bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The National Archives of Malawi and the Problem of Migrated Archives
Authors: Mwiyeriwa Steve S.
Published: April 2022

The National Archives of Malawi was established in January 1964, but Malawi has served as an archives depot since 1947, within the framework of the political unity of the three Central African territories of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, then known as Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland respectively. This unity was promoted into the so-called Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953. The Federation lasted only one decade following the secession from it of, first, Nyasaland, then Northern Rhodesia.

The Southern Rhodesia National Archives Act was promulgated in 1935. In 1946, an Archives Amendment Act was passed, authorizing the Government Archivist of Southern Rhodesia to extend his powers to Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Act was followed by the Nyasaland Archives Ordinance 1946, which was but a complementary legislation empowering the Southern Rhodesia National Archives (now known as the Central Africa Archives) to act as the archives office for Nyasaland.
Africa Research Central: A clearing house of African primary sources
Authors: Tschabrun Susan
Published: April 2022

Research in the African humanities and social sciences presupposes an organised infrastructure of primary source materials - a network of archives, libraries, and museums where the raw materials of research are housed, ordered and safeguarded. For a variety of historical and contemporary reasons, the research infrastructure that scholars take for granted in northern countries is often weak and sometimes non-existent in Africa. Unequal north/south power relationships during and after colonialism have resulted in the scattering of a sizable portion of the African documentary and cultural heritage in collections beyond the borders of Africa. For the rich resources remaining in Africa, contemporary African development needs have sometimes put the creation and maintenance of an adequate institutional infrastructure toward the bottom of the list of national priorities. Africa Research Central is the response of two concerned academics to what we perceive as a worsening crisis.
Ethical Dilemmas Facing Africanist Librarians, Archivists & Scholars Today
Authors: Limb Peter
Published: April 2022

The connections between our work as librarians, archivists or scholars of Africa and the structural foundations of research (in the form of archives, documentation, and publications) we often take for granted. This paper focuses on our ethical responsibilities towards acquisition of Africana, but the principles proposed as ethical guidelines are applicable to other kinds of research, such as fieldwork. I first discuss ethical questions in general and then address how ethics relates to African studies and Africana librarianship. I discuss related problems such as what I term the African “document drain.” In a forthcomingARDarticle (Limb 2002c), I elaborate upon these themes with particular emphasis on how emerging new models of partnerships, together with new electronic tools, might help mitigate such problems.
Swaziland Bibliographies
Authors: Jones Huw M.
Published: April 2022

The recent publication of a new bibliography for Swaziland provides an opportunity to review the development of bibliographical work on this small southern African country. Jérôme Vialatte's Swaziland, un royaume en Afrique australe: bibliographic thématique et commentée (1886-2000) is a production of the Centre d'étude d'Afrique noire of the Institut d'Études Politiques de Bordeaux. It is a substantial work - claimed to be “la plus important bibliographie publié sur ce royaume” - with 1,241 bibliographical references, each characterised by a word or phrase, divided into eleven themes and numerous sub-themes. Each sub-theme is prefaced by a commentary on the subject and a brief discussion of the coverage and quality of the references cited. The whole is prefaced by a useful discussion of Vialatte's approach in compiling the bibliography and a very comprehensive review of sources that include not only periodicals with African themes, but for the first time bibliographies on CD-ROM and an extensive selection of Internet websites.
Documentation and Freedom of Information in the New South Africa
Authors: Merrett Christopher
Published: April 2022

One of the key elements in the maintenance of freedom of information and comprehensive documentation lies in the strength of civil society. This may be defined as that part of the nation which is critically and historically conscious, articulate and non-deferential, and independent of the state. South Africa has a long and proud tradition of strong institutions and individuals that have underpinned a durable civil society. Its tenacity, as well as its links to the international community, may be seen as one of the major reasons for the ultimate failure of apartheid ideology. From 1960 to 1980, the main contribution of civil society was to document and circulate information that contested the legitimacy of the state. The work of academics, clerics, journalists, lawyers and trade unionists became a (and at certain times the) major form of opposition and resistance to the government.
African photographs in the Royal Commonwealth Society Library
Authors: Falconer John
Published: April 2022

Originally named the Colonial Society, and also known variously in the stages of its history as the Royal Colonial Institute (1870-1928) and the Royal Empire Society (1928-1958), the Royal Commonwealth Society was founded in 1868 as ‘a place of meeting for all gentlemen connected with the Colonies and British India’ and as a centre for the study of colonial affairs. A library was one of the major objects of its founders and photographic material was early seen as an integral part of a collection attempting to present a comprehensive survey of the concerns of empire. The Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute for 1896, and for several succeeding years, invited ‘donations of photographs of the various Colonies … from Fellows and others’, and this brief appeal seems to have met with considerable success on an individual level, with many accessions dating from around this period.
On egotism, amateurism, masochism, narcissism, sadism, masturbation and flagellation in African bibliography
Authors: Langlands B.W.
Published: April 2022

