Africana Libraries Newsletter

Africana Libraries Newsletter (ALN) is published quarterly by the Michigan State University Libraries and the MSU African Studies Center. Those copying contents are asked to cite ALN as their source. ALN is produced to support the work of the Africana Librarians Council (ALC) of the African Studies Association. It carries reports on meetings of ALC, CAMP (Cooperative Africana Microform Project) and other relevant groups. It also reports other items of interest to Africana librarians and those concerned about information resources about or in Africa. To be made available on the Internet at <http://www.lib.msu.edu/lauer/aln>.

Editor: Joseph J. Lauer, Africana Library, MSU, 100 Library, East Lansing, MI 48824-1048.
  Tel.: 517-432-2218; E-mail: lauer@msu.edu; Fax: 517-432-1445.
 

EDITOR’S COMMENTS

It is with great delight that I can announce that Marion Frank-Wilson (Indiana University) will be the editor of the next issue of this newsletter. When I began (with no. 67) in July 1991, I had agreed to be editor for at least 3 years and I expected that it might go for 6 years. Eight years and 28 issues has been more than enough. It is time for the innovations and enthusiasm of a new editor.

Several individuals and units were responsible for the success of the past years. Special thanks must go to Theresa Moore, the Library’s graphic artist who prepared the issues for desktop publishing and introduced the graphics. She also assisted with putting issues on the web. Like me, she never expected to be still doing this in 1999. The MSU Library and African Studies Center covered the costs. Onuma Ezera, my now retired supervisor, was always supportive. David Tuffs and many student assistants have assisted with the proofing. Various secretaries took care of the mailings.

Numerous librarians and others contributed useful copy over the years. In addition to the ALC chairs and secretaries, regular contributors were Moore Crossey, Karen Fung, Phyllis Bischof, David Easterbrook, et al. In some ways, this was always an ALC newsletter; in other ways it was not. Unlike previous editors, I made the unofficial nature of ALN explicit in my 1991 proposal to the ALC Executive. (See ALN, Jan. 1995, p. 13.) Unfortunately, that did not stop the talk about an “ALC publication.” I probably should have put the name of the issuing institution in front of the title.

During my years as editor, I tried to create a record of the library activities and promote discussion of issues with respect to Africana librarianship. I have mostly enjoyed the work. And I look forward to what a new editor will bring.
 

ACRONYMS

ACRL - Association of College & Research Libraries (ALA)
ALA - American Library Association (Chicago)
ALC - Africana Librarians Council (formerly Archives-Libraries Committee) of ASA
ARL - Association of Research Libraries
ASA - African Studies Association (U.S.)
CAMP - Cooperative Africana Microform Project (CRL)
CRL - Center for Research Libraries (Chicago)
IFLA - International Federation of Library Associations
LC - Library of Congress
MELA - Middle East Librarians Association
MSU - Michigan State University
SCOLMA - Standing Conf. on Library Materials on Africa
U. - University
UCLA - University of California, Los Angeles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor’s Comments
Acronyms

ALC/CAMP NEWS 2
Calendar of Future Meetings
Meetings in Washington, D.C. (Apr./May 1999)
 ALC Business Meeting
 Executive Board meetings
 Cataloging Committee
 Africana Subject Funnel
 Bibliography Committee
 Title VI Africana Librarians

OTHER NEWS 6
News from other Associations
 Report on ALA meeting (New Orleans)
 ALA & ZIBF
Title 6 Technological Innovation grants
Nancy Schmidt: A Salute

RESEARCH ON LIBRARIES .7
Books & Documents
Journals & Articles

REFERENCE SOURCES 8
Notes
New Reference Titles

NOTES ON
MATERIALS & VENDORS 8
Vendor Announcements
Book Awards
Events
Literature on the Book Trade
Online Sites
New Serials
Special Issues of Journals
Selected New Books
 AFRICANA LIBRARIANS COUNCIL / CAMP NEWS

CALENDAR OF FUTURE MEETINGS

Nov. 11-14, 1999, Philadelphia - ASA Annual Meeting;
  ALC meets Nov. 10-11
April 6-8, 2000, Los Angeles - ALC/CAMP Spring Meeting
Nov. 16-19, 2000, Nashville - ASA Annual Meeting
Spring 2001, Bloomington, Ind. - ALC/CAMP  Spring Meeting
Fall 2001, Houston - ASA Annual Meeting
Fall 2002, Washington, DC, or Detroit - ASA Annual Meeting
Fall 2003, Minneapolis - ASA Annual Meeting
 

ALC BUSINESS MEETING
Washington, D.C., Friday April 30, 1999, 2:00-4:30 pm
[Abbr. by editor from draft minutes by Deborah LaFond.]

Present: Dawn Bastian (Northwestern U), Angel Batiste (LC), Helene Baumann (Duke U), Julianne Beall (LC), Ruby Bell-Gam (UCLA), Phyllis Bischof (UC Berkeley), Joe Caruso (Columbia U), Jill Coelho (Harvard), Moore Crossey, Andrew de Heer (Schomburg Center), David Easterbrook (Northwestern U), Greg Finnegan (Harvard), Karen Fung (Stanford), James Gentner (LC), Miki Goral (UCLA), Beverly Gray (LC), Marieta Harper (LC), Maggie Hite (World Library Partnership, Inc.) Al Kagan (U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Elizabeth Layton (LC), Deborah LaFond (SUNY Albany), Joe Lauer (Michigan State U), Bob Lesh (Northwestern U), Ken Lohrentz (U of Kansas), Peter Malanchuk, (U. of Florida), Judy McDermott (LC), Sybil Moses (Catholic University of America), Valerie Mwalilino (LC), Lauris Olson (U. of Pennsylvania), Laverne Page (LC), Loumona Petroff (Boston U), Elizabeth Plantz (Northwestern U), Mette Shayne (Northwestern U), Elisabeth Sinnott (NYU), Andrea Stamm (Northwestern U), Janet Stanley (Smithsonian Institute), Gretchen Walsh (Boston U), Laura Wendell (World Library Partnership, Inc.), David Westley (Boston U), Marion Frank Wilson (Indiana University), Joanne Zellers (LC).

