SSH Minutes 2009 Annual
From Wess
Primary Sources for European Colonial Studies
A Joint Meeting of the
WESS Social Sciences & History and the WESS Special Topics Discussion Groups
American Library Association Annual Conference, Chicago
Saturday, July 11, 2009 from 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
• Palmer House, Salon XII •
Alain St. Pierre opened the discussion group with introductions.
Announcements:
Chella Vaidyanathan will be the secretary/chair-elect of the Social Sciences and History Discussion Group.
Bernard Reilly (President, Center for Research Libraries).
"Relics of a World Discarded: Documents of European Colonialism in the Center for Research Libraries"
Reilly presented on the current collections, as well as ongoing collection development initiatives at CRL. He specifically highlighted that the collection contains diverse formats from archives, government documents, newspapers, as well as books. Collection development practices include the Global Resources Network, Area Studies Program[1], cooperative acquisitions, and the World News Archive.
from CRL's Focus on Global Resources newsletter:
Ralph A. Austen (Professor Emeritus of African History, University of Chicago).
"Help, Help! I'm a Prisoner in a Colonial Archive: Using and Being Abused by Official European Records of African History"
Austen explored the ways in which archival research can undermine the distance between the researcher using the sources, and the sources themselves. One risk is that a student or scholar replicates an archive's perspective, thus criticizing within the discourse.
Selected archival resources:
- Imperial and Commonwealth History (National Archives)
- Archives nationales d'outre mer (France)
- Zeeuws Archief (Netherlands)
- Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Jo-Anne Hogan (Publisher, Arts & Humanities Division, ProQuest). "Recent ProQuest Sources on Colonial History (featuring the Colonial State Papers)"
Hogan discussed three ProQuest products: The Colonial State Papers, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, and the John Johnson Collection of printed ephemera. Challenges of producing these products as well as the added value of e-formats were also discussed.
References:
Respectfully submitted, Kate Brooks
August 3, 2009
Thea Lindquist, Chair, Social Sciences & History and Germanists Discussion Group
Alain St. Pierre, Convener, Special Topics Discussion Group
