Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Alan Austin fonds
General material designation
- Architectural drawing
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1953 - 1997 (Creation)
- Creator
- Austin, A. P. (Alan P.)
Physical description area
Physical description
4.2 m of textual records and other material. -- 25 v.
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Alan Austin was born on August 14, 1932 in Pentre, Rhondda Wales. He was a faculty member in the Department of Biology at the University of Victoria from 1964-1997. Austin was a phycologist - a specialist in marine and freshwater algal vegetation. He was involved in two major research projects: Victoria Phenology Project, 1964-1986, and the Seaweed Inventory Project (SIP), 1969-1978. The SIP launched a substantial, and very rare, pre-utilization survey of the seaweed along BC coastal waters, and produced detailed vegetation maps previously unavailable. A major proportion of the day to day research was conducted by Robert Adams, Austin's research assistant and colleague. The data from the SIP was used by the BC Commercial Fisheries Branch (later the Ministry of the Environment) to assess the feasibility of commercially harvesting British Columbia's rich marine resources. Alan Austin died in Victoria, BC on September 29, 2009.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of records related to Alan Austin’s activities as an educator and phycologist, including materials generated through major research projects and student projects, arranged into four series: 1. Seaweed Inventory Project; 2. Victoria Phenology Project; 3. Teaching and student material; and 4. Aquatic ecology projects. The Seaweed Inventory Project (SIP), in particular, is a valuable, detailed record and baseline survey of a substantial part of the coastline of BC, and the vegetation and biota (thus measurable on a global scale) supported at the time of the surveys done in 1972 and 1974. These data stand as a permanent record against which any coastal changes can be compared and measured. The sedentary, attached nature of coastal biota makes it particularly responsive to, and thus a sensitive indicator of changes in their environment. Forces of change include oil spills, toxic spills, runoff from land developments, marina construction, and natural catastrophic events. Series 1 has been arranged into four sub-series: SIP reports; SIP films and photographs; SIP correspondence and field notes; and SIP reference literature.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Donated by Alan Austin in 1997 and 1998.
Arrangement
All SIP materials were arranged into Series 1, with sub-series for Series 1-4 in the previous arrangement.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Access restricted to materials in Series 3 (Files 14.1 and 14.6) until 2029 (FIPPA Sec. 36).
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Inventory available.Online Finding Aid [http://archives.library.uvic.ca/featured_collections/esa/fonds_austin_alan/default.html]
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Part of the Environmental Sciences Archives (ESA).
Physical description
Includes ca. 6000 photographs, 12 audio cassette tapes, ca. 20 maps , 10 specimens, slides, negatives, films, data sheets, drawings, and graphs
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Austin, A. P. (Alan P.) (Subject)
- Adams, Robert (Subject)
- Victoria Phenology Project (Subject)
- Seaweed Inventory Project (Subject)
- University of Victoria (B.C.) (Subject)
Genre access points
- technical reports
- raw data
- field notes
- correspondence
- marine charts
- maps (documents)
- aerial photographs
- photographs
- black-and-white photographs
- slides (photographs)
- reference sources
- photographic prints
- articles
- newspaper clippings
- research (documents)
- instructional materials
- instructional documents
- student projects
- project files
- clippings (information artifacts)
- drawings (visual works)
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
2013-02-05; Updated 2016-03-17 (MP)
Language of description
- English