A guest blog post by Sarah Rhodes, African & Commonwealth Subject Librarian, Bodleian Libraries.

We are delighted that Oxford researchers and students now have access to the East African Newspapers dataset.

This exciting newspaper collection, recently acquired by the Bodleian Libraries, is provided by East View Information Services and sponsored by the Center for Research Libraries.

Overview:

[Information from the East View website]

The twentieth and early twenty-first centuries were a time of great change for Africa. In East Africa, this time witnessed the growth of decolonization as independence movements swelled, and local, autonomous self-governance took hold throughout the region. This period was also punctuated by famine, drought, political uprisings, border disputes, and war as countries worked to navigate the post-colonial landscape.

The East African Newspapers collection provides insight into this region during this critical time, featuring key newspapers from the region from the 1940s to the mid-2010s. This collection includes three titles: Daily Nation (Kenya), The Ethiopian Herald, and The Monitor (Uganda), accounting for over 34,000 issues and over 800,000 pages.

Newspaper scope:

Daily Nation (Nairobi): Daily Nation was first launched as a sister paper to the Swahili language Taifa in 1960 and rose quickly to be the highest circulating newspaper in Kenya. The newspaper covers the end of colonial rule, the rise of an independent Kenya, and the country’s rapid growth in the modern era.

The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa): Founded in 1943, The Ethiopian Herald is a government-owned newspaper run by the Ethiopian Press Agency. The English-language paper covers the country’s transition from a monarchy through the communist era and into the present democratic republic.

The Monitor (Kampala): Founded in 1992, The Monitor (relaunched as The Daily Monitor in 2005) is considered Uganda’s leading independent newspaper. Among other domestic and international topics, the newspaper provides in-depth coverage of Yoweri Museveni’s lengthy reign as president.

Searching the collection:

The newspapers have been scanned in their original format and can be searched using keywords both within the newspaper images or text.  Searches can also be customised using the advanced search function with the options to refine by publication, language and date ranges.

The East African Newspapers collection is available via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University members should use Single Sign On for remote access. The individual newspapers are also discoverable in SOLO.

Sarah Rhodes, African & Commonwealth Subject Librarian, Bodleian Libraries.

While you are here, why not check out…

… other African newspaper resources in our Newspapers and other online news sources from the 17th – 21st centuries (LibGuide)

… Sarah’s excellent African resources (LibGuide).

… all our subscription newspaper eresources (Databases A-Z)