ID 116: Africa Today
Map Exercises
Atlas of Africa: G2445 J4M (located on the ASL atlas case) has maps for the entire continent and for each country. Although out of date for current place names and boundaries, it is the best source for physical features.
Atlas of African Affairs: African Studies Reference G2445 G7 1993.
Atlas of African History: African Studies Reference G2446 S1 F3 1978
The ASL collection of atlases (both in the atlas cases and on the reference shelves) includes many volumes focusing on a single country, or a specific topic, such as agriculture or environment.
The ASL also has a large collection of sheet maps.
The Mugar collection of atlases on the first floor, and general works such as the Encyclopedia Britannica are also good resources.
Country Reports
Africa South of the Sahara (AFR ST DT 351 F71) is an excellent summary of recent history, economic conditions and statistics for Africa. North Africa is covered in Middle East and North Africa (Mugar Reference X DS43 .F49).
The Country Reports and Country Profiles of the Economist Intelligence Unit provide the best economic and political summaries on all the nations of Africa. They are available online (http://www.bu.edu/library/research/indexes.html#E) From the main EIU page, select "Africa/ME" in the left hand column, then select your country. For historical depth, check the print volumes: http://www.bu.edu/library/asl/eiu.html
The Historical Dictionary series provides some good information. Do a TITLE search on the phrase "historical dictionary", then limit by the name of your country in "Word in Title"
The Library of Congress has an excellent series of country studies. They are available online (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html) as well as in print. To find print holdings, do a title search with the name of your country, followed by the phrase "a country study". (i.e., "Zimbabwe: a country study")
You can build on the information you gather in these resources by looking for books in the library catalog and articles in indexes.
Cultural Event Report
These reports will reflect your own thoughts and reactions more than scholarly research. However, the resources described in the ASL guide: Exploring the Culture and Art of Africa can suggest some additional reading.
Research Papers
No matter what the topic of research, the research process always includes these steps:
Choose a Topic. This is the crucial first step. For this class, you have a lot of latitude. Your own curiosity will motivate you to do the work more than the desire to impress your instructor. What interests you? African art? Popular music? Film? Ethnic conflict? Women's role in the economy? Go with it!
You're writing a paper, not a book. Choose a topic that you can handle within the time and page limit specified. Education in Africa is too broad - but comparing literacy campaigns in two countries may work very well.
But you're not writing a little feature article, either. A day in the life of a market woman in Niger is not enough for a paper unless you tie her experience in with larger issues.
You've got a brilliant idea! But can you find enough information? Test the resources before you get too far into the topic. Check the library catalog and a few indexes. Make sure there are some books and articles - and that they are written in a language you can read.
The computer allows you to search through an enormous amount of information in minutes, even seconds. But the computer is totally literal. It is not searching for answers to questions, or for ideas and concepts. It is searching for WORDS: finding a match for the group of characters that you have typed in the search box. The computer is not wise or subtle; it is only fast. You are the one with the brain that understands meaning.
The library catalog will help you find BOOKS and JOURNAL TITLES. Start with a WORD search, using terms that describe what you are looking for. Try the musical instrument "kora". This word as a search term yields 20 results. Right away you'll see the problem: Kora is a personal name; a place name; a word in at least two other languages. To get works on the stringed musical instrument, you need to read the full record and make some judgments. The subject heading for the kora you are looking for is "Kora (musical instrument)". Adding the word "music" to the search cuts out all of the other "koras".
But surely there has to be more than one book (in French) and two recordings that deal with kora music. Look at the book you found, and try the subject heading. Click on " Mandingo (African people) -- Music -- History and Criticism" This gets you several more books, which look more promising. And some more subject headings. Broadening the search to "music" and combining with names of West African countries can yield some more.
The books you find may have bibliographies that will lead you to more sources. Books on broad topics may contain sections on your topic. Use the index and table of contents to find those sections.
BOOKS give you a big picture; journal ARTICLES are usually more focused on a particular topic. ARTICLES are also more likely to be current. There are few books on the effects of the tsunami of December 2004, but you will find many articles, both in news magazines and in more scholarly journals.
To find ARTICLES, go to the indexes provided by the library. Electronic Resources by Subject will help you select the best indexes -- but explore on your own, too. One of the best is Africabib, which is free and accessible from any computer. You can get into most of the library's indexes from your home or office if you have set up your computer the right way.
WORDS again are the key to finding articles. You need to put in words as search terms that match the words authors have used in the title, abstract or text of the article. Not everyone uses the same terms to mean the same thing. Terminology changes over time. If you zero out, think of other ways of expressing the same idea.
Web sites can provide terrific information, but use them with caution. An ASL guide will help find some reliable sites. Always read the "about" page and any other information that identifies the creator of the site.
Once you have the references, you will need to get to the items themselves. Sometimes this seems a little daunting, especially for journal articles, but once you understand the system, it gets easier. Check out this guide to finding journals
Finding books in the library can also seem like a maze. Look at the catalog entry for the book Afropop. Below the title and description of the book is a box:
Location |
Call Number | Status |
| Mugar | ML3502.9B7 1995 | AVAILABLE |
The left hand box is the LOCATION (the building or section where the book is located). The middle box is the CALL NUMBER, a unique number for that book. Charts with the locations of call numbers are posted at every elevator and other handy spots around the library. Take a virtual tour to orient yourself to Mugar and the other campus libraries. The right hand column is the STATUS: whether the book is available to be checked out, if it's already checked out, or if it is for library use only.
If BU does not own the book or journal you are seeking, you have several alternatives:
The Virtual Catalog can get you the book from a local library and deliver it to the Mugar Circulation desk for you. This usually takes a few days.
Interlibrary Loan can try to borrow the book or get a photocopy of the article from another library. This usually takes several weeks.
A Boston Library Consortium card give you access and borrowing privileges at a large number of local libraries. You can check out most books and consult/copy journal articles in the libraries.
The guide to citation styles will be helpful. Your main concern is that you give credit where credit is due: quoting or paraphrasing without citing the source is plagiarism. The other reason for citing sources is so that your readers can find them. Be clear, be accurate.
Build your bibliography and list of references as you do your research. Don't assume you'll remember where you read that perfect quote.
ASL staff are here to help you identify and locate information sources. Stop by, call, or email (dwestley@bu.edu), tape a note to the door, send a carrier pigeon - well, not the pigeon.