Introduction What difference does up-to-date bibliographic information make in a poor developing country like Tanzania? The honest answer is none at all, if it is not possible to go beyond the bibliographic reference to the actual item itself. For many African scholars, browsing through a bibliography is like looking at goods in a shop window: pointless without the ability and means to acquire what is on display. That said, bibliographies are of great value to scholars in institutions with libraries that do possess the means to build up and maintain good collections. This is an overview of the bibliographic needs of Tanzania’s scholars, and of some of the issues that they and their libraries face. In particular, I discuss: the need for bibliographies, the bibliographic needs of scholars, how well their needs are addressed, the state of national bibliographies, what more can be done to make African scholarship available in Europe and America, the roles for libraries in Africa, and the way forward. The essay uses the specific case study of the Tanzania Library Services Board (TLSB). TLSB is a national-cum-public library system that, at the moment, operates a national library, and a network of nineteen regional and fifteen district libraries. This system serves quite a number of scholars, and publishes the Tanzania National Bibliography (TNB). The case study includes findings from a small survey of scholars who visit the library, and from TLSB staff. TLSB statistics and other library and documentary sources support the analysis.
{"title":"Serving the bibliographic needs of scholars in Tanzania: A case study of the Tanzania Library Services Board","authors":"","doi":"10.3366/ABIB.2007.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/ABIB.2007.2","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction What difference does up-to-date bibliographic information make in a poor developing country like Tanzania? The honest answer is none at all, if it is not possible to go beyond the bibliographic reference to the actual item itself. For many African scholars, browsing through a bibliography is like looking at goods in a shop window: pointless without the ability and means to acquire what is on display. That said, bibliographies are of great value to scholars in institutions with libraries that do possess the means to build up and maintain good collections. This is an overview of the bibliographic needs of Tanzania’s scholars, and of some of the issues that they and their libraries face. In particular, I discuss: the need for bibliographies, the bibliographic needs of scholars, how well their needs are addressed, the state of national bibliographies, what more can be done to make African scholarship available in Europe and America, the roles for libraries in Africa, and the way forward. The essay uses the specific case study of the Tanzania Library Services Board (TLSB). TLSB is a national-cum-public library system that, at the moment, operates a national library, and a network of nineteen regional and fifteen district libraries. This system serves quite a number of scholars, and publishes the Tanzania National Bibliography (TNB). The case study includes findings from a small survey of scholars who visit the library, and from TLSB staff. TLSB statistics and other library and documentary sources support the analysis.","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126349952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Life, Love and Death: conversations with six elders in Kwahu-Tafo, Ghana (review)","authors":"Stephan F. Miescher","doi":"10.1353/afr.0.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/afr.0.0001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127850846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Afro-Atlantic Dialogues: anthropology in the diaspora (review)","authors":"Giulia Bonacci","doi":"10.1353/AFR.0.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/AFR.0.0005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126544658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The book is important for many reasons. First, very little of northern Namibian scholars’ work on their own past has reached international audiences. These two studies announce a promising beginning and show that continuing the collection of oral history in northern Namibia should be a primary concern. From the point of view of research, the volume abounds with ‘new’ and exciting data. It also identifies a serious problem to be tackled: that of communicating the Finnish sources to the Namibian scholars in a more efficient way.
