The African Studies Library (also known as “Fachinformationsdienst Afrikastudien” in German) has recently licensed an e-book package from the African Books Collective. Registered users have access to a searchable database of more than 1500 titles from African publishers.
Researchers at the following universities can register:
- University of Bayreuth
- Humboldt University Berlin
- Goethe University Frankfurt
- University of Cologne
- University of Leipzig
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- as well as individual users at other institutions in Germany.
Should you have any questions regarding registration or the e-books, please contact us at fid-afrikastudien@ub.uni-frankfurt.de.
The African Books Collective is a non profit distribution collective owned by publishers on the continent. Publishers available through ABC include: Langaa Press (Bamenda), Ghana Universities Press, University of Nairobi Press, Editions Yeelen (Bamako), Ibadan University Press, University of Lagos Press, CODESRIA (Dakar), African Minds Publishers (Cape Town), Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (Dar es Salaam) and many others.
How to use the database
After initial registration on the portal of the Competence Centre for Licensing (KfL) – see instructions below – you can access the platform hosted by the J.C. Senckenberg University Library (Goethe University Frankfurt). There you will find an overview of the available titles. These can be sorted by year of publication, authors, language or keywords. Here you will also find the search field, through which you can access a simple or advanced search.
Clicking on the respective title will take you to the full text, which you can download as PDF file or export the metadata to literature management systems (such as Citavi or Zotero).
Registration and login
- Initial registration in the portal of the Competence Centre for Licensing (KfL): Read through the standard information displayed here and click on “continue”.
- Accept the terms of use and the data protection information on the next page by ticking the checkboxes. Both are part of the general conditions of the licenses.
- Select your institution and your status group from the list. Under “Contact” we require your work address. If your institution is not listed here and you are based at an institution in Germany, you can register as “researcher independent of location” as user of the ABC E-Books.
- After completing your registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. We will activate your account as soon as possible and send your access data in another e-mail.
- Now you can access the e-book package of the African Books Collective:
