Polar centre given example

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34106, 19 March 1976, Page 12

Polar centre given example

A glimpse of what the t Canterbury Museum’s ‘ Antarctic Centre could ' become was given by Mr i H. G. R. King, the ■librarian and informa- ’ tion officer at the Scott ' Polar Research Institute , in Cambridge, England. < In an address, illustrated i with slides, to the Canter- I bury branch of the New Zealand Antarctic Society and ’ the Friends of the Museum, i Mr King recounted the 1 development of the institute 1 — from an idea bom in ’ Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royal in a blizzard in December, 1912, to its official opening by the British Prime Minister. Stanley Baldwin, in November. 1934. Much of the initial work was done by unpaid volunteers, and for many years the institute relied on special grant. Financial stability was provided in the 19605. Mr King said that today the three main functions of the institute were research,

teaching, and the provision of information, the latter being the most expensive part of the institute’s annual budget. Although polar research was done by various universities and Government departments, today the Scott Polar Research Institute was probably rhe main centre for information on all aspects of the polar regions. Mr King has been in Christchurch since January to advise the museum on the formation of the centre’s polar library.