When using resources listed below, if you find items not held at ISU that are necessary for your research, please get the full citation of the item(s) and contact Interlibrary Loan.
BIBLIOGRAPHIES, INDEXES and ABSTRACTS (to locate information in books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and elsewhere on a specific topic)
Africa Research Bulletin: Political, social and cultural series.
REF DT1 Af8351
Provides brief news reports on political, social and cultural topics. A
separate series covers economic topics. Includes geographical index; annual
index (blue pages) provide more depth. Covers 1966-91.
AFRC Database via Univ. of
Iowa's
OASIS catalog. 
(to this
guide)
(Note: Type v1 when prompted for terminal
type, then press enter; tab through userid, password, and new password
fields, then press
enter; type 1 for OASIS; type cho afrc to choose AFRC
Datatabase. Type stop to disconnect when through.)
This database is "... an index to the individual papers of the Africana
conference proceedings held by Northwestern University Library." Search
by keyword, author, or title (but not by subject).
The ANC and Black Workers in South Africa, 1912-1992: An Annotated
Bibliography. Peter Limb. 1993. GEN COLL DT1719 .A11 L56x 1993
(to this guide)
Partially annotated bibliography includes citations to relevant books,
articles, newspapers and periodicals, government documents and
international publications, archival sources, and more.
Black Studies on
Disc. (Available in Library and Reading Rooms)
This CD-ROM provides bibliographic citations to articles, book reviews,
books, videos, and other materials pertaining to African American and
African diaspora studies; other racial and ethnic minority groups are
also covered. Includes an electronic version of the Index to Black
Periodicals, as well as the library catalog from the Schomburg Center
for Research in Black Culture. Focus is on the humanities, social
sciences and the arts. Coverage for the periodical index is 1989 to the
present.
Current Bibliography on African Affairs. REF DT1 .A11 C9
Organized by subject and by region, this bibliography provides annotated
citations to journal articles, books, and dissertations published
from 1968-present. Also includes book reviews and bibliographic essays.
Historical Abstracts. (Available
in Library Search Room 188B only; ask at REF Desk)
This CD-ROM provides bibliographic citations and abstracts on research
journal articles relevant to the study of world history (excluding the
U.S. and Canada) dating from pre-historic times to the present, from more
than 2100 international journals. Also includes citations for
dissertations and book reviews. Coverage is publications from 1982 to
the present; a print version also available in the Library covers
publications from 1955 to the present.
International African bibliography. REF DT4 A11 I5
Issued quarterly, this bibliography provides access to periodical
articles, monographs, and papers published between 1971-93. Includes
subject index.
PAIS. (Available
in Library and Reading Rooms)
Provides access to journal articles, government documents, reports,
statistics, and other resources dealing with international public policy,
1972-1996.
Quarterly Index to Periodical Literature, Eastern and Southern
Africa. Library of Congress. REF DT365 .A11 L53x
Subject arrangement, with author, geographical, subject, and title
indices. Brief annotations. Includes journal articles and working papers.
SAGE Race Relations Abstracts. Institute of Race Relations, London.
Quarterly, 1975- . REF HT1501 .S3x
International in scope, each issue includes bibliographical essays on
specialized topics, and annotated abstracts for journal articles and
books dealing with race relations. Broad subject index.
South Africa as Apartheid Ends: An Annotated Bibliography with
Analytical Introdutions. Newell M. Stultz. 1993. GEN COLL DT1719
.A11 S8x 1993 (to this
guide)
A useful and thorough annotated bibliography that focuses on
historiography, the African majority, minority communities, race
relations, society and economy, politics and government, international
relations, reform and political change. Each focal section includes a
brief prose introduction. Also includes a glossary of terms, and a
chronology.
CATALOGS from LIBRARIES (to locate books and other materials owned by or accessible through a certain library)
AFRI Database via Univ. of
Iowa's
OASIS catalog.
(Note: Type v1 when prompted for terminal
type, then press enter; tab through userid, password, and new password
fields, then press
enter; type 1 for OASIS; type cho afri to choose AFRI
Datatabase. Search as you would ICAT. Type stop to disconnect
when through.)
This catalog represents the holdings of 18 U.S. libraries renowned for
their African studies collections, including Columbia
University, Howard University, the Library of Congress, New York
Public Library and the Schomburg Center, Northwestern University, the
Smithsonian, Stanford University and the Hoover Institution, UC Berkeley
and UCLA.