It was very flattering to read Mr. Olden's article in African Research and Documentation 30 with so many references to myself. This is to acknowledge that my “ego is being served” (vide first line, p. 29). May I be allowed a few brief comments, if only to acknowledge how gratifying it has been to see that the amateur approach still survives (it hardly flourishes). In my two essays on the subject, and now in some of the ‘personal communications’ in Mr. Olden's essay there are various nuances and veiled sarcasms that a future commentator may find curious (or miss).

One peculiarity about the amateur bibliographers listed in Olden's article is that three of us, Williams, Mortimer and myself, are all professional geographers. I suspect that all our methods of collection were “boy-scout operations” (Mortimer).
Development of Libraries in Zaire: Inventory and review of the literature 1888 — Part One
Authors: Mutaboba J. Wasonga
Published: April 2022

Before the Duke of Brabant, later King Leopold II, of Belgium, realised how strong his dreams of conquering the Congo (Zaire) were, little had been done in his own country to promote library services. For example, only 85 libraries had been setup by 1865 and 571 by 1881 (Recht:1928). However, the Duke of Brabant had expressed in 1861, his determination to set up a documentary system which might respond to his dreams of territorial expansion (Perier:1935). He owed much of his knowledge to use of libraries and felt that the book was the sure means to propagate his colonizing zeal. His Ambassador to London, the future General Brialmont, was asked to consult all the literature about colonization still unknown in Belgium at that time and keep him informed. He was knowledgeable on overseas territories and colonial events occuring throughout the world.
Sources for Cameroonian colonial history in Western archives and libraries
Authors: Orosz Kenneth J.
Published: April 2022

Despite the publication of several excellent guides to colonial materials and Africana collections held in Western libraries, locating suitable archival sources for Cameroonian colonial history remains a challenge. While some documentation continues to reside in Cameroon itself, the bulk of material from the colonial period can be found in a series of Western libraries and archives scattered across Europe and the United States. The following introductory guide, based on my own research and correspondence with the institutions in question, is intended to help other researchers locate archival materials of interest to their work.

Shortly after the German Colonial Society was disbanded the University of Frankfurt acquired its extensive library of colonial materials and integrated them into its own collection. Consequently, Frankfurt is by far the best source for locating published materials on the German colonial empire.
Access to electronic information in Africa: librarians to information managers
Authors: Nyaki Adeya Catherine
Published: April 2022

The dawn of the 21st century is synonymous with an explosion of information unmatched by any other era in history. Traditionally, librarians have been the gatekeepers of knowledge and culture; in a sense they are secondary providers of information, if publishers are to be regarded as primary providers. Librarians in the West have gradually moved from being simply “keepers of information” to become “managers of information”. They are increasingly dealing with user needs, not wants, and this requires knowledge of information development: where it is located and how to access it. According to Lynch (1994): ”… the concept ‘library’, difficult enough to define in the traditional sense has become almost impossible to define today”. The difference is one of degree, not an absolute, but it is enough of a difference to provide a necessary point for discussion.
“Go Ye into All the World”: Missionary Archives in the School of Oriental and African Studies
Authors: Rayner Susannah
Published: April 2022

For many, the spread of the missionary movement overseas is inextricably linked with the rise of the British Empire. Missionaries often preceded the arrival of colonial government in many parts of the world and some of the first recorded encounters between Westerners and indigenous peoples are those of missionaries seeking converts to Christianity. At the height of the missionary movement, between 1880 and 1920, some sixty societies based in the UK were actively engaged in this work with many thousands of missionaries going out to the mission field. The legacy of all this global activity lies in the archives, personal papers, books and pamphlets, published annual reports, missionary magazines, photographs, films, slides, sound recordings and artefacts scattered throughout museums, archives and libraries across the UK.
Archival resources in the Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan, and other non-government institutions in Nigeria
Authors: Ajayi J.K Ade
Published: April 2022

The purpose of this brief paper is to draw attention to the significance of non-Government archival resources in Nigeria, the role of non-governmental institutions in their collection and preservation and some of the problems they face in the current economic situation. The distinction between public and private archives is based on the purpose of the initial collection, but I draw no hard and fast line. Many of the records that end up in public archives are generated initially in private places. Some of them, after they have passed through the public domain end up in the private collection of public figures. The facilities for copying documents today ensure much overlapping. What needs to be underlined here is the role of non-Governmental institutions, particularly universities, in archive collection and preservation.
The Dynamics of Literary Response: Students as Readers of African Women's Writing
Authors: Akachi Ezeigbo Theodora
Published: April 2022

