In Cambridge

• Catalogued Official Publications, political ephemera, working papers and pamphlets that are held in the basement archive, or as part of the old Official Publications Department at the University Library, will appear when searching iDiscover.  

• If you have particular documents that you would like to consult to support your research (demographic statistics, ministry reports etc.), please contact us at least 24 hours before you would like to view them, so that we can perform a thorough search for you.  

• You can request specific items by filling in the online fetching request form

• For Official Publications held across the University and online, please see the Official Publications LibGuide

Elsewhere

• The British Library holds a vast amount of official publications & government reports

• Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library (6th floor Senate House Library, London)

• The Weston Library at Oxford holds an extensive collection of official papers from Commonwealth countries, documents from the Foreign Office and Colonial Office, dating back to 1827. Their LibGuide provides more detailed information.

• We are currently working on creating a digital finding aid for the microfilm and microfiche collection to replace the card catalogue. 
• There is a basic list (work in progress) included below, but please ask us and we are happy for you to browse the drawers.

How to view:

• To view the microfiche or microfilms please get in touch with us so that we can arrange for you to use the digital viewer/scanner at the Centre of South Asian Studies. 
• If the digital scanner is in use, we also have a traditional microfilm viewer that you are welcome to use.

Examples:

• Church Missionary Society Africa Collections (Parts 3, 4, 8 & 9 on the Missions to the Yoruba): a print guide in the Library is available to consult for further details

• Gakaara wa Wanjau Papers

• Institute of Commonwealth Studies: Political Ephemera. See the booklet held in the Library outlining the ICS collection for more details.

• World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development 1978- Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations Collection

• Statistics & growth development plans from various Francophone countries

• The Library holds approximately 250 maps of the African continent and of several African countries.  
• These date mostly from the 1980s and earlier.  Library volunteers over the last four years have listed this interesting collection. 
• Please see the excel spreadsheet below for more details.  If the file does not work for you, please get in touch with us.
• The maps are available for consultation only, not for loan.  
• Take a look at the following blogposts from our volunteers for details of some of the treasures within the collection:
• “There’s just something hypnotic about maps” (Ken Jennings, Jeopardy contestant) – David’s labour of love @AfrStudiesLib 
• "Garret uncovers the map collection"
• "Maps: Who'd have known they could be so interesting"