Related Guides
- Africa: Getting Started with Research
- African American Art & Artists
- African Art & Architecture
- African Cinema
- African Ethnology
- African Fiction and Film
- African History: Colonial Period
- African History: Modern era
- African History: Precolonial Period
- African Maps
- African Music
- African Newspapers
- African Politics
- African Poster Collection
- African Science Fiction / Speculative Fiction
- African Studies Library: Special Collections
- Africana Collections Online
- AH/ AA 215: Arts of Africa & Its Diaspora
- AH317: Morocco to Timbuktu: Art and Architecture at the Saharan Crossroads
- Ajami
- Anthropology of Development Theory & Practice
- CineMAfriq Film Series
- Country Guide: Cabo Verde
- Country Guide: Djibouti
- Country Guide: Equatorial Guinea
- Country Guide: Morocco
- Country Guide: Somalia
- Country Guide: Tunisia
- COVID-19, Pandemics and Major Disease Outbreaks in Africa
- Culture and Cuisine of Sub-Saharan Africa
- Culture and Cuisine of the Middle East and North Africa
- Environmental History of Africa
- Genocide and Minority Persecution 1970+
- HI 870: African Historiography
- HI588/ AA588: Women, Power and Culture in Africa
- How to Access CAMP Materials
- Human Rights in Africa
- ID 116: Africa Today
- International Relations / Global Studies
- Islamic Art, Architecture, & Archaeology
- Language Learning - Amharic
- Language Learning: Akan-Twi
- Language Learning: Hausa
- Language Learning: Igbo
- Language Learning: Swahili
- Language Learning: Wolof
- Language Learning: Xhosa
- Language Learning: Zulu
- Peoples and Cultures of Africa
- Race & Ethnicity in Africa
- Religion and Africa: Christianity
- Religion and Africa: Islam
- Teaching and Research Guide for: "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind"
- U.S. - SubSaharan Africa Relations
- World War II and Africa
- WR150: Africa in the Western Imagination
- WR151: American Conversations: Jews and Blacks / Blacks and Jews
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries & Handbooks
Many sources for background information, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographies may be shelved in the Reference Collection in the African Studies Library Reading Room.
Africa South of the Sahara by Call Number: African Studies Library Reference DT351 .F71Publication Date: 2017+The definitive one-volume guide to all sub-Saharan African countries, providing invaluable economic, political, statistical and directory data.... Individual chapters on every country incorporating: essays on the physical and social geography, recent history and economies an extensive statistical survey of economic indicators a full directory containing names, addresses and contact details for key areas such as the government, diplomatic representation, the media, finance, trade and industry, and defence a useful bibliography, providing sources for further research.
The Peoples of Africa by Call Number: OnlinePublication Date: 1996-05-30(Also in print: Mugar GN645 .O47 1996)
A Political and Economic Dictionary of Africa by Call Number: OnlinePublication Date: 2004-06-17This invaluable Dictionary provides an essential guide to the politics and economics of the African continent.
Africana by Call Number: African Studies Library Reference DT14 .A37435 2005Publication Date: 2005-04-07Including more than one million new words, Africana has been completely updated and revised. New entries on African kingdoms have been added, bibliographies now accompany most articles, and the encyclopedia's coverage of the African diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean has been expanded, transforming the More than 4,000 articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religion, ethnic groups, organizations and countries on both sides of the Atlantic. African American history and culture in the present-day United States receive a strong emphasis, but African American history and culture throughout the rest of the Americas and their origins in African itself have an equally strong presence.
