LibGuides: Subject Guides for Websites: AFRICA

AFRICA (History)

African Online Digital Library
• http://www.aodl.org/
• Matrix, the Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences at Michigan State University
• .org
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The African Online Digital Library (AODL) is a portal to multimedia collections about Africa. MATRIX, working in cooperation with the African Studies Center at Michigan State University, is partnering with universities and cultural heritage organizations in Africa to build this resource.
African Studies Association - ASA
• http://www.africanstudies.org/
• .org
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The African Studies Association encourages the production and dissemination of knowledge about Africa, past and present. Based in the United States, the ASA supports understanding of an entire continent in each facet of its political, economic, social, cultural, artistic, scientific, and environmental landscape. The members include scholars, students, teachers, activists, development professionals, policymakers and donors.
Animated Atlas of African History 1879-2002
• http://www.brown.edu/Research/AAAH/map.htm
• Nancy Jacobs, Brown University
• .edu
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This map gives a year-by-year presentation of selected themes in the history of Africa between 1879 and 2002. Toggle buttons allow you to select which thematic layers to activate. Choices include: Territory names; Changing boundaries, imperial rulers and political systems; Violent conflicts; Economic and demographic trends.
Historical Maps of Africa
• http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/history_africa.html#
• University of Texas Libraries, Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection
• .edu
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Provides printable copies of digitally scanned historical maps of Africa.
History & Background of Africa’s Regional Integration Efforts
• http://www.uneca.org/oria/pages/history-background-africas-regional-integration-efforts
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
• .org
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This site reviews the historical roots and development of the African Union, its predecessor the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and so forth. It includes a timeline of significant organizational events from 1963 to 2012.
Internet African History Sourcebooks
• http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/africa/africasbook.asp
• Fordham University, Paul Halsall, Editor
• .edu
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A subsidiary of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project, this site provides links to public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
The Journal of African History
• http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AFH
• Cambridge University Press
• .org
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The Journal of African History publishes articles and book reviews ranging widely over the African past, from the late Stone Age to the 1970s.
The Story of Africa
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml
• BBC (British Broadcasting Company)
• .co.uk
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Africa’s top historians take a fresh look at the events and characters that have shaped the continent from the origins of humankind to the end of South Africn apartheid. Includes sections about West African Kingdoms, Slavery, Africa & Europe (1800-1914), Central African Kingdoms, Southern Africa, and other topics. Includes audio material.

Last update: 8/11/2021

Google Scholar

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a variation of Google. It is designed specifically for scholarly literature searches.

Advantages

It’s free to use.
It has a simple, familiar interface that works much like regular Google.
It finds scholarly books, articles, and conference papers from a wide range of disciplines.

Disadvantages

Coverage is not comprehensive. It is a good first place to start researching a paper, but not comprehensive enough to be the only place you look.
Criteria used for selecting “scholarly” materials is not given. Search results can be a mixture of articles and books as well as unpublished manuscripts, course syllabi, and high school term papers, so you must critically evaluate what you find.
Results are not always full-text or free like regular Google. Often the link for an article will take you to the publishers website where the full article is available only if you buy it.