On Freedom of the Press

With discussion in the UK media today about freedom of the press and state regulation or interference in the press I thought it opportune to highlight two archive collections which contain much on the freedom of the press in the Commonwealth and in particular in the developing nations in the post-independence world.

The Commonwealth Journalists' Association was founded by a group of journalists in 1978 following a conference of Commonwealth non-governmental organisations held at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada, with the objective of catering for the needs of individual journalists in Commonwealth countries. The CJA's objectives include the raising of journalistic standards by the provision of training courses, the encouragement of an interest in and knowledge of Commonwealth affairs and the defence of the independence of journalists where a threat is perceived. The CJA takes a particular interest in safeguarding the rights of journalists in countries where press freedom is restricted and has intervened on several occasions, sometimes in collaboration with other interested bodies, to secure the re-opening of a newspaper or the release of journalists from prison.

The Commonwealth Journalists' Association archives date from 1998 to 2003 and detail training courses, conference and activity related to defending and encouraging a feee independent press. The collection was catalogued earlier this year, with thanks to and support from the Scott Trust Charitable Foundation and the Friends of Senate House Library (SHeLF).

The Commonwealth Press Union started in the early 20th century as the Empire Press Union, with the staging of the first Imperial Press Conference, and continued operation until 2008. At its peak, the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) was an association composed of 750 members in 49 countries, including newspaper groups (with several hundred newspapers), individual newspapers, and news agencies throughout the Commonwealth, represented within the CPU by their proprietors, publishers or senior executives. The aims and objectives of the organisation were to uphold the ideas and values of the Commonwealth; to promote, through the press, understanding and goodwill among members of the Commonwealth; and to advance the freedom, interests and welfare of the Commonwealth press and those working within it by i) monitoring and opposing all measures and proposals likely to affect the freedom of the press in any part of the Commonwealth, ii) working for improved facilities for reporting and transmitting news, and iii) promoting the training of all involved in the Commonwealth’s press.

The Commonwealth Press Union archives contain the records and publications of the Empire Press Union, and the Commonwealth Press Union, including official records relating to the administration of the organisation, circulars and bulletins, and conference papers and reports. The records include details of seminars and conferences and case work relating to freedom of the press issues across the Commonwealth. In addition to the listed records availabile on the catalogue an additional donation of material was made in 2009, and with the assistance of a volunteer, a detailed handlist is being prepared for this collection while funding is being sought for a cataloguing project. Any enquiries about this latter material are very welcome.

Both collections provide valuable source material for understanding freedom of the press issues across the Commonwealth as well as an understanding of international cooperation and support for freedom of the press from newspaper publishers and journalists.

Newly open archives collection - Papers of Ben Turok

Newly opened and made available for researchers are ICS143 The papers of Benjamin Turok.

Benjamin Turok, was born in Latvia, 1927; and came with his family to South Africa, 1934. He was educated at the University of Cape Town; taught in London, 1950-1953; and returned to South Africa in 1953, becoming a full-time political activist: joining the South African Congress of Democrats and in 1955 became its secretary for the Cape western region, and acting as a full-time organiser for the Congress of the People. Turok was one of authors of the Freedom Charter; served with a banning order in 1955; arrested in the Treason Trial in 1956 and stood trial until charges against him were withdrawn in 1958; elected unopposed to represent Africans of the Western Cape on the Cape Provincial Council, 1957. During the 1960 emergency Turok evaded arrest, and went underground to help reestablish the ANC organisation; in 1962 he was convicted under the Explosives Act, and sentenced to three years in prison; after his release he escaped via Botswana; and resident in the UK from 1972 and employed by the Open University. He returned to South Africa in 1990; and was the first Head of the Commission on the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) in the Gauteng Provincial Cabinet, 1994; and a member of the South African Parliament, representing the African National Congress, from 1995-present (2012).

The papers of Benjamin Turok, were held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the originals returned to Turok after his return to South Africa, with a microfilm copy made and kept to provide access to researchers.  The papers relate to his political involvement in South Africa (1961-1981) and include biographical tapes and transcripts (1983-1984); African National Congress (ANC) speeches, publications, press releases, and other material, 1971-1981; papers of the Institute for Industrial Education, Durban, 1974-1978; papers of the Communist Party of South Africa, 1978 and undated; papers of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, 1971-1973; correspondence, 1971-1980, with Oliver Tambo and others, mainly on ANC activities; transcripts and audio tapes of biographical material.