1. Welcome done by Beverly Gray, who acknowledged the work of the LC local arrangement committee (Zellers, Harper, Batiste, Mwalilino) and read a message from Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Library Services, and Carolyn Brown.

2. Minutes from the Chicago meeting were approved, with corrections offered by Shayne, for posting to the ALC web page.

3. Future Meetings
 Fall 1999 (Philadelphia): Motion to start ALC meetings on Nov. 10th (a day before ASA sessions) carried. Requests for meeting times need to reach chair by May 7th.
 Spring 2000 (UCLA): Information will be posted to a web page, after the fall meeting. A group visit to the Getty Center is being planned.
 Spring 2001: Indiana University (Bloomington) will host.

4. Brief Reports
ALC Cataloguing Committee Report [see separate minutes].

ALC Bibliography Committee [see separate minutes].

ALN Report (Lauer): Marion Frank Wilson volunteered to become the new ALN editor, beginning with the October 1999 issue. Issues for January and April will appear as a combined issue, with the reports on the Chicago meeting. He encouraged the various chairs to submit their reports promptly (within 2 weeks of the meeting).

Book Donations Task Force (Kagan): The group looked at a revised procedures for application document and approved it with slight modifications. The document has been sent to the ASA board for approval. The grant application submission date for the awards has been changed to July 1st (previously March 1). The project of revising the handbook was discussed and the work for doing so was distributed.

Title VI (Walsh): the library cooperation project is nearing the end of the second 3 year cycle. Walsh reviewed the history of the project. In each cycle, the competitors have put into the proposal a paragraph of common language about library cooperation. The librarians are asking for $1500-2000 per year per center to be spent (at the discretion of the institution) on one or more of four projects (filming of archives; acquiring copies of African theses; supporting union list of newspapers; supporting the African Database Connection). Walsh was also asked to prepare a position paper on ALC cooperative projects, and her draft was distributed at the bibliographers meeting.

Union List of African Newspapers (ULAN) (Easterbrook):
There had been little activity since last fall due to changes at CRL. This project has been funded by the Mellon Foundation, via the ARL global resources project. This will enable CRL staff to mount the list, starting with newspapers at CRL or on Mette’s list.
 Zellers reported that LC will be collaborating. M. Sweeny, Head of LC Newspaper Section, reported that they finished an inventory of their holdings in December.
 Gentner (LC’s Overseas Operations) reported on the number of newspaper titles microfilmed and projected to be filmed: 45 titles sent to New Delhi; 60 titles to CRL; 53 titles sent to Washington; for a total of 158 titles from Nairobi that are being filmed.

Executive Committee: A new Vice Chair/Elect and 2 members-at-large will be elected at the fall meeting. The current Secretary agreed to continue for the 1999-2000 year in order to return to the cycle of three openings each fall. Zellers requested that the membership forward nominations to Goral and Easterbrook.

Vicki Evalds: Walsh reported she was unable to attend due to illness but did volunteer to help with the fall meeting.

5. Library of Congress Reports:
Overseas Acquisition and Operation Division (Gentner reporting for Thomas):
 Publications continue. Serials supplement being distributed on CD-ROM. The quarterly index is also on web site (www.icipe.org/LOCNairobi). Beginning in 1999, it will include citations to journals from Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana and Senegal.  Somalia reports and newspapers, 1991: parts 2, 3 of reports and parts 2 of newspapers have been microfiched and fiche numbers are on the web.
 This fiscal year there have been acquisition trips to Ghana, Namibia, Zambia, Senegal, and Uganda. Future trips planned for this year (ending Sept. 30) include Botswana, Comoros, Seychelles and Zimbabwe. There have been 45 shipments from the LC Nairobi office. Serials cataloging with OCLC and the CONSER project has begun.
African Middle East (AME) Acquisitions Section:
 Mwalilino reported on the re-organization at LC after the Order Section and the Exchange and Gifts Division were abolished, and her section is now part of the African/Asian Acquisitions and Overseas Operations Division (AFAOVOP). The AME section currently has 5 acquisition specialists, 2 acquisition assistants, and 2 vacant acquisition assistant positions.
 Coverage of 4 West African countries (Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal, Ghana) have been transferred to the Nairobi Office. Mwalilino introduced Liz Layton, Africana Acquisition Specialist, who has Cyrillic language expertise and will be responsible for managing Central Asian and South African acquisitions.

6. ALC Web Page:
Zellers reported substantial progress in recent weeks and distributed handouts on the ALC Web page. This document included a list of concerns about archiving, retention of documents, procedures and formats for accepting text. Zellers will draw up broad guidelines and circulate them to the Executive Committee and the membership.

7. Announcements, brief reports of institutions and other business:
• AILS is still in business, but with less activity.
• Electronic Journal of African Bibliography: Caruso reported that Westley’s bibliography on African female genital mutilation was received, peer reviewed, and prepared for mounting.
• ALC Handbook: suggestions for changes were made. The chair proposed having a committee review options and report at the fall meeting. Coelho, Bischof and Finnegan volunteered.
• Members discussed possibility of putting the annual list of reference books (published in African Book Publishing Record) on the web.
• World Library Partnership (WLP): Laura Wendell (wendell@acpub.duke.edu), Executive Director, reported on WLP and its planned visit to rural libraries in Zimbabwe. Other visits include Grenada, Pilau, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Belize, Togo, Ghana, Malawi, Gambia.
• Michigan State University (Lauer):
 Dissertation list in latest issue of ASA News was abbreviated by ASA.
 MSU has applied for 2 grants in recent months: A proposal for a multilingual digital library for West African sources was submitted to the NSF. This would include Wolof and French manuscripts from 19th-20th century Senegal. The second proposal is titled “Accessing African Scholarly Journals: Sustainable Electronic Publishing and Indexing of African Journals through International Cooperation.” It was submitted to the U.S. Dept. of Education and calls for the electronic publishing of 20 African journals, the promotion of indexing in international databases, and the creation of a database of African journals.
• A formal resolution was made to honor Mette Shayne’s retirement from Northwestern University. There was unanimous agreement to the resolution.
 

