Due to the current COVID-19 crisis the West Indies and Special Collections Section is closed until further notice. For any enquiries please contact us at: wisc.library@uwimona.edu.jm
West Indies and Special Collection brings together a number of the Library's special and unique research collections including the West Indies Collection and the Special Collections.
West Indies Collection includes: Books, pamphlets, theses, microforms and other material in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Subject Coverage: Humanities and Social Sciences material on the Caribbean; the teaching and research programmes of the University.
Geographical coverage: All the West Indian islands, Bermuda, Guyana, French Guiana (Cayenne), Suriname and Belize and the Caribbean diaspora.
West Indian periodicals in the Humanities and Social Sciences are held in the Periodicals Section of the Main Library. The periodical publications of West Indian governments in those disciplines are to be found in the Government Serials Section. West Indian books, pamphlets, periodicals, government serials and other materials in the Medical and Natural Sciences are kept in the Medical and Science Branch Libraries respectively.
Material from this collection is not available for loan outside of the Section but has to be consulted in the Elsa Goveia Reading Room which is equipped with special facilities for reading microfilms and for consulting rare materials.
The West Indies and Special Collections (WISC), established in 1974, brings together in one Section, a number of the Library's special and unique research Collections. The Elsa Goveia Reading Room, the reading area for consulting material from the Collections, is located in an extension which was added to the south of the Main Library building in 1988. In 1989, the reading room was named in memory of the late Professor Elsa Goveia, outstanding West Indian historian and the first female to be appointed a professor at the University of the West Indies.
Semester
Mon. - Fri.: 8:30am - 10:00pm
Saturdays: 8:30am - 12:00am
Inter-Semester
Mon. - Fri.: 8:30am - 5:00pm
Saturdays: 8:30am - 12:00 noon
Summer
Mon. - Fri.: 8:30am - 6:30pm
Saturdays: 8:30am - 12:00 noon
The Special Collections include:
The stacks of the West Indies and Special Collections are closed to readers. Request slips must be completed, after which the material is fetched at regular intervals for the reader by Library staff.