African Studies Research Guide

The Indiana University African Studies Collection is among the leading collections of its kind in the world. Its vast print, audiovisual, and digital holdings include a significant body of materials on and in African languages as well as three special collections: the Liberian Collections, the most significant academic repository of Liberian materials in the world; the Somali Collection considered one of the top three in the world; and the H.K. Banda Archive, a collection of primary materials on Malawi and southern and central Africa more generally. Rare Africana materials are housed in the Lilly Library.

The main objective of the Indiana University Libraries African Studies Collection is to build and maintain a collection of materials produced about Africa and in Africa in all media that will support the present and future undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral educational needs of Indiana University students and research needs of African Studies faculty. To accomplish this, the Librarian for African Studies selects print, microform, audiovisual, and electronic materials for the research collections of the Bloomington campus, and provides electronic/digital access to the collection by contributing to the Library's web site. 

Please note that gifts of published material can only be accepted on a very limited basis due to space and staff time constraints. Anyone interested in donating materials to the library collection should send a written inventory of the materials being offered to the Librarian for African Studies.

The African Studies Librarian position is currently vacant, limiting our ability to provide reference and research support to the archival collections. For this reason, the Liberian Collections are currently closed for research.   

Please email the African Studies Collection at afstlib @ indiana . edu for any questions you may have about access to the archival collections.

Thank you.
 

This guide has been created by the Librarian for African Studies to help users discover, and access IUB Libraries materials related to Africa. Please use the tabs at left to find links to, and usage guidelines for, the resources outlined in this guide.

The Librarian for African Studies is committed to eliminating barriers to access. If you encounter any difficulties in using the guide or accessing resources linked herein, please contact the Librarian for African Studies.