New PDF list for Moyne Commission papers

We have recently added a PDF format list of the archive collection ICS56 Moyne papers on the West India Royal Commission

The PDF list complements the detailed list available on the catalogue by providing a clear overview of the styructure of the collection and we are continuing to create these for collections so as to improve ease of use of the catalogue for users.

ICS56 comprises the papers of Walter Edward Guinness, Lord Moyne, relating to his chairmanship of the West India Royal Commission (WIRC), 1938-1939. The majority of the material comprises memoranda on means of improving the social and economic conditions of the people, submitted to WIRC by interested parties in Trinidad and Tobago, although Colonial Office publications and draft speeches are also included. The collection complements and in some cases duplicates the larger collection relating to the West India Royal Commission held at the National Archives, being Lord Moyne's personal papers from the Commission.

The West India Royal Commission was a comprehensive investigation of the social and economic condition of all the British territories in the Caribbean. Led by Lord Moyne, the Commission held public hearings throughout the region, and recommended sweeping reforms in everything from employment practices and social welfare, to radical political change. The full findings of the commission were not published until 1945 but an immediate start was made upon the implementation of less controversial recommendations. The British government decided to make substantial increases in the amount of money available for colonial development of all kinds and set about creating a framework for change.

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies also holds considerable material in its library collections, including official publications from both the UK and the colonies, documenting the impact of the reforms started after the West India Royal Commission.

New archives list: Wales and the West Indies

Thanks to sterling work by one of our volunteers we are pleased to release details of a newly listed archives collection relating to the relationships between Wales and the West Indies.

The papers of historian Clare Taylor which were donated to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies include transcripts of original diaries and manuscripts held at institutions including the National Library of Wales and West Indian Reference Library, as well as articles and draft articles covering topics including Welsh interests in the West Indies during the plantation period and West Indian heiresses. The collection also includes Clare taylor's transcription of the Lascelles Letter Books, 1740-1763, the originals of which were destroyed in December 1940 due to bombing in London.

New list for papers of Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee archive collection

The papers of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC) (ICS144) have recently been listed, thank to the work of a volunteer, George Brierley, currently working with Institute of Commonwealth Studies archive collections.

 

The Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee was set up in 1984 by the British Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to supervise the British involvement in the Australian Bicentennial. It was chaired by Sir Peter Gadsden. In 1985 the Britain Australia Bicentennial Trust was set up to deal with the public money raised, at this time the BABC also set up a number of National Task subcommittees and regional subcommittees. One of the tasks of the BABC was to make a recommendation for the UK gift to Australia for the Bicentennial. Several ideas were put forward for consideration, notably a re-enactment of the voyage of the First Fleet under Admiral Arthur Philip, This was decided against, although the re-enactment fleet did sail from the Isle of Wight, 13 May 1987 and arrived in Australia 26 Jan 1988, without the support of the BABC. The UK gift to Australia was eventually decided on as the sail training schooner STS Young Endeavour, proposed by Arthur Weller. The building of STS Young Endeavour, was supervised by the Schooner Trust, supervised by Weller. The Bicentennial events in the UK were widespread including balls, banquets and church services, notably at Westminster Abbey led by Archbishop Robert Runcie, 14 Jul 1988.

The papers of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC), 1984-1990, including papers relating to the setting up of the BABC; financial papers; steering committee papers including early minutes; agendas and minutes for BABC meetings 1985-1988; weekly reports of the Executive Secretary; and newsletters, 1986-1988 with related papers and correspondence. Also included are papers of National Task subcommittees including the Agricultural Subcommittee; the Education Subcommittee; Science, Technology, Industry and Medicine Subcommittee; the Social Subcommittee and the Maritime Subcommittee including a proposal for the gift of a schooner, by Arthur Weller, 1985, minutes of the Schooner Trust and proposal for the First Fleet re-enactment. Papers of regional committees include the City of London committee; Bath and West Country committee including on a proposal for an Australian Centre in Admiral Arthur Philip's dwelling house in Bath; East Anglia committee, including correspondence on George Eve; Midlands committee; North East committee including on a Civic Service in Newcastle Cathedral, 1987; Northern Ireland committee; Lincoln committee, including on the Britain Australia Studies association national conference 'Australia Towards 2000', Jul 1988; Liverpool committee, including exhibition Leaving Liverpool on emigration from Merseyside; Whitby committee and Scotland committee. File of papers on other events include papers relating to a Bicentennial service held at Westminster Abby, 14 Jul 1988 including an agreement made with Archbishop Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie to preach at the service and draft of the service with notations; and papers regarding a banquet at Guildhall, London; an exhibition to be held at the British Museum (Natural History) entitled 'First Impressions: the British discovery of Australia', 1988 and the Mansion House Hawke dinner, 21 Jun 1989.

