Basic Guide to Research on Africa: Library Catalogs & Collections

U.S. and Canada

  • Boston University -- African Studies Library (Boston, Massachusetts)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • The Center for Research Libraries: African Studies Collections Committee (Chicago, Illinois)
    --SEARCH CRL
     
  • Columbia University: African Studies (New York)
    SEARCH "CLIO"--the main catalog
    SEARCH "EDUCAT"--Teachers College
     
  • Cornell University - John Henrik Clarke Africana Library (Ithaca, New York)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Dartmouth College Libraries -- African & African American Studies (Dartmouth, New Hampshire)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Duke University Libraries -- African Studies (Durham, North Carolina)
    -- SEARCH
    --See also: African American Studies
     
  • Harvard University -- Libraries (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Howard University -- Founders Library (Washington, DC)
    --See also: Moorland-Spingarn Research Center--Library Division
     
  • Indiana University Libraries -- African Studies (Bloomington, Indiana)
    --SEARCH (Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana)
     
  • International Development Research Centre (Ottawa, Canada)
    --SEARCH
    --See also: Home Page of the IDRC Digital Library
     
  • The Library of Congress (Washington, DC)
    --LC African & Middle Eastern Reading Room
    --LC Online Catalog
    --LC Home Page
     
  • Michigan State University -- Africana/African Studies (East Lansing, Michigan)
    --SEARCH
     
  • National Museum of African Art, Warren M. Robbins Library The Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC)
    --SEARCH The Smithsonian Institution Libraries
     
  • The New York Public Library Digital Collections: Africa
    --See also: African Americans
     
  • The New York Public Library -- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York)
    --See: Schomburg Center Research Guides
    -- SEARCH The NYPL Research Libraries
     
  • New York University Libraries -- Africana Studies (New York)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Northwestern University -- Melville J. Herskovits Africana Collection (Evanston, Illinois)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Ohio University Libraries -- African Studies (Athens, Ohio)
    -- See also: Africana collection
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Princeton University Libraries -- African Studies Resources (Princeton, New Jersey)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Queen's University Libraries (Kingston, Canada)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Stanford University Libraries -- African collections (Stanford, California)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Université Laval -- Bibliothèque (Québec, Canada)
    -- Rechercher
     
  • University of California, Berkeley Library--African Studies -and- African-American Studies
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of California at Los Angeles
    -- African Studies
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Chicago, Illinois -- African Studies
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Florida, Gainesville
    -- UF Africana collection
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
    -- UIUC Africana collection
    -- SEARCH
     
  • The University of Iowa Libraries -- African Studies (Iowa City, Iowa)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Kansas Libraries -- African Studies (Lawrence, Kansas)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Michigan Libraries -- African Studies (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Pennsylvania Libraries -- African Collection (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
    -- SEARCH
     
  • University of Wisconsin at Madison Libraries
    -- SEARCH
     
  • Yale University Libraries -- African Collection (New Haven, Connecticut)
    --SEARCH
     
  • York University -- Libraries (Toronto, Canada)
    -- African studies -and- African Diaspora
     

    • U.K. and Europe

  • Archives de France. Centre des Archives d'Outre Mer:  IREL--ANOM (Aix-en-Provence, France)

  • Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (Portugal) (via Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Biblioteca Central de Estudos Africanos--Catalog (Lisbon e Porto, Portugal)  
    [Centro de Estudos Africanos do ISCTE, Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do Porto, Centro de Estudos sobre Africa e do Desenvolvimento do ISEG/UTL, e Centro de Estudos Africanos da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa.]

  • Biblioteca Nacional do Portugal (Lisbon, Portugal)

  • La Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris)

  • Bibliothèque Nationale de France: Catalogue Collectif de France (Paris)

  • Bibliothèque Universitaire des Langues et Civilisations (BULAC)-- Catalogue (Lille et Paris)   
    [Le catalogue de 22 bibliothèques partenaires à Paris.]      
    -- Liste des bibliothèques -et-     la version de ce site en anglais

  • The British Library (London, UK)  
    -- BLPC, the online catalog ;      African Collections

  • Cambridge University Libraries: Centre of African Studies (CAS)--Library (Cambridge, UK)

  • Centre of African Studies Library, University of Copenhagen = Center for Afrikastudier, Københavns Universitet (Denmark)

  • Institut für Afrika-Kunde Library, Hamburg, Germany

  • The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, School of Advanced Study, University of London (London, UK)

  • JISC Library Hub Discover (Bristol, UK)   British and Irish academic, national & specialist libraries.

  • La Trobe University -- Library (Bundoora, Victoria, Australia) -- Catalog

  • Leiden University, African Studies Centre--Library Catalog (Leiden, The Netherlands) -- See also: ASC Library homepage

  • Nordiska Afrikainstitutet/Bibliotek = The Nordic Africa Institute/Library (Uppsala, Sweden)
    -- AfricaLit catalog

  • Oxford University Libraries -- Bodleian Libraries (United Kingdom)

  • SOAS: School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London--Library Catalog  (London, UK)

  • Catalogue SUDOC (ABES--Agence bibliographique de l'enseignement supérieur, Montpellier, France)   
    [Le catalogue collectif français réalisé par les bibliothèques et centres de documentation de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche.]

  • Switzerland

  • University of London, Senate House Libraries  -- Main Catalog (London, UK)  --
    -- See also: Archives and Manuscripts Catalog

  • United Kingdom, The National Archives (Kew, Richmond, Surrey)

  • Universität Bayreuth, Germany

  • Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne -- Catalogue (Paris, France)

  • University of Birmingham -- Library Catalog (Birmingham, UK)

    • Africa

  • Botswana:

  • Burundi:

  • Eswatini

  • Ethiopia:

  • Ghana

  • Kenya:

  • Lesotho

  • Mozambique

  • Namibia

  • Nigeria:

  • Réunion

  • Rwanda

  • Senegal

  • South Africa

  • Tanzania

  • Uganda

  • Zimbabwe

    • Last Updated: Nov 18, 2025 2:56 PM
    • URL: https://guides.library.columbia.edu/basic_guide_to_research_on_africa
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