Africana at the Center for Research Libraries: A Survey of Collections and Access

Abstract

This essay presents a current survey of the Africana research holdings and collections that are available at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) located at Chicago, Ill. The collection is composed of many formats of material, including foreign dissertations, monographs, newspapers, periodicals, official publications, pamphlets, political ephemera, manuscripts and archives, and miscellaneous materials. Each of these formats is described in the essay, including examples, collection development guidelines, and information on access. The primary institutional focus for the collection of these materials has been the Cooperative Africana Microform Program (CAMP). Over the past thirty-five years, representatives from the various CAMP member institutions have selected materials to be purchased or filmed. These decisions have reflected the changing research priorities and needs of the various individuals and the institutions they represent in these collection development efforts. Access to the Center's Africana holdings is also discussed. For researchers located at institutions that hold membership in CAMP or CRL, access and user policies are liberal. It is possible for a user at such an institution to acquire an extensive amount of material in a single interlibrary loan transaction and to have access to the material indefinitely or until needed by another researcher. Bibliographic access is provided by CRLCATALOG, the online catalog of the center, as well as through a variety of printed bibliographies, reference folders, collection inventories, and the center's web site. The forty-two institutions that currently hold membership in CAMP and their institutional representatives are listed on the Web at http://wwwcrl.uchicago.edu/info/campmem.htm .