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The use of bibliographic databases in African studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2022

Janet Seeley
Janet Seeley*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Extract

The online searching of databases to retrieve bibliographical information is increasingly becoming common research practice in a wide range of disciplines. For the scholar of African studies there is as yet no single comprehensive database covering the literature from the continent on a multi-disciplinary basis; however there are a number of existing databases which serve as a useful and up-to-date bibliographical tool. The aim of this paper is briefly to outline those currently available databases which are of relevance to African studies and to offer some suggestions as to how this valuable service may best be utilised.

Online information retrieval services first became readily available to the public in the early 1970s, chiefly in the area of science and technology.

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Articles
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African Research and Documentation , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , 1986, pp. 7 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1986

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References

Directory of Online Databases 6(3) 1985. Cuadra Associates Inc.Google Scholar
Given that a large number of the available databases consist of collections of scientific and technological data, the number of databases which would be of interest to the Africanist is (by my reckoning) in the region of 25% of the total.Google Scholar
Tze-Chung, Li, An introduction to online searching, Westport & London, Greenwood Press, 1985, provides a useful start, and includes a bibliography of manuals and guides. Directories and manuals are frequently updated and database vendors usually provide manuals for their users. Examples of the general directories available are: Directory of online databases (a periodical published by Cuadra Associates Inc.); Hall, James L. and Brown, Marjorie, Online bibliographic databases: a directory and sourcebook. 3rd ed. London, Aslib, 1983; Eusidic database guide, Oxford, Learned Information, 1983.Google Scholar
The range of connect-time rates is from about $ 15 to $300 per hour, and the average is approximately $64 per hour. The search which the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux carried out for me cost £37.00 for the basic search and 16p for each reference (a standard charge)Google Scholar
The Eusidic database guide (1983) lists 5 databases which DIALOG originates and operates, 3 which it co-originates and operates, and 116 which it operates but which are originated elsewhere.Google Scholar
Seeley, J.A., Famine in Africa: a guide to bibliographies and resource centres and Famine in Sub-Saharan Africa: a select bibliography (excluding the Sahel)from 1978, both published in 1986 by the African Studies Centre, Cambridge (Cambridge Occasional African Papers, Nos. 1 and 3.)Google Scholar
A lungfish that survives over 3.5 years of starvation under aquatic conditions’ published by the Department of Zoology, University of Khartoum - the keyword ‘starvation’ had been picked up!Google Scholar
Sociological abstracts for example is limited to 1,200 journals and serial publications.Google Scholar
A number of university libraries have their catalogues online or are in the process of creating computer-based union catalogues and these can often be consulted from distant computers through JANET (Joint Academic Network) and similar network systems.Google Scholar
Cook, Michael, ‘Technology and African studies: machine-readable databases for archives’, pp. 270-274 in African studies ed. by Sternberg, I. and Larby, P.M., London, British Library, 1986, describes the use of local databases for archivists, Alston, Robin C. and Hogg, Peter , ‘Machinereadable databases for printed materials (from slave-trade tracts to Onitsha pamphlets)’ ibid. pp. 279-287, describe a British Library microcomputer catalogue project.Google Scholar
See for example the account of the work of the Library of Congress in African studies, ed. by Sternberg, I. and Larby, P.M. , London, British Library, 1986, pp. 289-298.Google Scholar