AtoM@UCT is the database of finding aids related to archival and unpublished collections in the Special Collections of the University of Cape Town Libraries.

We are currently in recovery after the devastating Table Mountain fire that destroyed the Jagger Reading Room on 18 April 2021.

Less than half of the archives in our holdings were housed in the basement. While some collections were lost, and many others impacted by intermittent water damage during efforts to put out the fire, the majority of our holdings remain intact, currently undergoing recovery, including rehousing items in new enclosures, updating inventories, and treating damaged items.

We will continue to update our finding aids as we reconcile the losses. For more information about specific losses, please contact us: libsp-coll@uct.ac.za.

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This database is built with AtoM (Access to Memory) software, an open source software solution for archival description based on international standards. On this site, you will find archival descriptions for most of the almost 1600 collections in our holdings.

For general information about Special Collections at UCT, go to our repository page We are updating our website and look forward to relaunching in late 2023.