Africa: an Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 Volumes] by
These volumes offer a one-stop resource for researching the lives, customs, and cultures of Africa's nations and peoples. * Supplies entries that are more extensive than in most comparable encyclopedic works * Arranges content alphabetically by country, then by topic, with suggestions for further reading following each * Includes contributions from numerous eminent scholars of African history * Provides a clear African voice via entries from scholars from the African continent
Call Number: Available OnlinePublication Date: 2015-12-31
Biographical Sources
Dictionary of African Biography by
In the spirit of The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, American National Biography, and African American National Biography--all three published by Oxford University Press--Dictionary of African Biography is a major biographical dictionary covering the lives and legacies of notable African men and women from all eras and walks of life. This groundbreaking resource tells the full story of the African continent through the lives of its people. The rich history of the African people has been unduly neglected in the scholarly literature, and reliable reference material is in short supply. This trend has begun to change, however, and in recent years many new historical discoveries have been made. Much of this research is designed as a corrective to the long tradition of inadequate treatment by scholars. Although scholarship on Africa is flourishing, very little of this research has yet filtered down into accessible reference works; well designed reference material is essential to promote further scholarly inquiry, learning, and education, and to satisfy increasing interest among nonspecialist audiences. Although there have been some isolated instances of successful biography of Africans, there is no single resource that provides comprehensive coverage. Older reference works focus unevenly on the colonial period, European adventurers, and Egyptian dynasties. There is very little attention given to the full range of African lives, and rarely is the continent treated as a whole. As a result our picture of Africa's history and its people is incomplete. A comprehensive biographical dictionary will greatly increase our understanding of the African continent and have a transformative effect on education and research. As the most wide-reaching reference project on Africa to date, DAB will be a means of codifying the explosion of new research. Entries will be written by contributing scholars from African studies departments the world over. Each entry has been reviewed by the editorial board to ensure only reliable, high-quality material is published. DAB contains nearly 2 million words in nearly 2,100 entries, each with bibliography, ranging from 750 to 2,000 words. It will have a comprehensive index. It comprises six volumes and is published in a hardcover edition for specialists and libraries. Library Journal Best Reference 2011
Call Number: African Studies Library Reference CT1920 .D52 2012ISBN: 9780195382075Publication Date: 2011-12-08
Historical Dictionaries
Use the BU Libraries search to find historical dictionaries. Search the catalog for African historical dictionaries.
To find dictionaries by country, try searching “Historical dictionary of [insert country name]”.).
Here are some examples of country and topical historical dictionaries:
Historical Dictionary of Angola by
Dominated and exploited by Portugal for almost five centuries, Angola achieved independence in 1975 after a bitter struggle to eject the Portuguese. But that was not the end of it. This was followed by an even nastier civil war, which lasted for 27 years. It was further complicated by the Cold War, and continued even after that was over, only ending in 2002. Since then the country and its leadership has finally been able to focus on the problems of nation-building. Still by 2010, peace appears to be firmly rooted in Angola though much social and economic rehabilitation needs to be completed. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Angola is a thorough examination of Angola. It includes a chronology, bibliography, maps, appendixes, and over 600 cross referenced dictionary entries. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Angola.
Call Number: Mugar Stacks DT1264 .J36 2011ISBN: 9780810871939Publication Date: 2011-05-05
Historical Dictionary of Pre-Colonial Africa by
The Heart of Darkness, this is the image that most in the West hold of pre-colonial Africa. Joseph Conrad's description of a continent lacking in civilization, commerce, and Christianity is familiar to many readers. Historians have been working to dispel this notion before since the institution of African independence after World War II. Collins seeks to familiarize the reader with pre-colonial Africa, the Africa that began with the migrations of the Bantu from their homeland in 500 B.C. and ended with European control in the 19th century, revealing the culture, events, achievement and rulers of Africa from this time.
Call Number: Mugar Stacks DT17 .C65 2001Publication Date: 2001
Historical Dictionary of United States-Africa Relations by Call Number: African Studies Library Reference DT38 .W385 2009Publication Date: 2009-03-20
Librarian
Rachel Dwyer
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Contact:
African Studies Library
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Mugar Memorial Library
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rdwyer@bu.edu
6th floor,
Mugar Memorial Library
Mon-Fri 9am - 5 pm
rdwyer@bu.edu
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Subjects: African Studies