Technology has allowed us to share information effortlessly and on a global scale. As a result, the planet’s population is moving ever closer to a universal knowledge-base. However, while the concept of universally shared and accepted knowledge is possible, it cannot exist (at least in the foreseeable future) because of a single factor; the individual knowledge of nations, such as that contained in African research journals.Sarpong (2002) wrote that a people’s approach to knowledge and science (and the investigation thereof) cannot be removed from its history. African content is thus important in relation to research for the following reasons:
1. It Allows for Comprehensive Research
Even if the topic being researched stems from a foreign school of thought, African content is important for comprehensive research. The African literature on the topic might provide supporting or sometimes opposing evidence, making the research on the topic more complete. And, when it comes to research, it is often desirable to include other perspectives in order to validate the position of the research.
2. It Is Absolutely Relevant to African Studies
When it comes to researching African-centric topics, African content is invaluable, for obvious reasons. There is no better perspective on the topics relevant to African development than that portrayed in the literature and journal entries published in Africa by Africans.
3. It Portrays Development over Important Fields
Historical views on certain topics might not always be consistent with modern thinking, but they are always important when it comes to research. This is true for a number of reasons, but one definite advantage of historical literature is the fact that it can be used to portray development over certain fields, and present an accurate time-frame for that development.Sabinet provides access to the African Journal Archive, which covers historical writings on a variety of topics, including politics, history, geology, education, law, medicine, botany, agriculture, and zoology.Sabinet’s African ePublicationsThe African Journal Archive was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in an effort to preserve the important literature of Africa and make it available for research projects. The result is a collection of journal articles covering the topics mentioned above, and dating back to 1906.The African Journal Archive contains more than 182 African journals, incorporating over 150,000 articles, which are full-text and fully searchable through our information services.To learn more about this service and how you might access it, be sure to contact Sabinet right away.