The Library of the Royal Tropical Institute

By Sarah Cummings

The present library was originally based on a small collection of 4,000 documents which was given to the Colonial Museum in 1864. These documents had been collected by the Dutch Company for the Promotion of Industry since the beginning of the 19th Century. The direct forerunner of the present institute, the Colonial Institute, was founded in 1910, incorporating the Colonial Museum and its collection. In 1926 the institute moved to its present premises, a classical, purpose-built edifice on the Mauritskade in Amsterdam. At this time, the library collection focused on the Netherlands East Indies. Emphasis was placed upon literature which facilitated government of the colonies, particularly social, economic, political, and agricultural documents. Literature was also collected on other colonial possessions in order to promote comparative research. Most publications from this period were acquired as gifts and exchanges. The library was particularly dependent on gifts from businesses and organizations active in the Netherlands East Indies.
After the Second World War, the institute continued as the Indies Institute and in 1950 the name was finally changed to its current title, the Royal Tropical Institute.

The current collection
From 1950 onwards, the general collection policy of the library shifted away from the former Dutch colonies and was increasingly directed towards the acquisition of publications related to development policy and developing countries. The current library, part of the Information, Library and Documentation Department, covers the main themes of the institute as a whole, including agriculture, development cooperation, culture, health, history, international relations, rural development, and socio-economic development in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America. The "tropics" in the institute's title has been interpreted fairy liberally to include both the tropics and sub-tropics.
Some 30% of the KIT collection is still concerned with Asia, representing approximately 60,000 books. About half of these deal with Indonesia, a quarter with India, and the rest pertain to China, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Subjects covered reflect those of the collection as a whole. Regional spread has recently been increased to cover the independent Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. Publications in the indigenous languages of Indonesia, such as Malay, Javanese, and Sudanese were not collected after 1950.
The current library still contains a wide collection from and about the former Netherlands East Indies, including books, brochures, newspapers, and journals. In the brochure collection, for example, it is possible to trace the conflict between the supporters and opponents of the "Cultivation System", colonial legislation which forced small Indonesian farmers into commercial cultivation. Over the past 10 years the library has produced seven volumes of the Klein Repertorium, a bibliography of articles on the Netherlands East Indies published in the 1838-1940 period.
Unique items
Many of the unique documents in the library were originally presented to the former Colonial Museum. One of these is the manuscript of Henricus D'Acquet (1632-1706), mayor of Delft, which contains illustrations of insects and reptiles. D'Acquet received most of these specimens from Willem Wagemans (1665-1726), barber surgeon for the Dutch East India Company on Deshima, Japan. Three sets of these manuscripts have been preserved: the one in the Royal Tropical Institute contains illustrations of 799 zoological specimens on 193 sheets. Among these illustrations are 18 which bear the annotation "from Japan". They appear to represent some of the earliest zoological specimens brought from that country to Europe.
Another unique document is "Journeys via Moscow, through Persia and India: illustrated with 300 art plates, showing the most famous landscapes and cities....", by Cornelis de Bruin and dated 1714. This Dutch book includes details of travels through parts of Southeast Asia. Indeed, the author claims to have seen a kangaroo-like animal in Java.

The map collection
The map collection of the library comprises 24,000 maps and almost 800 atlases. Of these, more than half are concerned with Asia. As with the rest of the collection, the period before the 1950s saw the collection of maps of the Dutch colonies. After this period, maps of developing countries worldwide were collected. All Asian countries are represented. Despite this diversity, the map collection is still particularly strong in the areas of the Dutch colonies. The earliest map is a printed and hand-coloured map of Borneo and the coast of Celebes. The manuscript version of the earliest map of the whole of Indonesia can also be found. This map was drawn in the period 1839-55 and was later printed in 1895. Also present is an early atlas of Indonesia from 1817, marking the reacquisition of the colony by the Dutch from the British.

When Indonesia became independent in 1949, Professor F.J. Ormeling, working in Batavia (now Jakarta) at the time, reported that part of the map archive was placed in three chests and sent back to the Netherlands to be divided between the Royal Tropical Institute and the Dutch Cartographic Service. These maps form the basis of the unique KIT collection on Indonesia and include approximately 200 maps of Indonesian cities and towns, the majority being of the capital Batavia. The institute is currently re-printing a street plan of Batavia, originally published in the early 1940s, in collaboration with the Dutch Topographical Service. The collection also includes a series of maps made by the Allies during the Second World War in preparation for the possible liberation of Indonesia.

United Nations publications
A collection of the publications of international organizations can be found in the library. The UN Room has a depository function for the Asian Development Bank, although publications of the World Bank, World Health Organization, and the Food and Agriculture Organization are also included.

The BAKA Collection
In 1990 the library acquired a collection of books and periodicals which was built up by Professor J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, founder and director of the former Institute of South and South East Asian Art and Archaeology, University of Amsterdam. This collection, also known as the BAKA collection, consists of an extensive collection of often rare books and periodicals on ancient, contemporary, folk and performing art, numismatics and epigraphy. Other publications in this collection cover social and political history, cultural anthropology, religion, and philosophy of South and South East Asia.
Library services
The library has diverse target groups, including experts within the institute itself, the Dutch general public, and specialists and experts over the whole world. One of the largest groups of external users are students from universities in Amsterdam. Visitors from outside the institute are able to borrow books after the acquisition of a borrower's pass (costing DFl 30.00 per annum). Maps, journals, text books, and books of more than 75 years of age cannot be borrowed, although all may be consulted in the library itself. Photocopying is also possible, either in the library or on written request. The library also undertakes literature searches on request.

The library collection is automated so that visitors can consult a computerized catalogue to identify publications which are of interest. This computerized catalogue provides easy access to the KIT collection, as well as to the collections of other libraries specializing in developing countries, namely the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Institute of Social Studies and the Centre for the Study of Education in Developing Countries (CESO), all of which are located in The Hague. Institutions are able to gain on-line access to the library via the telecommunications network. There are now 23 universities, ministries, and Dutch NGOs with such an on-line connection. From 1996 onwards it will also be possible to access the KIT catalogue on the World Wide Web on: www:http://www.adamnet.nl.kit.

Other activities
In addition to the Library, the information services at the Royal Tropical Institute are involved in a number of different activities. The TROPAG & RURAL bibliographic database, covering applied agriculture and rural development in developing countries, is produced in the department in collaboration with partners from the European Consortium for Agricultural Research in the Tropics. This database, comprising more than 100,000 records, is available on compact disc (CD-ROM) and on-line. It has substantial coverage of Asian countries and of food and industrial crops which are grown in Asia.
The information services produce publications on a wide number of subjects, including the environment, women and gender, and AIDS prevention. A further activity is the provision of consulting services on information management and the development of information sercies, currently being undertaken for an organization in China.

The Inquiery Desk, The Library,
Royal Tropical Institute
Mauritskade 63, 1092 AD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-20-5688246
Fax: +31-20-6654423
Email: IBD@support.nl

Acknowledgements:
I acknowledge with gratitude the contribution of Piet Wijn and other library staff to this article. Thanks also to the KIT Photo bureau and Co Woudsma.