FIRST ALC EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
Washington, D.C., April 29, 1999, 4:30-5:30pm
[Report by the editor]
Chaired by Zellers. Reviewed agenda for business meeting. Decided to ask ASA for meeting times beginning on November 10th, before the start of the regular meetings. Named a Nominations Committee for the Fall election. Accepted Frank-Wilson as new editor of ALN and Lauer as new chair of the Cataloging Committee (starting after the fall meeting).
 

SECOND ALC EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
Washington, D.C., April 30, 1999, 4:30-5:00pm
[Report by the editor]
Chaired by Zellers. Further discussions of preparations for the Fall meeting, including a proposed roundtable on acquisitions. Discussed ALC web site at LC and desire to add data from annual list of reference books that appears in African Book Publishing Record. Lauer’s request that ALN be removed from the list of “ALC publications” was rejected. There was further discussion of plans to honor retirees.
 

CATALOGING COMMITTEE MINUTES
Washington, D.C., April 30, 1999, 9:20-10:40am
[Abbr. by editor from draft minutes by Elisabeth Sinnott.]

Present: Bastian, Beall, Caruso, Kay Elsasser (LC), Finnegan, Goral, Lauer, Lesh, Moses, Olson, Petroff, Plantz, Sinnott, Stamm, Stanley, Walsh.
1. Chair Plantz opened at 9:20 a.m., with Sinnott as secretary.
2. The minutes of the Oct. 29, 1998 Chicago meeting were approved.

3. Dewey Decimal Classification report
 Beall reported that the Dewey Decimal classification area table for South Africa came out on the Dewey Decimal Classification web page. The Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee is now proposing to place Ndebele within the Nguni group, following the advice of several correspondents in South Africa.

4. Africana Subject Funnel [see report on new subjects at end of minutes]:
Since this spring there has been more activity in the Africana Subject Funnel project, mainly thanks to Loumona Petroff. Since some of the headings submitted within the last year have never made it into MUMS (Multiple-Use MARC System), Plantz has resent them within the last few weeks.
 Rebecca Williams, the LC liaison for the Africana Subject Funnel, has been promoted to another position. The new liaison is Carolyn Sturtevant.
 In comments on the April 29th Africana Subject Cataloging Workshop, Plantz expressed regret that it dealt only with language and literary headings, whereas Plantz had expected a wider variety of headings such as politically oriented headings, e.g., battles and events. Lauer mentioned the time constraint and appreciated the discussion of the Asante/Ashanti question. (Replacing ‘Ashanti (African people)’ with ‘Asante (African people)’, as proposed by the Smithsonian, had a possible impact on 25 subject headings. A proposal with such a major impact obliges the cataloger, who submits it, to present the whole case.) The possibility of holding more workshops in the future to focus on other subject types was endorsed.
   The Committee discussed the idea of posting proposed subject headings on the Africana Subject Funnel list for review before submission to LC. There was general support for this idea, provided it did not cause long delays, and all ALC members would be asked if they wanted to be put on the funnel list.

5. ALC web page: Various changes were discussed, including the issue of how long to leave minutes on the web. Discussion to be resumed in the fall.

6. Present and future projects:
 Nothing new on the project for African-language titles pages; and no movement on a list of African language specialists working at various institutions.
 Lauer mentioned his notes on African language words which would be helpful for minimal level cataloging.
 Caruso raised the question what could be done about the lack of African language skills among Africana catalogers and was wondering if African language training for catalogers could be part of a Title VI proposal. Other proposed solutions: rely on catalogers in Africa; hold a workshop during the fall meeting.

7. ALC/CC:AAM report (Bastian): Beall raised the Ndebele issue at the ALA Cataloging and Classification: Asian and African Materials (CC:AAM) meeting on Jan. 31, 1999 in Philadelphia. In response to James Agenbroad’s proposal to have Asian and African vernacular headings in authority records in RLIN and OCLC as additional access points, a sub-committee was formed. Bastian will be its chair.

8. LC reports (none)

9. Other business:
Problems discussed briefly included backlogs of African language material, problems with the latest version of the Cataloger’s Desktop, access to web sites, and the impact core cataloging.
 

AFRICANA SUBJECT FUNNEL

The following subject headings were proposed between Spring and Fall 1998:
Glassware, Greco-Roman $x Expertising
Izi (African people) — revised
Izi language — revised
Legal stories, Nigerian (English)
Nongovernmental organizations $x Law and legislation
Prints, Nigerian
Proverbs, Ibibio
Proverbs, Zulu
Voortrekker Monument (Pretoria, South Africa)
Women authors, Nigerian

The following subject headings were proposed between Fall 1998 and Spring 1999:
 Note: * indicates that the proposal has been found in MUMS as of April 26, 1999.
*Art, Comorian
*Art, Tunisian
*Economic assistance, South African
*Erotic poetry, Afrikaans
Ezaa language (revised)
Kassonke language
*Maxims, Gabon
*Political fiction, South African
*Proverbs, Gabon
*Short stories, Mauritian (English)
*Short stories, Mauritian (French)
*Short stories, Yoruba
*Short stories, Zimbabwean
*Technical assistance, South African
*West African poetry (French)
Yemonja (Yoruba diety)
 
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY COMMITTEE MEETING
Washington, D.C., April 30, 1999, 11:00am-12:25pm
[Abbr. by editor from draft minutes by Miki Goral.]