At the 1998 Book Day Symposium organised by the British Council in Lagos, almost everyone who spoke lamented the near absence of a reading culture in Nigeria. As one of the guest speakers, I tried to highlight and discuss some of the factors that militate against the development of a reading culture in our society. Naturally I also suggested ways by which this anomaly could be remedied. Few or a negligible proportion of people read for pleasure in Nigeria. And among these, students at the various levels of formal education - primary, secondary and tertiary - constitute the greater part of the reading public. But unfortunately, these students read only to write and pass their examinations, which implies a wilful circumscription of books, especially literary texts. Even at the tertiary level, it is usually an uphill task persuading the students, even of literary studies, to go beyond the required or recommended texts in their reading.
Book Preferences, Conceptions of Books and Reading Practices Among Urban Adults with a Basic Level of Literacy
Authors: Charlewood Lucy
Published: April 2022

The extensive body of scholarship on reading practices has established a number of ground rules. Some of these include the notion that literacy cannot be understood in a positivist way, that literacy is embedded in a social context, that there are multiple literacies rather than one monolithic literacy, and that reading tastes and practices are conditioned by a variety of social factors such as class affiliation, religious upbringing, and gender. Reading practices, literacy and conceptions around books are clearly interrelated issues that cannot be separated from one another. An understanding of reading and books among adults with a low level of literacy thus has to grasp all these issues simultaneously.

The findings of both Lyster (1995) and French (1988) highlight the idiosyncratic nature of reading preferences and practices among the participants of their studies.
Censorship, declassification and the history of end of empire in Central Africa
Authors: Murphy Philip
Published: April 2022

There may appear to be little point in an “outsider” attempting to write about the censorship of the historical record. Those employed to vet official records in Great Britain perform their task behind closed doors; and since even the titles of the files they continue to withhold are often kept a secret, scholars have little opportunity to question their decisions. As editor of the Central Africa volume of the British Documents on the End of Empire project (BDEEP), my own status is certainly that of an outsider. Established in 1987, BDEEP seeks to make available an edited and annotated selection of British government documents from The National Archives (TNA), formerly the Public Record Office, charting developments in colonial policy during the decolonisation era. Yet although its volumes are published by the Stationery Office, BDEEP is emphatically not an official publication.
Publishing in Kiswahili and Indigenous Languages for Enhanced Adult Literacy in Kenya
Authors: Oyori Ogechi Nathan
Published: April 2022

This paper argues a case for the preparation of reading materials in Kiswahili and other African languages in order to enhance adult education in Kenya. Adult education clientele are defined as those aged over 15 who (a) were either never enrolled in primary schools or dropped out before completing and (b) ‘graduated’ and currently participate in community extension services. Cognisance of mother tongues as the best languages to begin basic literacy is taken. However, since the literacy so acquired should be useful to the individual at both local and national levels, one needs Kiswahili for wider communication. Therefore, reading materials, especially for post literacy and adult literacy teacher training should be in Kiswahili. This will not only guard against relapsing to illiteracy and misinformation but will also alleviate the scarcity of reading materials in the face of hard economic times in Kenya.
The Cape Malays: An Imagined Community in South Africa – A Bibliographical Essay
Authors: Haron Muhammed
Published: April 2022

1994 was indeed an eventful year for South Africans in general and for the South African Muslims in particular. During the early part of April 1994 the Muslims celebrated the tercentenary of Islam in South Africa, and towards the end of that month they went to the polls along with other South African citizens to participate in South Africa's first democratic elections. It was thus a memorable experience for the Muslim community who joyfully expressed their national and religious identity respectively.

The South African Muslim community, particularly those who hailed from the province of the Western Cape, has always raised the question of identity. During the years of apartheid and before, the vast majority of them never identified themselves as South Africans since they rejected the legislated racial policies of the White minority regime. The Population Registration Act of 1950 divided the South Africans into four distinct categories, namely Whites, Indians, Africans, and Coloureds.
Authors, Journals and Scholarly Communication in Library and Information Science: The Missing Links in Nigeria
Authors: Aina L. O.
Published: April 2022

Research is an important component of any discipline. This is because through research the frontiers of knowledge are extended. It provides the stimulus for the growth of a profession. For a profession to develop, research must be vigorously pursued and the findings regularly disseminated. The case of the library and information science (LIS) profession is unique, given the on-going debate as to whether LIS is a profession or a discipline or both. In such a situation it is expected that the research process will be complex. What is clear, however, is that LIS is a multidisciplinary profession that draws from library science, information science, publishing, computer science, communication science, engineering, management, etc. There is no doubt that it is a multifarious profession that needs to be constantly researched.
African History on Screen and in the Classroom
Authors: Hunter Emma
Published: April 2022