Colonial administration records (migrated archives) to be released to The National Archives

The National Archives is working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to transfer and begin releasing colonial administration records, referred to as the 'migrated archives' between April 2012 and November 2013, in accordance with FCO's published timeline on the FCO website.

The first batch will be made available in the reading rooms at The National Archives from Wednesday 18 April 2012. This release will contain records from Aden, Anguilla, Bahamas, Basutoland. Bechuanaland, British Indian Ocean Territories, Brunei, Cyprus, Kenya, Malaya, Sarawak and Seychelles.

On Wednesday 18 April 2012, a guide to the first batch of files will be published on The National Archives website and will provide more information on how to search the records.

In addition, there will be free public talks on accessing the records in the reading rooms at Kew at 11:00 and 14:00. Tickets are available on site on 18 April.

The collection will form record series FCO 141: Foreign and Commonwealth Office and predecessors: Records of Former Colonial Administrations: Migrated Archives.

The records cover a wide range of subject matter relating to colonial administration. The material reflects events in the territories generally pre-independence and Her Majesty's Government's views at that time.

For up to date information about the records and ongoing release, see the National Archives' Colonial administration records web page.

Another new apartheid archive online

We recently announced announce that we had added a PDF version of the catalogue of the Marion Friedmann papers to the Senate House Libraries archives catalogue, a collection which included material regarding the Liberal Party of South Africa, of which she was a founder member.

We're very pleased today, to announce another new PDF catalogue has been made available.


The Peter Hjul papers were donated by Peter Hjul, was was active in the Liberal Party of South Africa and chaired the Cape Provincial Division. He also chaired the editorial board of the radical fortnightly "Contact" and was also the editor of the South African Shipping News and Fishing Industry Review. He and his family were harassed by South African security forces and emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1965, where Peter Hjul continued his career as a journalist.

The collection comprises material on the Liberal Party of South Africa and civil rights, and includes meeting minutes, correspondence and open letters, posters announcing meetings, election leaflets, various reports and nine issues of Contact, dating from October 1964 to June 1965.

New archives collection catalogue available online - Jamaican politics

With thanks to one of our current volunteers, we are pleased to make available in PDF format a new archives catalogue listing.

 

ICS126 The Wyndraeth Humphreys Morris-Jones papers comprise research notes and papers of Professor Wyndraeth Humphreys Morris-Jones on Jamaican politics,for the period between 1957 and 1986, including copies of official publications, press cuttings, and reports of committees of the House of Representatives.

 

Professor Morris-Jones was Professor of Commonwealth Affairs and Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, from 1966-1983.

 

New apartheid archive catalogue online

We are pleased to announce that we have added a PDF version of the catalogue of the Marion Friedmann papers to the Senate House Libraries archives catalogue.

Marion Friedmann was born in 1918, and was a founder member of the Liberal Party of South Africa.

 

The multiracial Liberal Party of South Africa was founded in 1954, and was forced to disband under the Prohibition of Political Interference Act of 1968.

 

The collection held at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library and Archive comprises of material collected on South African politics, chiefly apartheid and the oppression of black South Africans. It includes electioneering material, national statements by the Liberal Party of South Africa on political issues, correspondence, biographical material on Stephen Nkadimeng, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, and Duma Nokwe, and various issues of journals Assagai, Contact, Liberal News, and Liberal Opinion. The collection also includes pamphlets and leaflets produced by groups including the ANC, South African Congress of Democrats, and Civil Rights League.

Freedoms of the Press: the Archives of the Commonwealth Journalist Association

As the Commonwealth Journalists' Association start their conference in Malta today we are pleased to anounce the commencement of a project to catalogue the records of the Association held at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

The Commonwealth Journalists’ Association archive comprises 27 archive boxes of material dating from 1979 and the foundation of the Association, until 2003, when the head office of the Association moved to Trinidad and Tobago.The Commonwealth Journalists’ Association (CJA), was formed in 1981 by Derek Ingram, then Editor of the Gemini News Service, and Patrick Keatley, Diplomatic and Commonwealth Correspondent of the Guardian, following a Commonwealth Headfs of Government meeting in Nova Scotia. 

