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The Arctic Institute of North America Collection: A Hidden Treasure
Not many people are aware that the University of Calgary Library houses a unique collection of northern materials, the Arctic Institute of North America (AINA) collection.
The Arctic Institute of North America (AINA) polar library collection was established in 1945 when the Arctic Institute of North America, then based at McGill University in Montreal, received a collection donation from one of the Institute’s original founders, Philip Smith, head of the Alaskan Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. At its outset, the AINA collection was a resource that supported the research conducted and financed by the Institute. The collection grew under the guidance of librarian Nora Corley during its tenure at McGill University through purchased material, exchanges with government departments and other national or international agencies, and donations from AINA members and scholars. Some of the significant items donated include artifacts, an artwork collection, a photographic collection, works printed about the north before 1800 and a letter written by Sir John Franklin from Fort Franklin on Great Bear Lake in 1825.
In 1976 when the Arctic Institute of North America was relocated to Calgary, the AINA polar library collection moved with it. When the Arctic Institute became a research institute of the University of Calgary in 1979, the AINA collection became the responsibility of the University of Calgary Library and to this day is maintained as a discrete physical collection. It is currently housed in the Gallagher Library and overseen by the University of Calgary Northern Studies Librarian, Claudette Cloutier.
The AINA collection acts as a core collection for the University’s northern studies programs. It is a reflection of the Arctic Institute’s mandate to advance the study of the North American and circumpolar Arctic through the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities and to acquire, preserve and disseminate information on physical, environmental and social conditions in the North. The collection includes historic records and reports, northern government documents and reports, monographs as well as research and trade journals that relate to the north.
As a result of the Institute’s closer proximity to the Canadian petroleum industry, the AINA collection has also grown to include a unique collection of documents that deal with Northern Canadian oil and gas exploration, development and transportation. This collection, affectionately know as the "Pipeline Collection", includes a number of unpublished pipeline reports that were created by oil and gas companies in the 1970’s as they investigated the resource exploration and exploitation potential of the North. These reports document the considerable research efforts undertaken by the oil and gas companies at the time.
The AINA collection is open to all faculty, staff, and students of the University of Calgary, and any one else who is interested in Arctic and northern research. The research questions handled by staff include questions from petroleum exploration and production companies who want to access the historical pipeline documents as they look to the future of petroleum exploitation in the MacKenzie Delta and other northern communities, questions about northern sovereignty, questions about northern aboriginal self-government, as well as questions dealing with the environment and ecology of the north.
The collection can be accessed in a variety of ways. For works acquired by the Arctic Institute of North America polar collection before 1979 staff still have to consult a card catalogue organized using a modified universal decimal classification system broken down by geographic areas. Resources added to the collection after 1979 are retrievable through the University of Calgary Library’s online catalogue. Due to the volume of pipeline related documents that were donated to the AINA collection, some of the material has not yet been added to the library collection. Most of this material has been indexed by the Arctic Science and Technology Information System (ASTIS) Bibliography and if ACU is listed as the location code, then the material is available through the University of Calgary Library. Visitors are welcome any time, whether you access our collection online, in-person or arrange for interlibrary loans.
Northern research continues to be of interest especially during International Polar Year and the University of Calgary Library is committed to work towards making northern material accessible. For an overview of the AINA collection and links to other research resources for Northern Studies, visit the web pages created at:
http://library.ucalgary.ca/subjectpages/interdisciplinary/northernstudies/index.php
Claudette Cloutier, the Liaison Librarian for Northern Studies, provides research assistance to students, faculty, staff and visiting researchers looking for Arctic and polar related information. Please contact her at ccloutie@ucalgary.ca for research assistance.
Background Reading
Macdonald, R. 2005. Challenges and accomplishments: a celebration of the Arctic Institute of North America. Arctic 58(4): 440-451.