LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

George Washington Wilson collection

The George Washington Wilson collection comprises 40,000 negatives spanning the period 1859-1908, which offer a topographical record of the UK (but also include material relating to colonial Australia and South Africa, and the western Mediterranean coast). It is also a rich record of urban and rural growth, industrialisation, transportation and many elements of social history. Further collections held by the University complement the GWW archive with many more photographs of Scotland, and particularly north-east Scotland - its landscape, buildings and archaeology.

Mapping the World: collaborative support for research on overseas mapping

The aim of this project is to open up a major under-used resource for research in a wide range of disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences by targeted series-level cataloguing of post-1850 overseas mapping. This will facilitate remote access to key materials by converting map library catalogue records, which at present are held on cards and accessible only to researchers visiting the libraries in person. The areas of coverage include Africa, North and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as much of Asia and the Middle East. The individual countries covered range from the tiniest Pacific islands to the vast areas of British Antarctica, from Mediterranean islands such as Cyprus and Malta to countries the size of Nigeria and Canada. Initially, different areas of the world were allocated to each partner but now each institution can also derive CURL records for areas already covered. For example, six libraries have completed work on Australia, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Retrospective conversion of Asian and African collections 1978-1989

Based at the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) project will facilitate the exploration of this research material by researchers and enable them to plan research visits to London more efficiently. It will facilitate the inter-library lending of material which is eligible for such use. It will reveal the wealth of resources that are held on closed access, such as microform and pamphlet literature. It will enable greater work on collaboration with other Libraries collecting in the same subject fields. Searchable through the SOAS web catalogue.

Francophone Africa (including North and Sub-Saharan Africa)

The University of Portsmouth has a large up-to-date interdisciplinary collection of books and journals covering all aspects of Francophone Africa.

British Library for Development Studies

National UK collection funded by the government since 1966 to collect 'development studies' material, especially from Third World countries, which have supplied some 70% of holdings. The largest 'development' library in Europe. 90,000 documents in online catalogue and over 1,000 journals (300 of these indexed on site). Total holdings around 250,000 items, includes a further 5,000 current serials (reports, newsletters, monograph series etc) especially strong in grey, semi-published and unpublished, literature. Chinese newspapers, and others, on microfilm. UN depository library and holds most publications of the World Bank, IMF and all UN agencies (FAO, ILO, Unesco, UNDP etc) and other international organizations. Large collection of African and South Asian government publications.

Laredo South African Archive

John Laredo (1932-2000) was a South African-born academic, who undertook anthropological fieldwork among Zulu-speaking Nguni in the Shongweni, Ndwedwe and Inanda areas. He acted against the apartheid regime, as a result of which he was jailed and the subject of a banning order. This meant he could not publish or submit his thesis in South Africa. Laredo moved to England in 1969 on his release from prison, and in 1972 joined the teaching staff at the University of Bradford, where he remained until his retirement. The Laredo South African Archive includes his field research, his thesis, material relating to his academic career and also forms a resource for the study of South African history.

George H. Johannes Collection

An extensive collection donated by George Johannes. Most of the works were published in the 1970s, 80s and 90s but there are also some earlier works. Johannes joined the ANC in 1970 and worked as a full-time political activist from 1976. He subsequently became Political Counsellor with the South African High Commission in London.

Centre for Research into Economics and Finance in Southern Africa (CREFSA) Library

The CREFSA Library is a collection of materials on South Africa and Southern Africa. It has been built up as a result of research projects undertaken at CREFSA and also through contact with central banks, government departments, financial institutions and academic institutions. References on South Africa include official publications from the South African Reserve Bank and the National Treasury as well as journals and papers from a range of academic and policy institutions. Official publications from central banks in Southern Africa are also part of the Library, together with studies of regional integration and related issues in Southern Africa. Publications from specialist information services are also available.The CREFSA Library includes the RW Bethlehem Collection, consisting of books and other material on South Africa. The Collection spans the history of the country, the economic pressures of isolation, the political transition, and the economic transition still underway.

Rubeo Collection

The Rubeo Collection was purchased from the collector Capitano Giuseppe Rubeo. It consists of some 4000 books, many rare, on a variety of subjects. They include many hundreds of volumes relating to Italian fascism, published during the fascist period itself, which are particularly rare, as such books were usually thrown out and destroyed at the end of the war, by both private collectors and libraries, and are now extremely hard to locate in Italy. Probably the most interesting sub-category here are the many books published in the 1920s and 1930s on the Italian colonies (Libya and Ethiopia). There is also literature, including first or early editions of important literary texts by writers such as Ardengo Soffici, Giovannli Papini, and Giuseppe Prezzolini. The Library is currently seeking funding for the full cataloguing of this collection.

Stephen Riley Collection

This collection was donated by Stephen Riley and reflects his interests in Development Studies. It also contains material on Social Sciences, Politics, African Studies and Economics. It dates from c.1950 and the items are in English or German.

Development Studies

This collection comprises research materials, dating from c.1900, in the field of development, particularly in relation to Africa. It is a useful resource for those interested in development economics, agriculture, food policy, women's studies, race and colonialism. Materials are partially catalogued and in English, Portuguese, French, German, Creole Spanish, Arabic, Dutch, Afrikaans.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation/CODE Europe Special Collection

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation/CODE Europe Special Collection on Publishing in Africa includes books, reports and other grey literature covering publishing and the booktrade in Africa, plus examples of publishing output. Highlights are materials from the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, titles from the Heinemann African Writers Series and books from African literary projects.