In 1954, an African welfare association, the African Association of Tanganyika, decided to create a new organisation, TANU, to campaign for selfgovernment. Their reasons for taking this step were many, but among the long list of criticisms of the colonial government documented at that first conference was one which related to films. According to the colonial government's report on the conference, among the “social topics” discussed was “the portrayal of Africans as savages in popular films”, and “a campaign to persuade people not to perform dances or allow themselves to be photographed by Europeans was proposed”.

The representation of Africa in general and African history in particular in film is not, then, a new concern. Created in a web of power relations, films are both shaped by and in turn serve to shape our understandings of the present and of the past.
Keeping information alive: resource centres for district level health workers in Tanzania
Authors: Hammond Sarah , Richardson Victoria
Published: April 2022

Healthlink Worldwide is an international NGO (www.healthlink.org.uk), working with partners in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America to improve the use and impact of health information and health communications in poor and vulnerable communities. Over the last twenty-five years, Healthlink Worldwide has developed expertise in resource centre development, which is now co-ordinated through Source (www.asksource.info). A collaborative venture of Healthlink Worldwide, the Centre for International Child Health and Handicap International, Source is an international information support centre designed to strengthen the management, use and impact of information on health and disability.

The Source model brings together good practice in information management, capacity development in partnership with organisations in developing countries, and a unique collection of resources and integrated methods for communication around health. Source identifies, reviews, and signposts materials produced by, or appropriate to, developing country users, particularly ‘good practice’ in the field, and reflects the priorities of developing country information needs in its services and systems.
Materials used in making asylum decisions in the U.K.
Authors: Pirouet M. Louise
Published: April 2022

Three groups of people are involved in making decisions about who should and who should not be given asylum in Britain. The most important are Home Office civil servants, caseworkers in the Integrated Casework Division of the Asylum Directorate. They make the initial decision to grant or refuse asylum and plainly need quick access to a wide range of materials if they are to make a fair decision and only the Home Office can grant asylum. A second tier of people becomes involved when someone is refused asylum and appeals against this decision. Many of these will seek the help of a solicitor or legal advisor who will assist them to prepare their appeal case and these will need to have very speedy access to materials which will enable them to understand the situation from which their client has fled. A small third tier of people exists.
Language, heritage, development and identity in South Africa
Authors: Callinicos Luli
Published: April 2022

This paper is based on a talk given at the British Library in October 2005 to an audience of African publishers and writers. It discusses the crucial role that publishers can play in helping to develop the new, democratic South Africa. My remarks were given from the perspective of the National Heritage Council (NHC) - a statutory, arms-length organisation formed by the National Heritage Council Act passed by the South African parliament in 1999.

In the context of post-apartheid South Africa, the Act mandates the NHC to assist in redressing the racial and ethnic fragmentation of the past. The core function of the NHC is to coordinate all heritage sectors in an interdisciplinary manner. Members of the Council include chairpersons of national heritage institutions as well as representatives of heritage from each of the nine provinces.
Centre des Archives d'outre-mer à Aix-en-Provence (CAOM): Historique des archives de madagascar
Authors: Camara Evelyne , Villon Jean
Published: April 2022

The National Archives of France opened its first building at Aix in 1966; at that time the Archives d’Outre-Mer (AOM) located there co-existed alongside the Section Outre-Mer of the National Archives (SOM) housed at the Rue Oudinot address in Paris. Following the abolition of the ‘Ministry of France Overseas’, it was decided in 1962 to bring together all the archives of the former French colonies, except for those of French West Africa which were all retained in Dakar. The archives transferred to Paris were only those of French government; those of administration, i.e. public works, health, education, local government, all stayed in their respective countries.

Initially at Aix 900 tonnes of archives arrived in the first ten months. In 1986 the SOM in Paris was closed and 17 linear km of documents, far from completely processed, were transferred to Aix.
IFLA Activities in Support of Librarianship in Africa
Authors: Roberts Winston
Published: April 2022

The increasing economic strength of many countries in Asia and Latin America, not to mention the recent political changes in Eastern Europe, have led to some redefinition of the category of “developing countries”: these countries no longer form a homogenous group (if they ever did) and the label is no longer so convenient. However, it is still the case that the countries of Africa tend to lag behind in the development of library systems and services.

