director of the Institute to sponsor a field trip to Clydesdale in the Blue Mountains for school teachers teaching science. This seems to have been remarkably successful, so much so that it was decided in the same year to found a Natural History Society.
• J.E. Duerden: He was a marine biologist who studied Jamaican sea anemones and corals and was one of the earliest people to work in the Science Division. Duerden gives us another link to Ireland, because he chose to publish some of his Jamaican works in the Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, an institution very similar to the Institute of Jamaica.
• Mary Rathbun: The Annals is a very important output form the Science Division, and the first issue is attributed to a paper by Rathbun on a checklist of Jamaican Decapod Crustacea.
(Source: Jamaica Journal Vol. 27 Nos. 2-3)
Facilities Available
There are a number of facilities available for researchers. These are:
• An audiovisual area available to researchers, where they can gain access to internet services, scan document and pictures, photocopy vital information, as well view the DVDs and CD-ROMs in the collection.
• A research/reading room for conducting research, doing assignments and for quiet study.
Services
In general, the services offered include:
• Loans to staff
• Inter-library loans
• Reference
• Referrals
• Photocopying
• Scanning
• Internet/Computer access
• Direct communication with Scientists: Botanist, Entomologist, Zoologist.
Users of the Library
The Science Library’s facilities are primarily for the staff of the National History Division. However members of the public are allowed to visit for research and reference purposes. Thus, there are various categories of users who have specific needs of the services provided, or are referred from other libraries, are given access to information housed in the Science Library.
These categories of users are:
• Tertiary research students from Jamaica and overseas
• Professors/Lecturers from Jamaica and overseas
• High schools students
• Internal staff - Botanists, Entomologists, Zoologists, Educators, and others.
For further information about the library and the collections please contact the librarian at
library@nhmj-ioj.org.jm or 876-922-0620-6 ext 237.
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