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African Studies Collection

I. Collection Description

Purpose:

To support interdisciplinary teaching and research on Africa. The Center for African Studies administers an interdisciplinary M.A program and an undergraduate minor. Many doctoral students in various departments throughout the University also concentrate on African topics.

History of Collection:

Material on Africa has formed part of the collection since the library's beginnings. The Library's collections of late 19th and early 20th century geographical journals dealing with Africa are outstanding. A full-time Africana bibliographer was appointed in 1969, preceding by one year the appointment of the first director of the Center for African Studies. The Center has received continuous federal funding as a National Resource Center since 1973, and has provided generous support for the acquisitions of library material since that date.

Estimate of Holdings:

180,000 volumes, including 3000 serials. Other collections include 46,000 maps, 10,000 microforms, and more than 300 videos, audio cassettes and slide sets.

State, Regional and National Importance:

We have one of the best Africana collections in the U.S. Northwestern University Library has the most important Africana university collection in the country. Our collection is therefore second in importance to Northwestern within the state. There are three more important Africana collections in the Midwest of approximately equal importance including those at Michigan State, Indiana and Wisconsin. The Illinois collection is equal or superior to these three Midwestern collections.

Unit Responsible for Collecting:

Africana Library

Location of Materials:

Most material is in the Bookstacks. The Africana Unit (Room 328) has a collection of reference works and some of the most consulted general periodicals. There is also considerable Africana material in the following libraries: Architecture and Art, Commerce, Education and Social Science, History and Philosophy, Map and Geography, Modern Languages and Linguistics, Music, Rare Books and Special Collections, Undergraduate Library Media Center, and the University Archives.

Citations of Works Describing the Collection:

African Studies Information Resources Directory, compiled by Jean E. Meeh Gosebrink. Los Angeles: Crossroads Press, 1986.

"Africana in the University of Illinois Library." (brochure)

"A Directory of Libraries with African Literature Collections," in A New Reader's Guide to African Literature, ed. by Hans M. Zell, Carol Bundy and Virginia Coulon. London: Heinemann, 1983.

Gray, Beverly, "Africana Library Resources," in Ethnic Collections in Libraries, ed. by E. J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1983.

Zell, Hans M. and Cecile Lomer. The African Studies Companion: A Resource Guide and Directory. 2nd rev. ed. London: Hans Zell, 1997. page 121.

II. General Collection Guidelines

Languages:

English, French and Arabic are the dominant languages of the collection. Amharic, Bambara, German, Hausa, Italian, Lingala, Portuguese, Swahili, Wolof and Zulu are also collected. Language learning materials, including literary works, are collected for more than 150 African languages.

Chronological Guidelines:

No restriction.

Geographical Guidelines:

We collect for all African countries, but the concentration is on 13 priority countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We are also interested in publications which deal generally with the Third World and the Commonwealth.

Treatment of Subject:

Standard statement.

Types of Materials:

Standard statement. The Africana Unit makes a special effort to identify and procure research reports, monographs, serials and government publications which are not readily available from standard book trade sources. We are also developing an excellent video collection.

Date of Publication: