African Collection
Since its inception the Borchardt Library has focused on sub-Saharan Africa - collecting first mainly in the areas of history and politics. More recently the Library has been acquiring scholarly works in the areas of archaeology, anthropology, religion, politics, development, international relations, economics, and sociology, reflecting events like the establishment of the African Research Institute in 1985 and a change over time in the teaching and research in the University relating to Africa. Works of literature by African writers are also purchased as the Library gets all titles published in Heinemann's African writers series.
While the strength of the collection is post 1966 material published since the foundation of the Library, an effort has been made to acquire some antiquarian and out of print titles, through second hand book dealers. The Library subscribes to a range of print and electronic journals with African interest, such as Africa (Oxford), Journal of modern African studies, International journal of African historical studies, Journal of African history, South African journal on human rights, Journal of Southern African Studies, Canadian journal of African studies, etc. Users with a historical interest may also want to note for example, The African repository (v.1-68, 1825-1892) and Suid-Afrikaanse Argiefstukke. Transvaal. (no.1-no.6, 1949-1956).
A recent search of the Library catalogue under the keyword "Africa" retrieved over 17,000 titles, with over 4,600 published after 1990. The over 2000 subject headings with the word "Africa", reveals monograph titles in many additional areas including art, biological sciences, education, language, labour, law, agriculture, land tenure, etc. The Library also has strong holdings on the following countries; South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rhodesia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Over 250 videos (documentaries and feature films) are held in the Library on Africa.
The acquisition of microform original materials and guides/lists of government and other original records relating to Africa have significantly enhanced the Library's research capacity, especially for those interested in late 19th and 20th century materials. Many of these were made available through a large donation from Dr David Dorward from the History Department.