About the site
Africa Research Central has as its goal to centralize and constantly update information about institutions with African primary source collections so as to facilitate international research in African Studies. Research in African primary sources--be they records, manuscripts, personal papers, photographs, film, or artifacts-- has posed challenges to the research community since the dawn of African Studies as a discipline. Scholars outside Africa struggle to learn about the holdings, services, and clearance procedures of African repositories, while scholars within Africa must cope with the fact that much of the African primary source heritage is housed beyond the borders of Africa. The core of the site is the Repositories section with its searchable database of African archives, libraries and museums with primary source collections. Although far from comprehensive, links to the web sites of North American and European repositories are also provided.
In addition to helping researchers, Africa Research Central also assists African repositories in the urgent task of preserving African primary sources. A growing number of African institutions have made their preservation needs known to Africa Research Central and may be searched easily in the Repository Wish List located in the Preservation section. In the same section, African institutions may search the International Funding Agencies database to locate possible international funders.