Black Studies
on Disc.
This CD-ROM provides bibliographic citations to books, videos, manuscripts,
art objects, journal articles, book reviews, and other materials pertaining
to African American and African diaspora studies. Includes an electronic
version of the Index to Black Periodicals, as well as the library catalog
from the Schomburg Center
for Research in Black Culture. Focus is on the humanities, social
sciences and the arts. Note that the Schomburg Center will not loan
out unique items through Interlibrary Loan. Check other catalogs for
holdings.
ISU
Library Catalog.
A good search strategy is to begin with a keyword search, such as:
k=apartheid
After you pull up a few relevant records on your topic, take a look at the subject headings to see if there's a more precise way of doing your search as a subject search, for example:
s=apartheid--south africa--history
s=south africa--politics and government
Using keyword and subject searching together in this way can help you find all relevant materials in the ICAT catalog.
WorldCat.
This online catalog provides access to citations representing the
holdings of over 23,000 libraries in 63 countries.
DICTIONARIES (to locate definitions of words, concepts, topics and significant individuals)
Historical dictionary series. Various authors, dates, and call
numbers.
In the ISU Library
Catalog, do a keyword search such as:
k=historical dictionary and botswana
(or name of other country) to locate items. Historical dictionaries define concepts and terms that are important to an understanding of a particular country's history.
DISCUSSION GROUPS (to network with researchers and others interested in a given topic)
H-Africa Home Page
This WWW page describes the H-Africa scholarly discussion group (focus is on
African history) and how to subscribe, plus provides links to sample
discussion threads, documents, a dissertation database, table of contents
of various Africanist journals, and other resources.
H-SAfrica Home Page
This WWW page describes the H-SAfrica scholarly discussion group (focus
is on southern African history) and how to subscribe, plus provides numerous
links to other resources.
ENCYCLOPEDIC SOURCES (to locate specific facts, information, and overviews, often on a broad range of topics)
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa. REF DT3. C35 1981
This one-volume encyclopedia focuses on African history. Other major
topics covered include political economy, society, religion, arts and
recreation.
Authentic
Encyclopaedia Africana, web site now under construction.
A new web site devoted to the Encyclopaedia Africana project, in progress.
Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (SESA). REF DT729 .S7
Published in 1975, this 12-volume set provides a white colonial
perspective of southern African history and culture. Reliable coverage
on Black African issues and individuals is minimal. Of historical
interest.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, vol. 2: Africa. REF G63
.W67 1995 v. 2
This recent one-volume encyclopedia focuses on topography, size,
climate of each nation, as well as population, history, political
parties, economic development, and many other topics. Entries range
from one paragraph to several pages in length.
STATISTICS (to locate quantifiable information on many topics)
Southern
Africa Database: Key Facts and Figures about the Region (needs Adobe
Acrobat Reader), compiled by the Critical Choices Research Project at the Inst.
for the Study of Public Policy, Univ. of Cape Town; from the Univ. of Pennsylvania's
African Studies WWW site (listed below).
This database provides numerous economic and manufacturing statistics, as well
as basic quality of life indicators for all southern African countries. Most
statistics cover 1965-90.
WWW RESEARCH SITES (to locate relevant research information and resources on the WWW)
African
Studies WWW, from Univ. of Pennsylvania.
This major research site provides links to country-specific resources and
information, including news feeds, governmental and political documents,
published papers, bibliographies, online books, and electronic resources
of all kinds. Includes a search engine.
Africa
South of the Sahara, compiled by Karen Fung at Stanford
University, for the Electronic Technology Group, African Studies
Association.
This authoritative research site can be browsed by topic or by region.
It includes annotated links to electronic resources of all kinds,
including WWW sites, discussion groups and listservs, bibliographies,
reports, documents, online newspapers, and more. Search engine will
search entire Stanford Library site, not just the African pages.
John Henrik Clarke
Africana Library, at Cornell
(to this guide)
Useful and well-organized library page includes lists of new publications,
relevant reference resources, and offers telnet
sessions to the catalogs of other libraries with strong Africana
collections. Also includes African American resources.
PeaceNet.
Provides links to international news, reports, information and other
resources concerning "... peace, social and economic justice, human rights
and the struggle against racism" worldwide.
SANGONeT, (Southern
African NGO Net)
This site focuses on southern African development and human rights
issues, and includes links to policy documents, political party links,
newspapers and reports, African National Congress news briefs, and other
resources. Also includes a search engine.