Recognising this, many governmental and non-governmental organisations - both national and international - which work in the library and information field are continuing to make a special effort in favour of Africa.
Liberia: War and Peace 1989-2007: A Research Guide
Authors: Badger Lindsey
Published: April 2022

The Liberian civil wars spanned fourteen years, from 1989 to 2003. It is estimated that during this time over 250,000 people were killed and more than 1,000,000 were displaced. The wars were covered regularly in American news. Reports characteristically represented the child militias, human sacrifices, and crazed army tactics, including but not limited to soldiers cross-dressing or using nudity as methods of intimidation. Initially, little attention was offered to the greater social and political implications of the war, but recent news coverage and critical research has demanded a change in the way that the civil wars were viewed and addressed, internally and internationally.

The first Liberian civil war was led by the conflicting political factions of Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor. These men were backed largely by members of different groups, divided by existing ethnic tensions. These factions divided further as the war progressed, and the war continued long after Doe's assassination in 1990 and his party's defeat.
Africa to Africa: Building its Knowledge Community
Authors: Raseroka Kay
Published: April 2022

It is a great honour to have been invited to participate in this first AEGIS Conference. I wish to acknowledge colleagues who conceived of the inclusion of librarians in the core of AEGIS - for it is only through the sharing of knowledge with scholars that the importance of libraries and collections in knowledge generation can be reinforced.

Improving the understanding of contemporary African societies is neither a luxury, nor a noble job for scholars, nor an easy occupation for librarians.

In the global world we live in, all societies are related. The fate, fortune and developments of one society have an impact on developmental and life processes of others. The understanding of this interrelationship of humanity is fundamental to building the Knowledge Society that the World aspires to. Understanding presupposes access to reliable sources of information, independent analysis of issues and open communication.
The Swahili Manuscripts Project at Soas, 2000-2004
Authors: Baschieri Angelica
Published: April 2022

The Swahili Manuscripts Project started in October 2000 at the School of Oriental and African studies (SOAS), funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and administered by the SOAS Faculty of Languages and Cultures, under the supervision of Prof. Graham Furniss, Dr Farouk Topan, and the SOAS Archivist, Ms Rosemary Seton.

The lead researcher of the project was Sh. Yahya Ali Omar, who is one of the few remaining scholars who can read and comment on the content of manuscripts. The expertise of Sh. Yahya has been fundamental for the creation of the catalogue. Sh. Yahya was assisted by two research assistants, Annmarie Drury and Angelica Baschiera.

The main focus of the Project has been to create an online academic catalogue of the extensive collections of Swahili Manuscripts held in the SOAS Archives.
A Visit to the National Archives of Liberia
Authors: Ellis Stephen
Published: April 2022

The national archives of Liberia - Africa's oldest republic - are in parlous condition. Mostly this is the result of the on/off war that has wracked the country since 1989.

Liberia's national archives used to be housed in their own building, but this was vandalised in the first period of the war, in 1990. Some 40 percent of the records were destroyed at that time. The remainder were bundled into cardboard boxes, plastic bags, and any other available receptacle and moved to another building. This, however, was subsequently used as a barracks for Nigerian peacekeeping troops who did not always treat the archives with the respect they deserved. The records were moved again, apparently in 1993, this time to a small building in the middle of Monrovia that also houses the National Library, although the latter has few books and is also in poor condition.
Alternative publishing distribution models for African journals with reference to Africa: The Journal of The International African Institute
Authors: Kitchen Stephanie
Published: April 2022

This paper considers different publishing and distribution models for African studies journals. The case considered in detail is that of Africa, the journal of the International African Institute (IAI). I discuss the publishing model employed by the Institute for its journal, some other comparable African studies journals, and the dissemination of journals edited from Africa. Flowing from our experiences of publishing an important journal in the field, I offer some more general reflections on the possible directions of publishing African journals in the era of electronic publishing.

The IAI was established as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures in London in 1926. It had a dual mandate of providing an international centre to promote research and dissemination of information and knowledge on Africa cultures; and increasing and strengthening the link between knowledge and practical activities and the needs of administrators, educators and missionaries (Schapera 1949).
Making Marmalade and Imperial Mentalities: the case of a Colonial wife
Authors: Law Kate
Published: April 2022

Miriam Cheales was born in Southern Rhodesia on the 28th October 1914 at Lincoln Farm in Beatrice, just south of Salisbury to Alan and Irene Cheales. They returned to England to deal with family business in the early 1920s and Miriam was brought up in rural Lincolnshire. After completing her education she undertook some training in basic physiotherapy, and served as a nurse during World War Two. In September 1945 Miriam married Frank Staunton. As Frank was also originally from Rhodesia, with his family farming substantial amounts of land they decided to return to Africa and Frank took a post as a native commissioner. Upon arrival in Southern Rhodesia, Staunton was both adjusting to married life and finding herself back at “home” despite the fact she rarely thought of herself as Rhodesian.
Conditions of production for writing, publishing and studying literature in africa: the Nigerian situation
Authors: Diala Isidore
Published: April 2022

Text of contribution to a panel discussion on “Conditions of Production for Writing and Publishing in Africa” at a postgraduate seminar, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, 1 February 2006, revised for a SCOLMA seminar with the present title at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, 21March, 2006.