Present [in addition to those attending the Business Meeting]: Mary-Jane Dub (LC), James T. Simon (CRL).

1. The meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Lohrentz.
2. Minutes of the October 29 meeting were accepted as corrected. They will be sent to the Webmaster at LC.
3. Announcements:
 Updates to African Newspapers Currently Received by American Libraries should be sent to Shayne by August 1. This will go the electronic Union List of African Newspapers (ULAN). The issue of specific holdings was raised.
 An ARL-CRL conference on “Creating new strategies for cooperative collection development” will be held Nov. 12-14 in Atlanta.
 Easterbrook reported that Hans Panofsky will be attending the board meeting of the International African Institute in London and wanted to know what bibliographic concerns, if any, ALC has. Panofsky is proposing that they discuss making their annual International African Bibliography available on the web along with David Hall’s Africa Bibliography. ALC supports this proposal.
 Zellers mentioned the new Bibliographic Enrichment Program at the Library of Congress, BE Online and BECITES. The Africana Division will be the next unit to prepare material for this program.

4. Title VI: Walsh reported on the Title VI group meeting. Discussion centered on future cooperative projects. Walsh has prepared a document, “Opportunities and Challenges in Africana Library Service: A Framework for Cooperation and Development,” which summarizes the work of the last two decades and should provide background information for Title VI Directors. It concludes with recommendations for four continuing and future projects. One of these projects, the African Database Connection (ADC), is envisioned to consolidate existing databases on various campuses. A proposal was developed for a Dept. of Education (DOE) grant, but was not submitted due to lack of time to complete all the technical details needed. We will continue to work on this proposal to get it ready for the next funding cycle, which will ask for funding for the planning stage of the project. The question to be considered is where to go from here. It is hoped that it will connect to databases in Africa. Shayne asked about the implications of the African studies abstracts (Leiden) deciding to sign a contract with NISC. Walsh asked what role NISC should play in our plans. Bell-Gam asked that the project to develop 3-letter language codes for African languages be included in the “Opportunities” document. Other past cooperative projects to be added include the Africana Conference Paper Index (AFRC, Northwestern) and the ALC 40th Anniversary papers publication. Walsh asked that other suggestions for additions to the document be sent to her.
 Kagan raised a question about whether the ADC should go to NISC or remain an independent project. He stressed that we should not delay too long if everyone else is going to NISC and suggested that we continue working on our own project where we do have control. Shayne stated that the original idea for the ADC was to index African periodicals that were not already being indexed elsewhere. The information could be sent to LC Nairobi for inclusion in their database. Walsh said that money is for new technologies so “indexing” is not likely to be funded.

5. Bibliographies in progress, contemplated, or needed:
 Katz, editor of Magazines for Libraries, has apparently found a new editor for the Africa chapter.
 Nancy Schmidt was contacted about the possibility of having her “Africana resources for undergraduates: a bibliographic essay,” in Africa, ed. by O’Meara and Martin (Indiana University Press, 1995) updated and mounted on the web. She would like for ALC to commit to a continuation of this project but noted that the section on electronic resources needs to be updated. Indiana University Press is not interested in mounting the essay on the web and would need to be contacted for permission. Goral suggested that this essay might become the basis of the LC Africana Division’s Bibliographic Enhancement project. Olson moved to put the essay on the web. Bischof made a friendly amendment that Fung be asked to update the electronic section. The motion was seconded and passed.
 Bischof suggested contacting Bill Katz about getting the chapter on African serials for the ALC web site.
 Moses suggested adding a project to the “Opportunities” document about the need to gain bibliographic control of pamphlets. The consensus was that this document will need to be updated further and, after adoption by the Bibliography Committee, will be put on its web page.
 Kagan reported that Scarecrow Press is interested in updating books on the list of sources in need of updating prepared several years ago by Nancy Schmidt. Moses suggested that we look to create NEW guides rather than just update old ones. Walsh commented that the problem with some of the Africana reference books is that bibliographies are not being done by experts (i.e., Africanists).
 Shayne asked about the status of the ABC-CLIO database. Stamm reported that they are starting with other parts of the world.
TITLE VI AFRICANA LIBRARIANS
Washington, D.C., April 29, 1999, 3:00-4:30pm
[Abbr. by editor from 5/10 draft minutes by Joe Caruso]

Present: Bell-Gam, Bischof, Caruso, Crossey, Frank-Wilson, Fung, Goral, Kagan, Lauer, Malanchuk, Olson, Petroff, Walsh, Westley.
Absent: Ted Foster (Ohio U./Ohio State U.), David Henige (U. of Wisconsin, Madison), Afeworki Paulos (U. of Iowa).
Guests: Batiste, Baumann, Easterbrook, Gray, Harper, LaFond, Lohrentz, Page, Shayne, James Simon (CRL), Harry Verwayen (IDC Publishers), Zellers.

Gretchen Walsh, serving as “Coordinator” for the Title VI Africana Librarians, called the meeting to order and distributed: “‘Common Language’ for the Title VI applications as drafted by David Wiley (MSU) and Jo Ellen Fair (U. of Wisconsin),” “Opportunities and challenges in Africana library service: a framework for cooperation and development,” and “African Database Connection: the cooperative management of electronic databases and indexing of African information.” [Following the meeting, copies of a directory of “Title VI Directors and Librarians” were also distributed to Title VI librarians.]

Walsh summarized Title VI funding for African studies, which runs in 3-year cycles. In the Fall 1999 competition for Title VI funding, all institutional applicants will be using the same language on “library cooperation”. This language was formulated by the directors, using Walsh’s position paper. Walsh reminded the group that there are space limitations in Title VI applications.