As well as bringing journalists together from across the Commonwealth, the CJA had two main focuses: training of journalists in developing nations; and the promotion of freedom of the press and an independent press across the Commonwealth. The two objects were, of course, linked, and early work on the files relating to training in Uganda for example provide much evidence on the lack of freedom or independence of the press at the time.

We are very grateful for the financial support of the Scott Trust Charitable Foundation and SHeLF, the Friends of Senate House Library, who have enabled this work. A one day conference will take place later in the year to launch the completed catalogue and to explore the themes of human rights and the role of the press, and of freedom and independence of the press.

Australia Day

Marking Australia Day (the 26th of January) we wish to highlight two archive collections which reveal how Australian's have celebrated their history in the past. Both collections relate to the 1988 celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the founding of Australia.

ICS 113 Australian Bicentennial Celebrations comprises of a selection of leaflets and other publicity literature for events in celebration of the Australian Bicentennial, including material produced by the Australian Bicentennial Authority, the New South Wales Bicentennial Council, the Bicentennial Festival of Sydney and for events in the UK.

ICS 144 Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee comprises of the records of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC) which was set up in 1984 by the British Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to supervise the British involvement in the Australian Bicentennial.

One of the tasks of the BABC was to make a recommendation for the UK gift to Australia for the Bicentennial. Several ideas were put forward for consideration, notably a re-enactment of the voyage of the First Fleet under Admiral Arthur Philip, This was decided against, although the re-enactment fleet did sail from the Isle of Wight, 13 May 1987 and arrived in Australia 26 Jan 1988, without the support of the BABC. The UK gift to Australia was eventually decided on as the sail training schooner STS Young Endeavour, proposed by Arthur Weller. The building of STS Young Endeavour, was supervised by the Schooner Trust, supervised by Weller. The Bicentennial events in the UK were widespread including balls, banquets and church services, notably at Westminster Abbey led by Archbishop Robert Runcie, 14 Jul 1988.


The collection includes administrative and strategy papers of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC), from 1984-1990, including early minutes, agendas and minutes for BABC meetings 1985-1988; weekly reports of the Executive Secretary, newsletters, 1986-1988 and related papers and correspondence. Also included are papers of National Task subcommittees, minutes of the Schooner Trust and details of the proposal for the First Fleet re-enactment; and papers of regional committees including the City of London committee; Bath and West Country committee; East Anglia committee; Midlands committee; North East committee; Northern Ireland committee; Lincoln committee; Liverpool committee; Whitby committee and Scotland committee. Papers relating to other events to celebrate the Bicentenary including a banquet at Guildhall, London; an exhibition to be held at the British Museum (Natural History) entitled 'First Impressions: the British discovery of Australia', 1988 and the Mansion House Hawke dinner, 21 Jun 1989.

This latter collection is not fully catalogued but a handlist is available on request.

New archives list available for download - Simon Taylor papers

The Taylor family papers are one of the most used collections in the Institute of Commonwealth Studies archives collection.

Mainly comprising letters written and received between 1770 and 1835 by Simon Taylor, his family and heirs, and his friends, agents and business partners. About a quarter of the letters are contained in Simon Taylor's letterbooks. Though the majority of the correspondence consists of letters either to or from Simon Taylor up to his death in 1813, there is also correspondence between other family members, notably his brother Sir John Taylor, his sister-in-law Elizabeth Haughton Taylor, Sir John and Lady Taylor's son (and Simon Taylor's heir) Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, and Simon Taylor's second cousin and business partner Robert Taylor. The subject matter ranges from the domestic (illness, family quarrels, disinheritance, bigamy) to business (slaves, sugar, trade and shipping, the effects of hurricanes, the introduction of a steam engine on an estate), to politics (the Maroon and French wars, the anti-slavery movement and abolition of the slave trade). The collection also includes detailed reports on the estates made for Anna Susannah Watson Taylor in 1835.

ANC Centenary

It is one hundred years since the African National Congress was founded, On January 8th 1912, chiefs, representatives of people`s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals gathered in Bloemfontein and formed the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), later named the African National Congress (1923). The ANC declared its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms.


The ANC has a website showcasing their history and events taking place as part of the celebrations.

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies has a wide range of material on and published by the ANC, as well as other important groups who were part of the South African liberation struggle. The collection includes material catalogued as part of our political pamphlets project, and the library holds over 400 individual titles published by the ANC, including newsletters and journals as well as pamphlets, leaflets, manifestos, etc.

Archive collections include a specific collection of material from the ANC and Indian organisations in South Africa (in both print and microfilm), the Mandela Trials papers, as well as papers of activists including Ruth First, Mary Benson, Ruth Hayman, Marion Friedmann , Baruch Hirson, Tim Matthews, Z K Matthews, Josie Palmer.

The archive collection also includes Ralph Johnson Bunche's account of the Silver Anniversary meeting of the African National Congress in Bloemfontein in December 1937

New Rhodesia related archives list available on archives catalogue

A PDF version of the handlist of the Anthony McAdam collection is now available on the Archives Catalogue.

This collection includes papers relating to Rhodesian politics collected by Anthony L McAdam, including correspondence and papers relating to the multiracial University College Rhodesia, 1964-1971; correspondence and papers relating to African National Congress (ANC) meetings, particularly relating to the ANC Committee in London, 1971-1972; and miscellaneous material on Rhodesia, 1970-1972, including correspondence on the right of entry to the United Kingdom for Rhodesian Africans.

Anthony McAdam was a Lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences, University College, Rhodesia in the 1960s and early 1970s. He later taught at Stirling University.

Slavery collections

Please note that the Senate House Library Slavery archive subject guides have been upgraded.


They now include relevant archives held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, including Taylor Family, West India Committee, Castle Wemyss Estate and Sandbach Tinne and Co collections, adding to the Senate House Library collections, including those of the Akers Family and of William Hewitt

http://www.shl.lon.ac.uk/specialcollections/archives/slaveryarchivesources.shtml

Trotskyist collections

Please note that the Senate House Library Trotskyist archive subject guide has been upgraded. This now include relevant archives held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, including material from the CLR James, Baruch Hirson, Workers' Party of South Africa, and political pamphlets collection:

http://www.shl.lon.ac.uk/specialcollections/archives/archivestrotskyistsources.shtml

CFP: Archives of Post-Independence Africa and its Diaspora, Dakar, Senegal, June 20-23, 2012

Call for Papers: Archives of Post-Independence Africa and its Diaspora

Dakar, Senegal; June 20-23, 2012

Archives of Post-Independence Africa and its Diaspora is an international conference to be held in Dakar, Senegal, June 20-23, 2012, organized by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa(CODESRIA), the African Studies Centre, Leiden (ASC), and the University of California African Studies Multicampus Research Group (MRG).The conference features an interdisciplinary array of activities that include a public debate, training workshop, film screening, as well as four keynote addresses and academic panels.

The event is conceived as a forum with pre-circulated papers and contributions from a wide range of academics, archivists, librarians, public intellectuals, and artists from the African continent, Europe, North America, and beyond.

We are now accepting paper abstracts until November 30, 2011.

Abstracts should relate to one of the conference's five themes:

(1) Archival Absences and Surrogate Collections of the African State
(2) Performing the Archive
(3) Post-Independence Media Formations
(4) Spatialization of Art and the Archive
(5) Administering the Archive

A system for online submission of abstracts has been set up on the conference website: https://sites.google.com/site/dakarconferencecfp A French version of the website will be available shortly and will be accessible by a link from the English version of the site.

Any questions about the conference or the submission process? Please contact: archives.diaspora@codesria.sn

Commonwealth Studies archives material in Kipling Exhibition

Two items from our archive collections have been included within a small exhibition mounted on the 1st floor of Senate House, in association with the "Rudyard Kipling: An International Writer" Conference taking place from 21 - 22 October 2011.

Kipling, hailed as 'an interpreter of Empire' (Times, 18 Jan 1936), was regarded as a national institution when he died in 1936, and his funeral in Westminster Abbey was attended by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. His current reputation is many-sided: sometimes condemned as a racist who embodied the imperial mind-set or dismissed as a writer 'whom nobody read', he is increasingly both valued and criticised for his complex response to the 'otherness' and diversity of races and classes in his writing.