Quite apart from claims made for Cyprian Ekwensi as the first Nigerian to publish a full-length novel in “modern English” (that is his 1954 novel, People of The City), it is generally accepted that Amos Tutuola's The Palm-wine Drinkard was the first novel in any variety of English to be published by a Nigerian. That novel was incidentally published in 1952 by Faber and Faber in the UK. Perhaps this has not after all turned out to be a good omen for publishing in Nigeria.
An Endangered resource: the preservation of liberation struggle archives in East and Southern Africa
Authors: Garaba Francis
Published: April 2022

The struggle to liberate the continent of Africa from colonialism during the second half of the twentieth century represented an important epoch and, as such, this history needs to be documented in whatever form for the benefit of posterity and for all, irrespective of class, as the struggle for independence was a collective effort. Accordingly, east and southern Africa's liberation struggles have been well documented over the past few decades and the efforts are still ongoing and gathering momentum as a consequence of the onset of digital technologies as custodians of this heritage battle to move with the times in search of permanence. Custodians of this unique and irreplaceable heritage are mostly political parties that spearheaded the struggle for emancipation. Ironically very few of these liberation movements possess proper archives and much of the primary material such as manuscripts, letters, photographs, publications, tapes etc is in the custody of individuals’ private archives (Mazarire 2009).
New light on the Pan-African Association of 1900: a further note
Authors: Colenso Gwilym , Saunders Christopher
Published: April 2022

In the first part of our article on the Pan-African Association (PAA), in issue 107 ofARD,we argued against the received position, accepted by most secondary accounts of the Association, that Robert Colenso had been its treasurer. We pointed out that, with one exception, histories of the PAA had made little or no mention of the part played by his brother, Frank Colenso. Our thesis was grounded on the lack of evidence available at the time to justify the claims made regarding Robert Colenso's position in the PAA, on the confusion between the identities of the two brothers that existed in the primary sources, and on the positive evidence, previously largely disregarded, for the role played by Frank in the Association.
Tackling Africa: the resourceful Mrs J. Theodore Bent
Authors: Brisch Gerald
Published: April 2022

This contribution represents a short introduction to the African travel notebooks, or ‘Chronicles’, of Mabel Virginia Anna Bent (1847-1929) - wife of the explorer James Theodore Bent (1852-1887) - and some of the resources consulted during research into the publication of these notebooks. What follows is based on a presentation made at the SCOLMA conference, the University of Birmingham, on 2 July 2014.

The 19th century is studded with the derring-do of explorers in Africa and elsewhere, but we have relatively few first-hand records of husband-and-wife partnerships. And Mabel and Theodore Bent really were one of the great British travelling partnerships in terms of their results, the distances covered, and the sheer physical efforts involved over a period of nearly twenty years of journeying together between 1880 and 1897. In particular, Theodore's work in today's Zimbabwe made the couple into explorer-celebrities, and accounts of them at travellers’ soirées, or sharing passenger lists with famous names, such as Stanley, are common. The couple regularly feature in the major relevant bibliographies - archaeological, ethnographical, and travel - to this day.
How to Blog About Africa: travel writing in the digital age
Authors: Pḛarson Caitlin
Published: April 2022

The impact of postcolonial criticism on discussions about ‘representations of the Other’ has been felt far beyond the academic sphere, and has had significant influence on a wide variety of cultural forms. Contemporary informal writing practices such as those found on travel and aid blogs employ terminology and ideas that stem directly from the theoretical frameworks developed by critics such as Said, Pratt and Spurr (1978; 1992; 1993). The blogs Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like (henceforth SEAWL) and Gurl Goes to Africa seek to highlight and critique examples of ‘orientalism’ and ‘exotification’ found in other travel blogs, and therefore to draw a comparison between the discourse of colonial travellers and missionaries and that of young ‘gap-year’ travellers and aid workers. These blogs form part of a wider internet trend of satirising the pretensions of privileged ‘Western’ travellers. One example is the comedy sketch video ‘Gap Yah’ (which has been viewed more than five million times on Youtube since its posting in 2010).
Annotated Maps: Charting Research Through Technology
Authors: Suwe Olebogeng
Published: April 2022

This paper addresses the long-term preservation and management of priceless library hardcopy resources, by converting them into a digital resource, using the University of Botswana's Okavango Research Institute (ORI) Library map collection as a case study. As libraries in developing countries increasingly adopt digitisation in order to expand ‘safe’ access to their resources, they are often constrained by lack of funds to acquire the necessary Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and recruit skilled personnel who can successfully develop, implement, host and manage such projects. Rather than striving to gather all the resources in-house, university libraries may seek external funding through collaboration with other departments or personnel within the same university, external partner organisations that may already have the requisite skills and infrastructure to assist them with bringing their projects to fruition.
Cooperation between librarians of a North-South network of French speaking demographic research centres
Authors: Gubry Françoise
Published: April 2022

The North-South cooperation presented here does not only concern libraries and librarians. It concerns cooperation within a network of institutions in which librarians are working and whose main objective is to promote the adoption of information and communication technologies by demographers in French-speaking Africa.

This cooperation was implemented between six demographic research centres of which five are located in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa and the other in Paris. Their activities are quite similar. Affiliated to national universities, they develop research activities in the area of population-development and train students in demography; most of them have a library managed by a professional. They are relatively small, with less than fifty employees (teachers, researchers and administrative staff) and welcome PhD students.
Library-To-Library and Librarian-Academic Partnerships: The University of Malawi, The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Michigan State University
Authors: Limb Peter
Published: April 2022

University partnerships are a growing focus of African Studies programmes, often underpinning much project rhetoric. Yet, the vagaries of funding and administration can render projects ineffective or less effective, projects that in any case often neglect libraries. This can be a fatal flaw in project planning because libraries in the North tend to form one of the, if not the, major nerve centres of a university; never more so than today, when the physical library ‘neurons’ now comprise not just books and journals but a mass of hardware and software. Some administrators make the mistake of imagining ‘the library’ only in terms of bricks and mortar, and neglect the crucial role of libraries and librarians in identifying, acquiring, classifying and making accessible a wide range of important information resources and related services. In most African countries, neglect of libraries due to limited resources and sometimes policy has had a baneful impact. Therefore, university development projects or partnerships on Africa that neglect libraries and information services do so at their own peril.
The fifth edition of African Books in Print: new features, and old problems
Authors: Zell Hans M.
Published: April 2022

The new fifth edition of African Books in Print/Livres Africains Disponibles, (ABIP) has been in the making for some time. Initially plagued by persistent software problems with the database, publication of the new edition was further delayed because of many late responses by publishers verifying and updating records on file for their titles. Moreover, data gathering from Africa remains an uphill task, not made easier by serious communication problems and frequently unreliable postal services. However, after a rather prolonged hatching period, the new edition will now be published in May 2000. Happily, by virtue of the fact that the title database is constantly kept up-to-date through new listings in the quarterly African Book Publishing Record (ABPR), the delay in publication has not affected currency, and the fifth edition of ABIP will provide details of African books that are currently in print as at the end of 1999.
A Case of Painstaking Planning and Preparation: the reception of the 1907 deputation of Basuto Chiefs in Britain
Authors: Colenso Gwilym
Published: April 2022

Accounts of the 1907 deputation of Basuto chiefs to Britain have tended to focus on events in South Africa prior to the deputation's departure, and on the negotiations which took place once the deputation was in Britain. Less attention has been paid to the planning and preparation by sympathisers in Britain in anticipation of the arrival of the deputation in the metropole.

The chiefs were from the Batlokoa and Bakhulukwe chiefdoms. They travelled to Britain to pursue a grievance concerning their being dispossessed of large tracts of land which they and their followers had previously occupied in the Orange River Colony (ORC) in South Africa. When they arrived in Britain in January 1907 there was a readymade support network waiting for them. This article seeks to explain how the chiefs came to benefit from such a well organised reception in Britain.
The Colonial Archive as Material Remains: Reflections on an “Endangered Archives Project”
Authors: Cunningham Tom
Published: April 2022

Between January and April 2016,1 was part of a British Library-funded project to restore, preserve, and digitise the archive of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). The archive is held in a small room in the bell tower of St. Andrews church, Nairobi. The collection consists of the records of the colonialera Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) and its successor institution, the PCEA, which was formed in 1956 when the African church became independent from the Scottish mission. When I first accessed it, it was being used by the church as a place to store and dump all sorts of miscellaneous and unneeded objects. As well as the heaps of papers, it contained an old lectern, posters, brochures, parish leaflets, and general rubbish. Depending on one's perspective it could have been seen as not much of an “archive”, or much more than one.
The Nigerian Qur'anic Manuscript Project: retrieving a unique resource on the Kanuri language and culture
Authors: Bondarev Dmitry
Published: April 2022