There are four sections to the “common language” draft: (1) continuation of microfilming at the National Archives of Senegal and an expansion of microfilming efforts to other African archives; (2) continuation of the “African dissertations and theses” project; (3) ULAN (Union List of African Newspapers) project; and, (4) the African Database Connection. Discussion ensued on the language of the draft. Contributions came from Olson, Kagan, Gray, Bischof, Lohrentz, Bell-Gam, and Lauer. Suggestions for changes were recorded by Walsh.

Gray asked for clarification about the relationship between “Title VI Africana Library Cooperation” and “Africana library cooperation” in general. After some discussion, Title VI Africana libraries and their respective African Studies Centers have agreed to join in with other Africana libraries on joint cooperative efforts.

The issue of a new coordinator was deferred to the fall meeting. Kagan agreed to set up a meeting of the center directors and the librarians in the fall.

The African Database Connection project and possible funding sources were discussed at length.

African dissertations and theses reports:
 Kagan: the U. of Illinois is working with Mohamed V University (Rabat) and Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Maputo).
 Olson: the U. of Penn. is still waiting to hear from the University of Ibadan.
 Walsh: Liz Levey (Ford Foundation, Nairobi) reports that the “Database of African Theses and Dissertations” (DATAD) project now has a website, called the Project for Information Access and Connectivity (www.piac.org), which includes the results of the survey of US institutional interests and needs carried out last year. The program has also entered the “pilot project” phase. If this project develops the way it should, the acquisition of African dissertations should become much easier.
 Lauer: MSU hopes to acquire more dissertations in the coming year from the U. of Zimbabwe.
 Bell-Gam reported that she was in Nigeria during March and April 1999, visiting 5 universities in the south (U. of Calabar; U. of Port Harcourt; Obafemi Awolowo U. in Ife; U. of Ibadan; and, U. of Lagos). They remain optimistic that they will eventually be able to acquire photocopies of theses.

Harry Verwayen (IDC Publishers), being unable to attend the Saturday CAMP meeting, used the occasion to express an interest in working with Africana librarians in identifying materials to film.
 

OTHER NEWS

NEWS FROM OTHER ASSOCIATIONS

CALENDAR
ALA:
Jan. 14-19, 2000, San Antonio - Midwinter Meeting
July 6-12, 2000, Chicago - ALA Annual Conf.
Feb. 9-14, 2001, Washington, DC - Midwinter Meeting
June 14-20, 2001, San Francisco - ALA Annual Conf.
Jan. 18-23, 2002, New Orleans - Midwinter Meeting
June 13-19, 2002, Atlanta - ALA Annual Conf.
Apr. 8-15, 2003, Charlotte, N.C.- ACRL National Conf.
June 19-25, 2003, Toronto - ALA Annual Conf.
June 24-30, 2004, Orlando - ALA Annual Conf.
June 23-29, 2005, Chicago - ALA Annual Conf.

IFLA Annual Conferences:
Aug. 19-28, 1999, Bangkok
Aug. 13-18, 2000, Jerusalem
 

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
Notes on the Annual Meeting in New Orleans
(June 24–30, 1999):
 Vendors included: African Books Collective (ABC) and Afribooks Export Service (Oxford House, GPO Box 1930, Ibadan, Nigeria; new US Office at: c/o Accounting Solutions Plus, Ste. 209, 530 Silas Deane Hwy., Wethersfield, CT 06109-2227; tel: 860-667-4519).
 Poster sessions included: “The First Steps Toward Digitalization in Africa: the Past Examination Papers Database at the University of Botswana Library,” by T.E. Lundstrom & K.N. Rao (Univ. of Botswana).
 CC:AAM (ALCTS-CCS (Assoc. for Library Collection & Technical Services - Cataloging & Classification Section) Committee on Cataloging: Asian & African Materials). Meeting chaired by Wen-ling Liu (Indiana). Latest from LC’s Dewey Decimal Section: Ndebele (SA) relocated from Sotho-Tswana to Nguni group; languages of China will be treated as dialects, honoring request of Chinese librarians. Autocat question concerning Cokwe (Chokwe) alphabet turned out to be a misunderstanding. Action on revisions to AACR2 for headings in vernacular scripts was deferred. Hideyuki Morimoto (UC-Berkeley) named new chair. Resolutions to create subcommittees for program and for web site approved.
 “Middle East Librarianship: problems and Challenges” - a program of ACRL’s Asia, Africa and Middle East Section, included presentations by Dona Straley (Ohio State Univ.), Maritena Gahman (Detroit Public Library), Michael Hopper (Harvard), Ali Houissa (Cornell), and Chris Murphy (LC).

Free Pass Program enabled a group of US librarians to take part in this year’s Zimbabwe International Book Fair. The Free Pass Program is a joint programme of the ZIBF and the ALA, with the support of a number of sponsors including the Guadalajara International Book Fair, Mexico, and Scholastic Inc, USA. The Program will be doubled in size next year, to bring 20 US librarians to ZIBF2000.
 The US librarians and ALA members attending ZIBF99 under the scheme are Thomas Alford (Queens Borough Public Library, New York), Gladys Arome (Dr. E.L.Whigham Elem. Center for Aquatic Nature Study Library, Florida), Linda Behen (St Ursula Academy, Cincinnati), Dr Patrica Brumley (Coral Reef Senior High School, Florida), Marilena Gahman (Detroit Public Library), Margaret Hite (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Sarah Long (ALA Vice-President/North Suburban Library System, Illinois), Marie Paiva (Marriott Library, University of Utah), Elisabeth Sinnott (Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University), Thelma Tate (Rutgers University Libraries), Gebregeorgis Yohannes (San Francisco Public Library). An ALA member from Malawi, Lesley Nkhwazi, Malawi National Library Service, is also attending ZIBF99.—From information provided by Margaret Ling <margaret.ling@geo2.poptel.org.uk>.
 

GRANTS

July 1999 E-news for ARL Directors (sent Aug. 6) included the following:
Eight projects were recently funded by the U.S. Department of Education under a new Section 606, Title VI, of the Higher Education Act (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access);
“Digital South Asia Library,” Center for Research Libraries, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, to further a project part of the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program ($540,000);
“Latin Americanist Research Resources Project,” The University of Texas at Austin, to extend the project part of the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program ($300,000);
“Russian Periodical Index Digital Project,” Indiana University ($240,000);
“American Overseas Digital Library,” the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, on behalf of the American Overseas Research Centers ($525,000);
“The Digital Asia Library Initiative,” the University of Wisconsin, in collaboration with Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota ($525,000);
“Global Window on China,” the University of California-Los Angeles ($300,000);
“Central Eurasian Information Resource,” the University of Washington ($300,000); and
“Accessing African Scholarly Journals,” Michigan State University ($300,000).
 

NANCY J. SCHMIDT
A Salute in Honor of Her Retirement
by Elizabeth J. Plantz

Nancy J. Schmidt retired October 2, 1998, after many years of leadership in Africana librarianship. Her dedication, insight, high standards of service, and wide-ranging activities in the field of African Studies were greatly respected and appreciated by colleagues and patrons alike. Since 1984 she served as Librarian for African Studies and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University, Bloomington. She previously had headed the Tozzer Library at Harvard University. Prior to receiving her MLS from Indiana University in 1971 she also held positions as Professor of Anthropology at several institutions, including the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Rockford College, Stanislaus College, St. Lawrence University and Wisconsin State University, Stevens Point.

A graduate of Oberlin College (1958), the University of Minnesota (M.A. 1961) and Northwestern University (PhD 1965; Anthropology, specializing in African Studies), Nancy’s career in Africana touched on a wide variety of subjects and interests. Her numerous outstanding publications on, among other things, children’s literature, African filmography, and the promotion and teaching of Africana leave a rich and productive legacy. She was honored with a Conover-Porter award in 1996 for her book, Sub-Saharan African Films and Filmmakers 1987-1992. Her article, “Africana Resources for Undergraduate Libraries: A Bibliographic Essay,” published in Africa, 3rd ed. (1995), edited by Phyllis Martin and Patrick O’Meara, is considered a classic in the field. Nancy was also an active editor and reviewer for many journals; in particular she was known as the founder and editor of Anthropological Literature from 1978-1984.

In addition to her prodigious scholarship, Nancy belonged to many professional associations. She was a very active member of the African Studies Association, Africana Librarians Council since 1974. She served the ALC with distinction on various committees, presiding as Chair in 1992/93. She also served as editor of the Africana Libraries Newsletter, 1986-1991. Of particular note, she chaired the ALC 40th Anniversary Conference Committee from 1993-1997, bringing together librarians from around the world for a major conference on the past, present and future of Africana librarianship, a conference for which she edited the proceedings (Africana Librarianship in the 21st century: Treasuring the Past and Building the Future (1998)). It was Nancy who first envisioned the recent microfilm project realized by Title VI and CAMP to cooperatively film colonial law records at the Senegalese National Archives. Nancy was among only a few librarians to ever be elected to the ASA Board of Directors, serving from 1993 to 1996. She was also very active in the Outreach Council, serving from 1977-1994. Nancy actively supported Africana colleagues and organizations abroad. At SCOLMA’s 1999 annual meeting she became the first non-member to be elected to honorary membership of SCOLMA, in recognition of her outstanding contributions and years of support,

The many members of the ALC wish to take this opportunity to recognize and thank Nancy Schmidt for her outstanding work in promoting African studies and librarianship. We will miss her vision, her ability to set clear goals, to take responsibility, and to see any task through to completion.
 
 

RESEARCH ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

The following items have come to the attention of the editor.

BOOKS & DOCUMENTS

Education for librarianship and information science in Africa, edited by Michael Wise. Uppsala Univrsity Library, 1999. 302p. Project report (IFLA Advancement of Librarianship in the Third World Programme); nr 14. ISBN: 9185092525. Price: 100 SEK. Address of Programme: c/o Uppsala University Library, Box 510, S-751 20 UPPSALA, Sweden.
 Contents: Foreword to Michael C.G. Wise, by I.M. Johnson; An overview of education for librarianship in anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa, by D. Rosenberg; Problems in the training and education of LIS practitioners in Portuguese-speaking Africa: the case of Mozambique, by C. Darch; Education for information workers in Africa: the case of the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, by K. Mchombu; Library education in Ethiopia, by Adhana Mengsteab; Education for librarianship in Ghana, by C.O. Kisiedu; Kenya, by D. Rosenberg; Education for library and information science in Nigeria, by V.W. Dike; Senegal, by A.F. Corréa & O. Sagna; Professional development and training in the Republic of South Africa, by P.G. Underwood & M.C. Nassimbeni; Continuing professional education in South Africa, by S. Manaka; The state of education and training of information workers and related issues in Uganda, by I.M.N. Kigongo-Bukenya; Zambia and Zimbabwe, by A.M. Kaniki; The ARCIS perspective, by W.O. Aiyepeku; Developments in information technology (IT) training for librarians and other information managers in Kenya, by J. Were; Employers’ expectations of knowledge bases of library school graduates, by H.K. Raseroka.

Libraries: Global Reach, Local Touch, edited by Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Barbara J. Ford, and Kate Lippincott. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998. 256 p.
 Reviewed by David L. Easterbrook (PCV, Kenya, 1969-71) in WorldView, Spring 1999, p. 62-3.

JOURNALS & ARTICLES

Ali Houissa, “Developing a World Wide Web Resource Collection and a Guide to Internet Resources of the Middle East and Islamic Studies,” MELA notes, no. 67-68 (Fall-1998-Spring 1999), p. 12-30. Originally presented at MELA meeting, Nov. 1997. Also on web at (http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/houiss.htm). Later version of parts presented
at program during ALA meeting in New Orleans (June 1999).

