The African Rook WorId
and Press
                  P. Acheampong
                 (TheLibrary UDS)
            In the past two decades African Studies hae
become very popular and increasingly     important.   This hae
resulted   in a spate of publications   and materials on
Africa issuing out of the world's pressess, particularly
 the Western World.    However, materials published in
 Africa itself pose major acquisition    problems for the
 African  librarian  and even for the Western Librarian.     The
 most serious of the problems is the genera~ lack of infor-
 mation about what has been published     in Africa.   In com-
 parison,   the well established  publishers  in Europe and
 America publicise   their publications   by means of notices,
                                177


brochures and annual cumulative       catalogues   of books.    In
addition review copies are sent to learned         journals.   book
review magazines.    book selection    tools and even to the
press.   In Africa such facilities      may be non-existent.
and even if they are. may be very poor.
           Other problems    faced are that trade books pub-
lished  by Commercial presses     in Africa and non-trade
books published   by  government   printers.   research   institutes
and Universities   in Africa are poorly handled       and distribu-
ted.   The same is true of periodicals       and serial publica-
tions including newspapers.
           It is for the above reasons       that the appearance
of THE AFRICAN BOOK WORLD     & PRESS on the market is to be
greeted with relief.
           Although it is not new in the field. neverthe-
less the approach adopted by the publishers         is novel.    In
 the words of Hans M. Zell the publication       "aims to pro-
vide comprehensive.    accurate. and up-to-date      information
both in English and French. on libraries,        publishers   and
 the retail book trade. research institutions        with publi-
 shing programmes, book industry and literary        associations,
 and the major periodicals and newspapers       published   through-
 out the African continent."
                                 178


             This means that for the acquisitions      librarians
 in Africa,   the problem of lack of information about what
 is being published     in Africa should now be considerably
relieved.     One is now assured at least of a definite
source of supply.
            The directory     covers a total of  48 African
countries.     It is arranged in alphabetical     order by
country,   thus facilitating     easy reference.   Within countM
ries the information      is presented  in the following orde~:
   University,   College and Public Libraries
   Special libraries
   Booksellers
   Publishers
   Institutional   Publishers
   periodicals   and magazines
   Major newspapers
   Book Industry associations      and literary societies
            Entries under these headings give name and
address   of institution,    telephone number, name or Chief
Librarian,    director,   chief executive or head.    In addition
there are appendixes      containing  useful information.
            These include:
      a)    the subject indexes to special libraries and to
      periodicals    and magazines.
                                 179


     b)    information  about book clubs, literary    prizes
     and awards, and book fairs.
     c)    a directory  of government  printers  and publica-
     tion agencies, as well as major commercial      printers
     in Africa.
      d)   a list of principal   dealers  in African books in
      Europe and the United States.
           The last section of the book contains a biblio-
graphy of books, articles,    and reports  on publishing   and
book development   in Africa.
            Also, to facilitate exchange,   there is a guide
to currencies of the various countries     of Africa.
            The Publishers hope to provide a supplementary
and up-dating service to the directory     in the "AFRICAN
BOOK PUBLISHING RECORD".
            The mine of information   contained  in this pub-
 lication should prove useful not only to librarians      attem-
 pting to build special collection of Africana materials       but
 also to booksellers and African Scholars.
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