The article discusses the history of the abstracts and indexing journal originally known as 'Documentatieblad,' which was renamed to 'African Studies Abstracts (ASA)' and later to 'African Studies... Show moreThe article discusses the history of the abstracts and indexing journal originally known as 'Documentatieblad,' which was renamed to 'African Studies Abstracts (ASA)' and later to 'African Studies Abstracts Online' (ASAO), published by the African Studies Centre (ASC) in Leiden, the Netherlands since 1968. Key themes are socioeconomic and political developments, government, law and constitutional development, history, religion, anthropology, women's studies, education, and literature. Publications are in a western language. Due to increased Internet connectivity in African countries, the monthly print edition of ASAO was discontinued from March 2012 onward. The number of subscribers to the ASAO mailing list has increased from 472 in 2004 to 1681 by the end of 2012. By contrast, the number of subscribers to the printed abstracts journal never exceeded 350. Of the 260 journals systematically scanned in 2013, some 160 were wholly or partially abstracted with the remainder being indexed. Over time the abstracting of monographs became increasingly selective. There have been various initiatives over the past twenty years to further cooperation in documenting African Studies material, including 'Africa-Wide Information', 'AfricaBib' and 'ilissAfrica' of the European Librarians in African Studies (ELIAS) network. Notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
Almost ten years ago to the day I gave a talk at SCOLMA's 1992 annual general meeting on African documentation in the Netherlands, and possibilities for European cooperation. My talk focused on... Show moreAlmost ten years ago to the day I gave a talk at SCOLMA's 1992 annual general meeting on African documentation in the Netherlands, and possibilities for European cooperation. My talk focused on the Afrika-Studiecentrum (ASC) in Leiden and the work of the Library and Documentation Department. This talk, too, will focus on the Afrika-Studiecentrum. As the only research and documentation centre in the Netherlands devoted exclusively to Africa, the Afrika-Studiecentrum plays a pivotal role in Dutch African Studies and, as in 1992, I happen to work there, so it is what I know best. I would like to tell you something about the Afrika Studiecentrum's origins and objectives, its research programme and the work of the Library, Documentation and Information Department. I will say a bit about the library collection and acquisitions policy and go into somewhat more detail on a number of the activities we have undertaken over the past years to facilitate national and international access to African Studies resources, through the development of the ASC OPAC, through partnerships with commercial publishers, and through cooperation with other Africana libraries and documentation services. However, before moving on to talk about the ASC, I would first briefly like to describe a few of the other collections on Africa which exist in the Netherlands. This is no more than a quick bird's-eye view and is no way meant to be comprehensive. Show less