Kay Ann Cassell, “A World of Difference: the Peace Corps Story,” American Libraries, Aug. 1999, p. 56-59. A news story on former and current volunteers’ activities with libraries in Africa and elsewhere.
 
 

REFERENCE SOURCES

NOTES

“Africana Reference Works: An Annotated List of 1998 Titles,” by Phyllis B. Bischof, Jill Coelho, Peter Malanchuk, Mette Shayne & David Westley; edited by Jill Young Coelho. African Book Publishing Record, v. 25, no. 2 (1999): 109-131.
 Includes prices and web sites.

Quarterly index to periodical literature, eastern and southern Africa. The citations published by LC-Nairobi in this index are now mounted on a website: <www.icipe.org/LOCNairobi/>. The database also includes articles published in a limited number of journals published in Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana and Senegal.
 Also listed at some site are recent monographic acquisitions from the same West African countries, with country of publication being indexed as a “keyword”.

Nancy Schmidt’s essay “Africana Resources for Undergraduates: A Bibliographic Essay” in, Martin/O’Meara, Africa, 3d ed. (Indiana University Press, 1995) is on the web at: <http://www.indiana.edu/~libsalc/african/schmidt.html> thanks to Lauris Olson who did the scanning and html work.
 

Stanley, Janet. “Modern Africa Art: A Basic Reading List.” At <http://www/sil.si.edu/SILPublications/ModernAfrican Art/modern-african-art.htm>.
 

NEW REFERENCE TITLES
The following items or issues are noted.
For more titles, see the annual “Africana Reference Works”
in The African Book Publishing Record, no. 2.

Saha, Santosh C. Dictionary of human rights advocacy organizations in Africa. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. 200p. $69.50.
 Brief descriptions of over 300 organizations, including 10 from outside of Africa. Includes bibliographical references, country and subject indexes; no addresses or list of publications. Focus on work of African NGOs, based mostly on literature from outside the continent.
 

NOTES ON MATERIALS AND VENDORS

VENDOR ANNOUNCEMENTS

African Books Collective (The Jam Factory, 27 Park End St., Oxford OX1 1 HU) has distributed its Spring 1999 catalogue.

African Imprint Library Services has received new shipments from its acquisitions agents in Malawi, Niger and South Africa. New links to lists of these titles are available at <www.africanbooks.com/ails1.htm>.

Afribooks Export Service (AES), a distributor of Nigerian/African books, has a U.S. office: c/o Accounting Solutions Plus, Ste. 209, 530 Silas Deane Hwy., Wethersfield, CT 06109-2227. Tel: 860-667-4519. Nelson Ogidan exhibited a select number of books, mostly on Nigerian laws, at the ALA meeting in New Orleans. Home office: Oxford House, GPO Box 1930, Ibadan.

Christison Rare Books (PO Box 100245, Scottsville, 3209 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa; email: antiquarian@ antiquarian.co.za) issued “Catalogue Seventeen”, a listing of over 1200 titles, mostly from South Africa, with prices in pounds.

Clarke’s Bookshop (211 Long St., Cape Town; http://www.clarkesbooks.co.za) list over 1000 current publications in its Catalogue 102.

Norman Ross Publishing (330 West 58th St., New York, NY 10019; 212-765-8200) offers microfilm for the Mail & Guardian and its predecessor, Weekly Mail (Johannesburg) for:
Backfile, 1990-1998  —  18 reels  —  $1,530.
1999 and continuing  —  2 reels per year  —  $160 per year.

Sam Pittee-Polkah Toe, founder of the Africana Research Museum, New York International African Institute (60 Titus Ave., Buffalo, NY 14214) has produced some popular Africana literary materials (videos and a Africa and the World Magazine), as part of the ChemieToe Africana Business World. Address: POB 700, Buffalo, NY 14215; tel.: 716-862-9260.
 

BOOK AWARDS

Commonwealth Writers Prize
1999 regional winners for Africa:
Best Book: If You Can Walk, You Can Dance, by Marion Molteno (South Africa), published by David Philip (Cape Town) and Shola Books (UK).
Best First Book: The Clothes of Nakedness, by Benjamin Kwakye (Ghana), published by Heinemann.
 

EVENTS

London International Book Fair (29 March 1999)
Three seminars were organised by Southern African Book Development Education Trust (SABDET), in association with the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, on the topics of access to information and women. Speakers included Goretti Kyomuhendo (Femrite, Uganda), Alli Mcharazo (Thames Valley University), Catherine Tugaineyo (University Bookshop, Makerere, Uganda), Oluronke O. Orimalade, Veronique Tadjo (writer, Cote d’Ivoire), Mary Asirifi (Allgoodbooks, Ghana), Fathima Dada (Maskew Miller Longman, South Africa), Eve Gray (Juta Publishers, South Africa), Elizabeth Mamhene Chisveto (Rural Libraries and Resources Development Programme, Zimbabwe). For further information contact: Alison Read, SABDET, <alison@mune.demon.co.uk>, 27 Mornington Crescent, London NW1 7RE.

The 1999 Zimbabwe International Book Fair will be held 31 July-7 August in Harare. Theme: Women; focus country: South Africa. For more information, visit the ZIBF website at <http://www.mediazw.ocm.zibf/>.

Khartoum First International Book Fair (Nov. 10-15, 1999).
Information from Adil Awad Salman, PO Box 38, Khartoum.
 

LITERATURE ON THE BOOK TRADE

African Publishing Review, v. 7, no. 5 (Sept/Oct. 1998) includes “National Textbook Policies in Africa: A Sample of Current Trends from five Countries [Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, & Zimbabwe].”

Bellagio Publishing Network Newsletter, no. 25 (July 1999) has reports on meetings in Washington, Dar es Salaam, Oxford, St Lucia, London, Bulawayo, Bologna and Cambridge, in additions to reviews and commentary. Contact the Jam Factory, Oxford OX1 1HU or bpn@bpnsec.demon.co.uk.
 