{"title":"Islam and the Prayer Economy: history and authority in a Malian town (review)","authors":"H. Weiss","doi":"10.1353/afr.0.0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/afr.0.0018","url":null,"abstract":"The book is important for many reasons. First, very little of northern Namibian scholars’ work on their own past has reached international audiences. These two studies announce a promising beginning and show that continuing the collection of oral history in northern Namibia should be a primary concern. From the point of view of research, the volume abounds with ‘new’ and exciting data. It also identifies a serious problem to be tackled: that of communicating the Finnish sources to the Namibian scholars in a more efficient way.","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126324596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Still, he often refers to modernity, nation and the Church as if the meaning, and largely positive valuation, of these terms were self-evident, to the Englishlanguage reader as well as the Gogo narrators and their intended audiences. But not every inhabitant of Ugogo would hear Kongola’s accounts in the same way as members of his own circle. For most people the promises of the new nation have not materialized; the region continues to suffer from a dire lack of opportunity. In the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Gogo people are said to be numerous among beggars, itinerant coffee sellers and abattoir workers: marginal, desperate ways of life. Kongola himself details numerous setbacks in his pursuit of economic security in retirement. Against this background, Kongola’s narratives appear to this reader more assertive, political and partisan than Maddox explicates. How would a member of a marginal clan – how would a less favoured member of Kongola’s own clan – hear his accounts? How would a Muslim neighbour? And by means of what nuances, what turns of phrase may Kongola’s narrative implicitly address them? Even if unanswerable, these questions would be worth stating. Social stratification, privilege, regional inequality and religious diversity in Tanzania are issues too salient and important not to be part of Kongola’s universe. Kongola’s mention of Islam as an agent of change equal to Christianity is among a few points that suggest his awareness of them, despite Maddox’s focus on the Church and his inner circle. Maddox weaves into his analysis the dilemma of an oral historian who struggles to explain to people in Ugogo why he keeps coming back to a place many of them would rather leave. Without being fulsome, he makes clear that his reasons are not narrowly professional, but human; that he has gained from his work in Ugogo in more ways than he can explain to his hosts. This unaffected, tangible appreciation for his subject is a particular strength of the book.
{"title":"Yorùbá Identity and Power Politics (review)","authors":"Insa Nolte","doi":"10.1353/AFR.0.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/AFR.0.0009","url":null,"abstract":"Still, he often refers to modernity, nation and the Church as if the meaning, and largely positive valuation, of these terms were self-evident, to the Englishlanguage reader as well as the Gogo narrators and their intended audiences. But not every inhabitant of Ugogo would hear Kongola’s accounts in the same way as members of his own circle. For most people the promises of the new nation have not materialized; the region continues to suffer from a dire lack of opportunity. In the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Gogo people are said to be numerous among beggars, itinerant coffee sellers and abattoir workers: marginal, desperate ways of life. Kongola himself details numerous setbacks in his pursuit of economic security in retirement. Against this background, Kongola’s narratives appear to this reader more assertive, political and partisan than Maddox explicates. How would a member of a marginal clan – how would a less favoured member of Kongola’s own clan – hear his accounts? How would a Muslim neighbour? And by means of what nuances, what turns of phrase may Kongola’s narrative implicitly address them? Even if unanswerable, these questions would be worth stating. Social stratification, privilege, regional inequality and religious diversity in Tanzania are issues too salient and important not to be part of Kongola’s universe. Kongola’s mention of Islam as an agent of change equal to Christianity is among a few points that suggest his awareness of them, despite Maddox’s focus on the Church and his inner circle. Maddox weaves into his analysis the dilemma of an oral historian who struggles to explain to people in Ugogo why he keeps coming back to a place many of them would rather leave. Without being fulsome, he makes clear that his reasons are not narrowly professional, but human; that he has gained from his work in Ugogo in more ways than he can explain to his hosts. This unaffected, tangible appreciation for his subject is a particular strength of the book.","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"60 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123269072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Constructions of Belonging: Igbo communities and the Nigerian state in the twentieth century (review)","authors":"R. L. Golden","doi":"10.1353/afr.0.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/afr.0.0012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128795088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Yellow-Yellow (review)","authors":"Michael Janis","doi":"10.1353/AFR.0.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/AFR.0.0003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"83 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128194706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New Directions in African Literature: a review (review)","authors":"F. Ugochukwu","doi":"10.1353/afr.0.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/afr.0.0000","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128271588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Practicing History in Central Tanzania: writing, memory and performance (review)","authors":"F. Becker","doi":"10.1353/AFR.0.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/AFR.0.0006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130424584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intellectuals and African Development: pretension and resistance in African politics (review)","authors":"J. Haynes","doi":"10.1353/AFR.0.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/AFR.0.0014","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":337749,"journal":{"name":"Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute","volume":"44-46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132207463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：