South African bibliography in the mid-1990s: an overview

The documentation of South African bibliography has for many years been regarded as very substantial, and by far the best on the African continent.South Africa has a long-standing tradition of excellent bibliographies, which date back to the middle of the nineteenth century.In more recent years, the country's bibliographical equipment has been increasingly strengthened to the extent that it now holds its own with the best anywhere, and not just on the continent of Africa.As Chairman of the SAILIS Award for Bibliography for the past decade, since its inception in the mid-1980s, I have always been fully aware of, and greatly impressed by, the bibliographic work of high standing which continues to appear and to fill the remaining gaps in the nation's bibliographical record.</jats:p

South African Reference Books of 1965

The present review continues the series of annual surveys of South African reference literature and in general follows the pattern of the previous review. An atlas not confined to South Africa but rather covering the whole of Africa has now been completed in ten parts. Africa: Maps and Statistics (Pretoria, Africa Institute; R9-50; overseas R12-50 including binder) presents a statistical survey of Pan-African territories in map form with an explanatory text. Subjects covered include population, vital and medical aspects, culture and education, and political development. The reviewer's Guide to South African Reference Books (Cape Town, Balkema; R2-50) was published in an extensively revised fourth edition in 1965. This edition has an innovation in the inclusion of guides to reference material about four territories which are much in the news, namely, South-West Africa and the High Commission Territories of Basutoland, Bechuana-land, and Swaziland. An important bibliography concerning Bechuanaland also appeared in the year under review. This is C. Middleton's Bechuanaland: A Bibliography (Cape Town, University School of Librarianship). It has 155 entries covering administration, development, history, missions, native races, and other topics and complements an earlier bibliography by P. E. Stevens published by the same university in 1949. Further progress was made with the publication of South Africa's union list of serials. Letters J and K of Periodicals in South African Libraries (Pretoria, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) were published in 1965.</jats:p