“Many African languages have a long written tradition, e.g. Ge'ez, Kiswahili, Hausa, etc.” reads the summary of panel 21 of the AEGIS conference “African Manuscripts and Museum Collections in Europe”. The list could be extended to include other names familiar to a wider audience, e.g., Fula(ni) (Fulfulde), Manding (Mandenkan, Bambara, Dyula, Mandinka), Wolof, Asante (Akan), Songay. The Kanuri language however, needs some introduction. This is to a certain extent a historical paradox, because Kanuri was in fact the first African language to be extensively documented in the middle of the 19th century by Sigismund Koelle. In 1854 Koelle published two large volumes on Kanuri grammar and an anthology of oral narratives (1854a, 1854b). Remarkably, four tales from the Koelle's Kanuri anthology found their way into Volume 3 of the 3rd edition of the Grimm Brothers’ Children and Household Tales (1856).
Taking Aim at Archival Practice: An Analysis of Structural and Institutional Processes that Affect Preservation, Availability and Access to Literary Archives in Malawi
Authors: Mweso Clement
Published: April 2022

In 2013, I traveled to the Khama III Memorial This paper examines archival practice in Malawi and demonstrates that the country has experienced a number of challenges pertaining to preservation and accessibility of literary archives. The country has a considerable collection of literary archives, for instance the huge volume of literary archives held by the family of the late Steve Chimombo that remains unexplored and uncatalogued at his home in Zomba. The Chimombo collection consists of the author's manuscripts and drafts of work both published and unpublished; diaries/ journals; copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence; historical material that documents the author's life such as photographs and family memorabilia; objects of significance like the special writer's desk. This collection is placed in boxes and cartons, filing cabinets, bookshelves, and drawers in his study room at his family home.
IV. Access to—and impact of—book reviews
Authors: Henige David
Published: April 2022

The authors of the set of essays on various aspects of reviewing recently published in ARD (no. 102 [2007]:13-35) argue en ensemble that reviews continue to fill a function in scholarly communications—an unofficial system of checks and balances that can and often does set limits on how cases are presented to the public. I am less convinced of this than the authors, at least as to their value in the library acquisitions process. At any rate, the greater their value, the greater the need to optimize the production and reception by launching a number of reforms that would have the effect of providing this argument with grounds that could make it even stronger.

Book reviews have long been touted as a means to influence institutional purchasing, not only of scholarly books but of all books. Focusing on the former, it strikes me that this could never have been much the case.
The History of the Sudan: a bibliography
Authors: Collins Robert O.
Published: April 2022

The history of the Sudan has been the subject of greater inquiry than almost any other country of Sub-Saharan Africa. The scope and depth of the literature is overwhelming and cannot and should not be repeated here, for there are several excellent bibliographies which the general reader, student, or scholar can consult to investigate specific subjects. This bibliography was compiled by me during the writing of A Modern History of the Sudan (forthcoming) for the Cambridge University Press. Upon completion of the manuscript for the press, my editor and I realized that this bibliography of books concerning the history of the modern Sudan was much too long and detailed for a general history. I subsequently reduced the number of books listed here to only a third of those most pertinent to the text.
Building African Comic Art/Bandes Dessinées Collections in Libraries
Authors: Limb Peter
Published: April 2022

Librarians have tended, for various reasons, to neglect comic art and yet it is one of the fastest growing (sub-) genres in Africa today. With the rapid adoption of online media by African artists to present their drawings it is now easier to track down these artists, often hunted remorselessly by politicians keen to censor their ironic barbs. One reason for neglect by libraries has been the difficulty of acquiring comic art from Africa or even from the North about Africa given that ‘comics’ are often outside the normal trade spheres, and with that in mind this article seeks to offer practical suggestions for those wishing to build their collections in this area. I first sketch the background to comic art and libraries, then discuss the ‘art of collecting', particularly from Africa, and finally raise questions of digital art.
Ethiopian Photo Collections 1896-1913: Some Aspects of Arrangement, Attribution and Interpretation
Authors: Semenova Valeria
Published: April 2022

Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography/Muzei antropologii i etnografii im. Petra Velikogo RAN (Kunstkamera) includes a few photograph collections dedicated to Ethiopia. Amongst them, a considerable quantity refers to the period of-1896-1913 characterised by the active work of the Russian diplomatic mission. This cluster of visual material has not been interpreted in a proper manner. This article is an attempt to arrange this material so as to make it suitable for further research. With this purpose, the inventory numbers of the photos are given to assist searching on the official website. The survey is based on the analysis of inventories of the Museum's collection mentioned in the text.