The Documentation Centre for African Studies: an overview of the scope of research themes in the archival accessions in the Unisa Library

Abstract

The Univers i ty of South Africa (Unisa) Library came into being in 1946 when dis tance teaching was introduced. Over the years the Archives and Special Collections Section, which is pa r t of the Unisa Library, has acqui red a n u m b e r of very impor t an t and unique collections which are invaluable to p resen t and future r esea rchers . Most of the archival collections were dona ted and not purchased . These collections are kept under archival condit ions and are accessed via the compu te r catalogue, pr in ted cata logues and other finding aids. During the year 2000 the Unisa Libra ry became the f irst ins t i tut ion in South Africa to digitise an archival collection. The C M Doke Collection of personal letters f rom M K Gandhi, together wi th other related materials, (1907-1970), is avai lable in electronic fo rma t on the Unisa Webpage h t t p : / /www.un i s a . a c . z a . l i b r a ry / m a i n / r e s ou rce / e t cweb /doke . h tml .