Library Guides: African Studies: Databases

Articles

JSTOR
Full-text access to over 1000 scholarly journals, including more than 2 million articles, from a wide range of disciplines. Current issues from journals (the most recent 3-5 years) are generally not available in JSTOR. [dates vary].

For more sophisticated search capabilities, go directly to JSTOR advanced search.
Africa-Wide Information
A comprehensive database covering journals, magazines, newspapers, broadcasts, books and more on all aspects of Africa including politics, history, economics, literature, music and natural sciences. (Africa-Wide NiPAD) [19th century - present]

Includes: Nordic Africa Institute Online Catalogue (NOAK); IBISCUS (1970 to 2001); School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) Library Catalogue: Africa; Afro-Tropical Bird Information Retrieval Database; The Campbell Collections of the University of Natal, Killie Campbell Africana Library Bibliography; International Library of African Music (ILAM); African Development Database; African Journals OnLine (AJOL); South African Databases; Witwatersrand University Management Research Reports; and more.
allAfrica.com
Contains over 700,000 articles from 120 news publications throughout Africa. [1997 - present]

Also includes press releases and documents from 200 governments and non-governmental organizations in and outside of Africa. 30% of articles are in French.
Black Studies Center (BSC)
Cross-searchable gateway to Black Studies including scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, reference books, and more.

Includes three modules: The Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience which includes interdisciplinary essays on the Black Experience; International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), a database covering some 150 scholarly and popular Black Studies journals, many of them in full text; and the full text backfile of the influential black newspaper The Chicago Defender (1910-1975).

Quarterly Index of African Periodical Literature
An index of over 700 selected periodicals (mostly scholarly) acquired from 29 African countries. [1991 - 2011]

AnthroSource
An online portal serving the research, teaching and practical needs of anthropologists. Citations for articles published in American Anthropological Association journals. [1880 - present]

An electronic portal to the 32 journals of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), including American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, Archeological Publications of the American Anthropological Association, Cultural Anthropology, Ethos, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, and more. Users' access to this resource will be blocked after extended login periods. To avoid blocked access, logout periodically and then log back in.
Bibliography of Slavery and World Slavery
Index of over 25,000 scholarly works in all academic disciplines and in all western European languages on slavery and slaving throughout the world. [1900 - present]

It includes most known print and digital materials published since 1900 covering historical and modern times.
eHRAF World Cultures
Indexes mostly primary source material on cultures or societies representing all major areas of the world. Includes many rare sources as well as English translations of foreign texts. HRAF (Human Relations Area Files.) (HRAF Collection of Ethnography - Human Relations Area Files)
Historical Abstracts
Indexes over 2,000 journals, as well as historical book reviews and dissertations, published worldwide about all aspects of world history.

Excludes US and Canada. Covers from 1450 to the present.
Index Islamicus
Indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. [1906 - present]

Over 3,000 journals are monitored for inclusion in the database, together with conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works and book reviews. Journals and books are indexed down to the article and chapter level.
Project MUSE
Several hundred digitized scholarly journals and books in the humanities and social sciences. [1993 - present]

Topics include literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics and many others. Books are available in PDF format, searchable and retrievable to the chapter level, with no restrictions on downloading or printing.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Indexes books, journals, and dissertations within the field of political science and related to comparative politics, developing nations, history and theory of political science, political psychology, political economy, public administration, and public policy. [1975 - present]

International in scope.

Book & Text Collections

African Studies Collection
A collection of e-books from the Leiden University's African Studies Collection. (ASC Publications)

A collection of e-books from the Leiden University's African Studies Collection.
African Writers Series
Works from the canon of African 20th century literature including stories, drama, poetry and other literary works.

The Heinemann's African Writer Series includes works from the canon of African 20th century literature including stories, drama, poetry and other literary works.
African Journal Archive
Full-text articles published in Africa from over 200 journals in the Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities.

A retrospective digitization project of full-text journal articles published in Africa. Includes journals covering the Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities, providing access to a multi-disciplinary, multi-country digital archive of Africa's research and cultural heritage contained in its journal literature. Journal articles hosted on the Archive extend back to the first issue (if available) and end with the last pre-current issue (determined by the publisher). The site includes over 700 issues of journal archives of academic, scholarly, institutional, museums, and professional research organizations in Africa. Selected articles are freely available; not all content is open access.
Black Drama, 2nd edition
Full text of plays by hundreds of black playwrights, as well as information on related productions, theaters, production companies, selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays. [1850 - present]

Contains almost 1,500 plays by more than 200 playwrights. Includes information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. Also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays. The plays have been selected using leading bibliographies and with the editorial advice of James V. Hatch, co-author with Errol G. Hill of A History of African American Theatre. Complements the other Alexander Street Press database Black Drama,(first edition).

Leiden University Repository
Open-access academic publications by Leiden researchers, including dissertations, special lectures, and other works.

L’Harmathèque
Éditions L’Harmattan is the largest publisher of French-language ebooks. Search OskiCat for “Harmathèque eBooks” to discover individual titles acquired by the Library. (Harmathèque; Harmattan)

Ebooks can be read either on the platform's online reader (which requires Flash), or downloaded and read using the free Adobe Digital Editions reader. Please note that UCB does not have access to all content on L'Harmathèque's multimedia platform.
Nordic Africa Institute Publications
Full text and index access to books, research reports, conference proceedings, and journal articles published by the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). Publications cover mainly the Social Sciences within African Studies. (DIVA - Nordiska Afrikainstitutet)

A free, open access online archive to books, research reports, conference proceedings, and journal articles produced and published by the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). Publications cover mainly the Social Sciences within African Studies. Over half of the materials indexed are available full-text, covering the 1960s to current, with the majority in English. The NAI online archive is part of the larger DiVA Academic Archive On-line that includes student theses and research publications from 28 universities in Sweden and Norway.

Primary Sources

African Newspapers Series 1 (from the World Newspaper Archive (WNA))
Digitized historical collection of Sub-Saharan Africa newspapers. [through 1923]

Includes over many full-text searchable historical newspapers published in Sub-Saharan Africa prior to 1923. Most titles are in English, with some coverage in African and other European languages.
Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980
Makes available British government files from various Foreign Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1980. Includes letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activist biographies and first-hand accounts.

Provides comprehensive coverage of the British Foreign Office files on the apartheid Governments of South Africa from 1948 onward. These formerly restricted documents, sourced from The National Archives, UK, provide unprecedented levels of detail, with in-depth analysis of events, international reaction and policy dilemmas, accompanied by numerous first-hand accounts and reports.
British Online Archives
Access to British colonial and missionary records pertaining to Africa and the Atlantic World including the African Blue Books. Also includes other collection pertaining to British colonialism, history and politics.

These documents include East India Company records, the records of missionaries from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Parliamentary Labour Party papers, the Anti-fascist newsletters of the International Transport Workers' Federation, the records of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and The British Union of Fascists' newspapers and secret files. Collections can be browsed or searched individually or collectively.
Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966
Full-text of reports, dispatches, correspondence, political summaries, economic analyses, and maps from the United Kingdom's Colonial, Dominion and Foreign Offices relating to Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. [1834 - 1966]

From coastal trading in the early nineteenth century, through the Conference of Berlin of 1884 and the subsequent Scramble for Africa, to the abuses of the Congo Free State, fights against tropical disease, Italy's defeat by the Abyssinians, World War II, apartheid in South Africa and colonial moves towards independence, the documents in this resource cover the whole of the modern period of European colonization of the continent. The resource also includes a gallery of maps. Part of a larger series of documents issued by the British Government. This collection originated out of a need to preserve the most important papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. These documents range from single-page letters or telegrams to comprehensive dispatches, investigative reports and texts of treaties. All items marked Confidential Print were printed and circulated immediately to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, and to heads of British missions abroad.
David Rumsey Map Collection
Focus on rare 18th and 19th century North and South American cartographic history materials. Includes historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa. (Luna Insight)

Contains to date over 8,000 maps online and focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America cartographic history materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. [Note: This collection is also part of the UC Image Service and can be viewed in two ways: the Insight Browser allows users to view the collection using a web browser; the Luna Insight software provides greater functionality but must be downloaded.]
Digital Innovation South Africa (DISA)
Full-text of primary and some secondary resources from books and journals to photographs, pamphlets, oral histories and correspondences for researching South African history, politics, and society.

A free online scholarly resource primarily covering the anti-apartheid liberation struggles in South Africa from 1950 to 1994. Includes primary and some secondary resources from books and journals to photographs, pamphlets, oral histories and correspondences for researching South African history, politics, and society.
Empire Online
Digitized collection of original manuscript and printed documents from around the world to support research in the field of colonial and empire studies. [1492-1962]

Includes 70,000 images of original manuscript and printed documents to support study and research in the field of colonial and empire studies. Five sections include: Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969; Empire Writing and the Literature of Empire; The Visible Empire; Religion and Empire; and Race, Class, Imperialism and Colonialism, c. 1607-1969. In addition to original documents, this database contains scholarly essays and analysis.
Ethnographic Video Online
A wide range of streaming video, written ethnographies, field notes, seminal texts, memoirs, and contemporary studies, covering human behavior the world over.