ONLINE SITES

URL of the National Heritage Cultural Studies Center at the University of Fort Hare: <http://www.si.umich.edu/fort-hare/nahecsc.htm>.

The online finding aids for the archives of the Pan-Africanist Congress and other collections are at: <http://www.si. umich.edu/fort-hare/archives.htm>.

NEW SERIALS

Ghana Studies, v. 1 (1998)- . The journal of the Ghana Studies Council is available for $30 (institutions; $15 from individuals) from: African Studies Program, 205 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Dr., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706. Email: afrst@macc.wisc.edu. First issue carries 8 articles (182 pages).
 

SPECIAL ISSUES OF JOURNALS

“Globalisation, structural adjustment and integration,” Journal of Development Economics for Southern Africa, vol. 1, nos. 4 & 5 (Sept. 1998-April 1999). Includes contributions by Sipho Buthelezi, Yash Tandon, V.S. Sheth, Sucha Singh Gill and Mxolisi N. Lindie. Available from: Dept. of Development Studies, University of Fort Hare, Pvt. Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa. Email: journal@ufhcc.ufh.ac.za.
 

SELECTED NEW BOOKS

Note: Greenwood Publishing Group (88 Post Rd. West, PO Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007; http://www.greenwood.com). which includes Auburn House, Bergin & Garvey, Greenwood Press, Praeger Publishers, & Quorum Books, has sent review copies of many titles. No reviews are planned, except for one reference title. Their titles can be ordered with a credit card by calling 1-800-225-5800.

Abdi Ismail Samatar. An African Miracle: State and Class Leadership and Colonial Legacy in Botswana Development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999. 240p. 0325000697 (cloth); 0325000689 (paper): $24.95. Author is Associate Professor Geography and member of the MacArthur Program for International Peace and Cooperation, University of Minnesota.

Boele van Hensbroek, Pieter. Political Discourses in African Thought: 1860 to the Present. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999. 238p. $59.95. ISBN 0275964949.

Bravman, Bill. Making Ethnic Ways: Communities and their Transformations in Taita, Kenya. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998. 283p. (Social history of Africa) $65 & $24.95; ISBN: 0325001057; 0325001049. Also available from EAEP (Nairobi) and James Currey (Oxford).

Dahl, Oyvind. Meanings in Madagascar: Cases of Intercultural Communication. Westport, CT: Bergin & Gaarvey, 1999. 216p. ISBN 0897896424. Price: $59.95. Study of misunderstandings due to cultural differences between Malagasy and Westerners.

Eades, Lindsay Michie, The End of Apartheid in South Africa. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1999. 209p. (Greenwood Press guides to historic events of the twentieth century) $39.95. ISBN: 0313299382. Includes background, 16 biographical profiles, and 13 primary documents.

Emmett, Tony. Popular Resistance and the Roots of Nationalism in Namibia, 1915-1966. Basel, Switzerland: P. Schlettwein Publishing, 1999. 389p. (Basel Namibia studies series; v. 4) ISBN: 3908193036. Email: pspverlag@bluewin.ch

James, Valentine Udoh, and Etim, James S., ed. The Feminization of Development Processes in Africa: Current and Future Perspectives. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999. $59.95. ISBN: 0275959465. Contributors: Amy Beer, Victoria Carchida, Felix K. Ekechi, Alice Etim, James S. Eim, Valentine Udoh James, Kofi Johnson, Anthonia C. Kalu, Christine List, Ester Igandu Njiro, Ambe J. Njoh, Noble J. Nweze, R. Babatunde Oyinade, Ifeyinwa E. Umerah-Udezulu.

Kriger, Colleen E. Pride of Men: Ironworking in 19th century West Central Africa. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, c1999. 261p. (Social history of Africa) Price: $59.95 & $24.95 (paper). ISBN: 0-325-00107-3 & 0-325-00106-5. Also available from James Currey (Oxford) and David Philip (Cape Town). The making of a craft tradition in the Zaire River basin.

Kuhne, Dave. African Settings in Contemporary American Novels. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. 156p. (Contributions in Afro-American and African studies; no. 193) $49.95 ISBN 0--313-31040-8.

Management of Organizations in Africa: a Handbook and Reference, edited by J. Muruku Waiguchu, Edward Tiagha and Muroki Mwaura. Westport, Conn.: Quorum, 1999. 417 p. $79.50. ISBN 1567201881. Overview of management practice within the African context. Contributors, in addition to editors: Al Bavon, Janie Gichia, Gerrishon Ikiara, J. Nyagah Kagwe, Mungai Kamunge, Ngotho Kariuki, Francis Kibera, Theresa Ndongko, Lettice K. Rutashobya, Wanja Thairu, and John Wallace.

Mungazi, Dickson A. The Last British liberals in Africa: Michael Blundell and Garfield Todd. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999. 285 p. $69.50. ISBN 0275962830. Study of Blundell in Kenya and Todd in Zimbabwe.

Pels, Peter. A Politics of Presence: Contacts between Missionaries and Waluguru in late Colonial Tanganyika. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, c1999. 354p. (Studies in anthropology and history, v. 22).

Schoenbrun, David Lee. A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998. 301p. (Social history of Africa) $59.95; $24.95 (paper). 0325000417 & 0325000409. Also available from Fountain (Kampala), EAEP (Nairobi) and James Currey (Oxford).

Thomas, Linda E. Under the Canopy: Ritual Process and Spiritual Resilience in South Africa. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1999. 174p. (Studies in comparative religion) $29.95 ISBN 1570033110. Study of the role of healing rites performed at St. Johns’ Apostolic Faith Mission Church, located in Guguletu, an African township in Cape Town. The St. John’s members created a counterhegemonic force through the use of rituals of healing.