North African (Maghreb) Studies

Collection Details
Description of Collection
Subjects of the Collection
Collection Material and Size of Collection
Collection Management Information
Collection Catalogue Information
Links to Other Collections

Collection Details

North African (Maghreb) Studies held at SOAS Library [Institution record]

SOAS Library Catalogue

Description of Collection

Content description

There are about 10,000 monographs in the collection, of which 7,000 are in Western languages and 500 in Berber. It is difficult to estimate numbers of the extensive Arabic holdings (including dialect studies) as they are shelved in one sequence of all Arabic materials, and North African writers in Arabic are not distinguished from other writers in Arabic. The estimate given here of 2,500 has been counted both here and among the Arabic materials in Arabic and Arab World studies. There are also separate holdings of periodicals, maps, sound recordings, videos, manuscripts, unpublished theses and electronic resources.

History and development

The collection developed in parallel with the School’s research and teaching requirements. Originally the Maghreb was treated as a part of the Islamic and Arab worlds but as interest in Africa grew in the School so also did interest in the Maghreb region.

The collection is divided physically in the Library between the Africa and the Islamic Middle East Sections, with Western language and Berber materials in the former and Arabic in the latter. The Arabisation process following independence has led to a huge growth in the publication of works in Arabic, without lessening the importance of French as a cultural and literary language. The collection has grown in in all aspects of the language and literature, politics, economics, law and social development of the region.

Strengths

The Library collects in depth on the Maghreb as part of its regional specialisation under both MELCOM and SCOLMA Library groups.

The Library also holds on permanent deposit the mainly archaeological collection of the Society for Libyan Studies, which concentrates on Libya and the Maghreb but also covers the African continent more widely.

General arrangement and access regulations

Mainly open access. Older monographs (pre-1880 publications), archives, manuscripts and microforms are closed access.

Post-1880 monographs are arranged in two sequences, vernacular and Western language publications.

The Western language collections are arranged primarily by region and country, and within these groupings by subject. The vernacular materials are arranged by subject. Exceptions are the Law and the Art and Archaeology collections which are held in the relevant subject Sections of the Library.

Subjects of the Collection

Regions of Asia

Near & Middle East and North Africa.

Countries

Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.

Languages of material

Arabic, Berber (Other), English, French, Italian, Kabyle, Tamashek.

Subjects

Agriculture, Anthropology, Archaeology, Arts, Communication and media, Development, Economics, Education, Environmental sciences, Geography, History, Human rights, Industries, International relations, Language, Law, Literature, Medicine, Music, Philosophy, Politics and government, Religion, Sociology, Travel, Women.

Languages as linguistic focus

Arabic, Berber (Other), Kabyle, Tamashek.

Collection Material and Size of Collection

Material Types

Archival materials (includes non-published & mixed material), Audio materials (includes cassettes & CDs), Books, Computer files (includes CD-ROMs & other electronic material), Manuscripts, Maps (includes all types of cartographic material), Music (only includes printed & manuscript music), Newspapers (includes microfilm editions), Official publications, Serials, Theses, Visual materials (includes photographs, prints, drawings, videos & films).

Total size of collection

10,000 monographs

Size of collection - vernacular

2,500 Arabic monographs 500 Berber monographs

Size of collection - western

7,000 Western language monographs

Collection Management Information

The collection is being actively developed, and the average intake has stayed the same.

Annual intake

150 (Africa Section) ??? (NME Section)

Content date range

1600 to present

Interlibrary loan procedure

Co-operative agreements

MELCOM scheme: responsibility for publications in Arabic from North Africa and publications in Persian from Iran.
SCOLMA scheme: includes responsibility for Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.
University of London agreements include:
Asian language texts on Middle Eastern Archaeology
Byzantium in Asian and African languages and works on the Asian and African aspects of Byzantine history
Law. Asian and African law in Western, Asian and African languages, including current legislation and law reports.

Collection policy

The Library aims to acquire the important contributions to Asian and African scholarship published anywhere in the world in the humanities and social sciences, as well as representative collections of literature written in Asian and African languages. It aims to be responsive to changing interests and new developments; at the same time it bears in mind its role as a leading national and international resource for Asian and African studies. For the text of the policy apply to the Director of Library and Information Services.

Retention policy

At present all material is retained with the following exceptions: outdated editions of teaching texts, multiple copies of teaching material no longer used, material for which there is no evident demand, material which has been replaced by microform, unless it is of historic value. Academic advice is normally sought before a decision is taken. Apply to the Director of Library and Information Services for further information.

Collection Catalogue Information

Catalogue

The online library catalogue offers access to all material acquired since 1989 and a substantial part of the material collected prior to that date. Work to add records for the earlier collections from the card catalogue is ongoing and by the end of 2002 all material acquired since 1979 will be included as well as significant parts of the rest of the collection. For those who cannot access the card catalogue on site the Library's catalogues have been published (details below).

SOAS Library Catalogue

Catalogue transliteration schemes

Since 1989 all records have been created using the current Library of Congress transliteration schemes. As records are added to the online catalogue the transliterated records are being updated to these schemes.

Catalogue scripts

The current cataloguing and some of the earlier records for Arabic language contain author and title fields in the relevant script.