Accessing Library Catalogue Primo
The African Literature books (Poetry and Novels) are located on Level 3 of the Kwadlangezwa Library . They begin with the shelf numbers 896. These books may be borrowed.
The African Language books (Linguistics, Teaching and Learning) are located on the same level 3, at the North end of the Library. They begin with shelf number 496. These books may be borrowed.
Our books are given shelf numbers according to the Dewey Decimal System - these shelf numbers keep related books together by subject. You can follow the numbers like a street address to find a family of related books all together on the shelf. At the end of each shelf number there are a few letters, for example, 896.38365 BUT. These are the first 3 letters of the surname of the author, and keep books by that author together on the shelf.
Important note about electronic vs. print books: while the library still maintains strong print collections, it is important to note that many of our newest books are available only in electronic rather than print versions. This is especially so in the Social Sciences but can also be true of some critical or highly-used works in the Arts and Literature subjects.
It is therefore essential to use the library catalogue, Primo, which has hotlinks to the electronic books, since browsing the physical collection alone will cause you to miss the up-to-date, new material added to the Library holdings over the last few years.
African Language and Literature Journals
Journals are published weekly or monthly. They are academic magazines that contain articles on different topics. Journals are important for finding very up-to-date information, or very specific information on narrow topics. The great thing about journals nowadays is that so many of them are available electronically as well as in print, although that is not always the case in this field.
Printed Journals
The latest unbound journals are kept at basement. The bound copies since 1965 are located in the basement.
Electronic Journals
Many of our journals can also be found full text in electronic format on our databases. These databases contain thousands of journals, all searchable by keywords, like chunk of Google.
Most of the journals are full text nowadays. In some cases, though, the databases may just give a reference to the journal article, rather than the whole thing. This will tell you which year and volume and pages of a particular print journal to look at to find the article.
Open access refers to the practice of making peer-reviewed scholarly research and literature freely available online to anyone interested in reading it. It is simply making research available for others to read without having to pay for it.
A History of African Linguistics by
Summary: Bringing together a team of leading scholars, this volume forms the first global history of African linguistics as an autonomous academic discipline, covering Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Defining African linguistics, the volume describes its emergence from a 'colonial science' at the turn of the twentieth century in Europe, where it was first established mainly in academic institutions of former colonial powers. Its riddance from the 'colonial project' is traced, following its 'de-colonialisation' and subsequent spread from imperialist Europe across all inhabited continents, with particular reference to its academic establishment in the various regions of Africa. Providing inside views of African linguistic research and its ramifications over time, active researchers in its various subfields present highly informative accounts of current and past research priorities and achievements. The twenty-six authors are themselves representatives of the various regions of both the world and Africa, in which African linguistics has become entrenched in academic institutions
Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication by
Summary: To date, there has been no published textbook which takes into account changing sociolinguistic dynamics that have influenced South African society. Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication breaks new ground in this arena. Its scope ranges from macro-sociolinguistic questions pertaining to language policies and their implementation (or non-implementation), to microsociolinguistic observations of actual language use in verbal interaction, mainly in multilingual contexts of Higher Education (HE). There is a gradual move for the study of language and culture to be taught in the context of (professional) disciplines in which they would be used. This book caters for this growing market. Because of its multilingual nature, it caters to English and Afrikaans language speakers, as well as the Sotho and Nguni language groups. It brings together various interlinked disciplines such as Sociolinguistics and Applied Language Studies, Media Studies and Journalism, History and Education, Social and Natural Sciences, Law, Human Language Technology, Music, Intercultural Communication and Literary Studies. The unique crosscutting disciplinary features of the book will make it a must-have for twenty-first century South African students and scholars and those interested in applied language issues..
The rise of the African novel : politics of language, identity, and ownership by