A growing collection (currently more than 400 titles) of classic and contemporary ethnographic films, with wide-ranging coverage of the world's regions and cultures, and by some of the most influential filmmakers of the genre. The films explore key themes in anthropology and the broader social sciences, including language and culture, family and kinship, sex and gender, social stratification and status, music and the arts, and religion.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (Voyages)
Collection of manuscript materials documenting American slavery and the slave trade in the Atlantic world. Including diaries, account books, letter books, shipsâ€™ logs, indentures, bills of sale, personal papers, and records of institutions.

Country Information & Statistics

The Library's Sub-Saharan African Government Information page includes a custom search engine to locate African government websites. Consult OskiCat to find titles from Berkeley's large print collection of African government information.

Africa Development Indicators (ADI)
Social, economic, financial, natural resources, infrastructure, governance, partnership, and environmental indicators on Africa.

Detailed data on Africa, containing over 1,600 indicators, covering 53 African countries from1961 to present. Includes data on social, economic, financial, natural resources, infrastructure, governance, partnership, and environmental indicators. To
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Country Reports and Profiles
This resource is proposed for cancellation due to budget reductions. The comment period is open through Friday, April 6. We invite you to submit comments via email to scholarly-resources@lists.berkeley.edu or directly with your subject librarian.
In-depth analysis of current economic and political events in more than 200 countries. (EIU Country Profiles and Reports)

Indexes studies that provide analysis and forecasts of the political, economic, and business environments in more than 180 countries. Annual profiles are updated by quarterly reports.
Europa World Plus
This resource is proposed for cancellation due to budget reductions. The comment period is open through Friday, April 6. We invite you to submit comments via email to scholarly-resources@lists.berkeley.edu or directly with your subject librarian.
Provides political and economic information on hundreds countries and territories, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. A source of statistics on area and population, health and welfare, agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, industry, finance, external trade, transport, tourism, communications media, and education.

"Europa World Plus is the online version of the Europa World Year Book and the nine-volume Europa Regional Surveys of the World series. First published in 1926, the year book is renowned as one of the world's leading reference works, covering political and economic information in more than 250 countries and territories."
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP)
House of Commons sessional papers from the last 300 years. [1688-2014]

Provides full-text access to thousands of 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st century Parliamentary Papers of Great Britain. Includes all the "sessional papers" of the British Parliament: bills, reports of committees, papers presented by Royal Commissions and government departments, treaties and international agreements, command papers, and statistics.
AccessUN: The Readex Index to United Nations Documents
An index to United Nations documents and publications as far back as 1966, with links to some full text documents

Indexes United Nations (UN) documents and publications including Official Records, UN journals, reports, treaties, conferences, draft resolutions, declarations, meeting records, UN Sales Publications, and UN Treaty Series. Contains the full text of several thousand UN documents.
World Development Indicators (WDI)
An extensive collection of data about global development

Provides time series development indicators data (1960-present) for 210 countries. Includes tables for population, labor and employment, education, health, energy, urbanization, national accounts, purchasing power, trade, government finance, monetary, balance of payments, external debt, investment risk, taxes, prices and exchange rates, transport and communication, and information and technology. To access, click "Online Tables" under Formats Available.

Find Dissertations

Find Dissertations by searching Dissertations and Theses (Dissertation Abstracts) Full Text, which includes full-text of most dissertations since 1997. It indexes over 1.5 million dissertations completed in North American (including UC) and European universities from 1861 to the present. Listings after 1980 include abstracts, and some feature 24-page excerpts.

African American Theses and Dissertations, 1907-2002 lists research by Berkeley PhD candidates from that period. at UCB. Also see Find Dissertations and Theses for other specialized sources, and dissertations completed at a UC campus can also be found in Library catalogs, which have limit to dissertations/theses search options:

Other Full-text Access: Online full-text of UC dissertations (from 1996) can be found by searching Dissertations & Theses @ University of California and also appear in Library catalog search results. UC Berkeley dissertations in print prior to 1996 may be found by searching the Library catalogs. Dissertations done at other UC campuses prior to 1996 or ouside the UC system must be obtained through Interlibrary Loan or using the "Request" option in Melvyl.

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African Studies: Databases

Articles

Book & Text Collections

Primary Sources

Country Information & Statistics

Find Dissertations