This conference, sponsored by the Kipling Society, focuses on the figure of Kipling as an international writer. It seeks not only to re-assess Kipling's involvement in imperial ideology, but also to examine his interests in wider international affairs and his connections with foreign locations both within and outside the British Empire. The conference thereby aims to re-examine his work and achievement by exploring his diverse roles as an internationalist, and by considering his relevance to our post-modern globalising world

Senate House Library Special Collections staff have mounted this exhibition to highlight material relevant to the conference held in our collections. These include two items from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library collection - a letter from Kipling to Richard Jebb, thanking Jebb for a copy of an article from the 'Empire Review' and stating that he fears that he could not undertake to hold himself responsible for any deduction that may be made from anything that he may have written on the future of the Empire, and typescript notes by Sir Stephen Tallents, of a conversation with Kipling, held soon after Tallents took on his role within the Empire Marketing Board, to discuss ideas for the promotion of Empire good and EMpire trade.





Event Type: Conference / Symposium



Speakers





Keynote Speakers: Amit Chaudhuri and Charles Allen





Description





This conference, sponsored by the Kipling Society, focuses on the figure of Kipling as an international writer. It seeks not only to re-assess Kipling's involvement in imperial ideology, but also to examine his interests in wider international affairs and his connections with foreign locations both within and outside the British Empire. The conference thereby aims to re-examine his work and achievement by exploring his diverse roles as an internationalist, and by considering his relevance to our post-modern globalising world.

CFP: Dis/connects: African Studies in the Digital Age

SCOLMA: The UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa

50th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

Dis/connects: African Studies in the Digital Age
Oxford, 25–26 June 2012

CALL FOR PAPERS

The digital revolution is profoundly affecting African studies. New digital resources are making available large areas of content, as well as greatly improving access to bibliographies. In Africa, governments and NGOs are publishing online, some publishers are moving to print on demand and e-books, and international academic journals are increasingly becoming available in university and national libraries.

Yet the story, as is well-known, is far from straightforward or unproblematic. This conference will mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of SCOLMA by taking a critical look at the field of African studies and how it is changing. In particular, although there has been much discussion of new digital resources and what their creators plan to do, we have a limited understanding of their impact on their users and on knowledge production in general. For example, what are the implications for historical research of the availability of digitised sources, and of the choices made in their selection? How do social science researchers work in a field in which much, but not everything, is now available online? Are e-journals – or indeed mobile phones – beginning to change the research process in Africa? And, more generally, how have broader historical and political developments changed African studies and librarianship over the last half-century?

We welcome papers on these themes across the humanities, arts, social sciences and sciences. Papers may deal with digital content, whether digitised or born-digital, of any kind, e.g. archives and manuscripts; audio-visual material; maps; newspapers; books, journals and theses; photographs, prints, drawings and paintings; ephemera; statistical databases; and social media.

The conference will bring together academics and other researchers with librarians and archivists. We aim thus to have a productive exchange of expertise, experience and analysis on the question of knowledge production in African studies.

Themes may include, but are not limited to:

• How scholars, researchers, librarians and archivists use digitised resources.

• How African studies is changing, and the place of the digital revolution in these changes.

• Access to, selection of, and training in the use of digital resources in the library context. Are resources under-used?

• To pay or not to pay? How easy is it for researchers to find subscription e-resources? And for libraries to fund them? What is the balance of free and charged resources in the research process? How well do the models for making e-resources available in Africa work?

• How well does user consultation work?

• Access to the technology that underpins e-resources.

• Digital scholarship: are scholars in African studies using digital collections to generate new intellectual products?

• The impact of mobile phone technology on African studies.

• How patchy is the creation of digital resources, and what – and who – is being left behind?

• Language in Africa and new technology.

One-page abstracts of papers on these themes are warmly welcomed. If you would like to give a paper, please send your abstract to

Lucy McCann
SCOLMA Secretary
Email: lucy.mccann@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Tel.: 01865 270908

THE DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS IS 31 OCTOBER 2011.

Papers in French are welcome if a summary is provided in English.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies special collections and archives

With the completion of moves within Senate House Library the Institute of Commonwealth Studies special collections and archives will now be available to consult in the Sterling Library Reading Room, 4th floor, south, of the Senate House Library.

Users are reminded that material needs to be booked in advance by email to: shl.specialcollections@london.ac.uk
or by phone
020 7862 8470



One full working day's notice is required. The cut-off point for making archive appointments is 1600. Any messages after this time will be dealt with the following working day (and archives therefore produced for the day after that).  Items for Saturdays or evenings must be ordered by 1600 on the preceding day.

Opening hours are listed at:
http://www.shl.lon.ac.uk/specialcollections/historicaccess.shtml