Librarian
Academic Journals
Keep an eye out especially for special issues dedicated to West African economic history. See for example this issue (vol. 53, no. 1, 2025) published recently in African Economic History
Article Databases
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EconLit This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles in all fields of economics, including the American Economic Association journals, working papers, and many non-English journals in economics and finance. (ProQuest)
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Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on all aspects of world history (excluding the US and Canada) from 1450 to the present. (EBSCO)
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Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles published on topics within anthropology. This database combines results from the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Anthropological Index and Harvard University's Anthropological Literature. Note: Only 5 users may access this database at one time. (EBSCO)
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AnthroSource This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles published in the 30+ journals from the American Anthropological Association. (Wiley)
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SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from journals specializing in sociology and related topics, including abortion, criminal justice, demography, ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, marriage and family, political sociology, religion, rural and urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social structure, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, substance abuse and other addictions, violence, and more. (EBSCO)
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National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers This link opens in a new windowSearch the working papers uploaded by NBER affiliates (leading scholars in the field of economics selected through a competitive process) for the purposes of discussion and comment. Note these papers have not been peer reviewed. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Citations
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The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed.
The venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar--an indispensable reference informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. Now in its 18th edition! More than 1.75 million copies sold! Much has happened in the years since the publication of the seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. The world has transformed, and the Manual has risen to meet the moment. The eighteenth edition of this classic guide for writers, editors, and publishers is the most extensive revision in two decades. Every chapter has been reexamined with diversity and accessibility in mind, and major changes include updated and expanded coverage of pronoun use and inclusive language, revised guidelines on capitalization, a broader range of examples, new coverage of Indigenous languages, and expanded advice on making publications accessible to people with disabilities. The Manual's traditional focus on nonfiction has been expanded to include fiction and other creative genres in coverage of topics such as punctuation and dialogue, and the needs of self-published authors receive wider attention. The citation chapters have been thoroughly reorganized for the benefit of new and experienced users alike, and the key concepts for editing mathematics have been integrated into the chapters where they will be most useful to generalists. Evolving technologies--from open-access publishing models to AI--are covered throughout. And naturally, there are some well-considered updates to familiar rules, including changes intended to align the Manual's recommendations more closely with real-world usage. As with every new edition, devotees of the Manual will find much to discover and ponder.
ANTH 379: Money & Survival in West Africa (Olayiwola)
General Country Info
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CountryWatch This link opens in a new window
Access reports on each of the world’s countries, with a focus on the political and economic situation as well as demographic, cultural and environmental news and information. (CountryWatch)
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World FactbookBrief profile and statistics of every country in the world collected by the CIA.
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Library of Congress Country StudiesContains the electronic versions of 80 books previously published in hard copy as part of the Country Studies Series by the Federal Research Division. Intended for a general audience, books in the series present a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of select countries throughout the world.
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World Bank Databases This link opens in a new window
Explore different databases maintained by the World Bank, including the World Development Indicators (WDI) and the Global Economic Monitor (GEM). (World Bank)
Reference Sources
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The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History
It is difficult to understand history or the conditions of modern society without a strong grasp of the economic past. Time and again, historic change is wrought by an underlying economic dynamic. For instance, what were the economic roots of modern industrialism? Were resource scarcities a positive element in stimulating technological change through the ages? Why were the Malthusian predictions of overpopulation and starvation in the early nineteenth century confounded? Were labor unions ever effective in raising workers' living standards? Did high levels of taxation in the past normally lead to economic decline? What were the roots of economic imperialism and what effect did it have on today's underdeveloped world? What were the effects of the poor law reforms in Britain in the 1830s? These and similar questions profoundly inform a wide range of intertwined social issues whose complexity, scope, and depth will become fully evident in this encyclopedic treatment of the subject.The encyclopedia contain the following types of articles:- Country and regional essays. Examples: France, Genoa, New England, Ohio River, the Ruhr. These articles may range from relatively exhaustive essays of 10,000 words to 500 words.· Major essays on abstract concepts. Examples: Industrial Revolution, Feudalism, Invention, Malthusian models, Famine, Accumulation. Essays between 5,000 and 8,000 words.· Major essays on institutions, phenomena, and historical processes. Examples: Investment banks, cotton, steel, trading routes, real wages, business cycles, slavery, canals. Essays between 3,000 and 8,000 words.· Shorter essays on abstract concepts. Examples: productivity change, Engel's Law, cartels, gold standard. Essays between 1,000 and 5,000 words.· Shorter essays on concrete facts, institutions, events, and phenomena. Examples: guilds, enclosures, free banking, Great German Inflation, homestead farming, New Deal, I. G. Farben. Essays between 500 and 5,000 words.· Important names from both technology and business, along with economic historians of note. Examples: Richard Arkwright, Johann Gutenberg, Benjamin Franklin, John D. Rockefeller, Hjalmar Schacht, Karl Marx. Essays between 500 and 2,000 words.Because of the interdisciplinary complexity of the field, the encyclopedia is divided not only by chronological and geographic boundaries, but by related subfields such as agricultural history, demographic history, business history, and the history of technology. Smaller categories include financial and corporate history, the history of migration, and transportation history.Each article is followed by a bibliography, and each article is signed with its contributor's name. This title is available both in print and as an e-reference text from Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf. A directory of contributors, a synoptic outline of contents, and an index are included. The editorial board and contributors include scholars from Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia; it is intended that the project's scope be truly international. There exists no comparable work.
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The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology is the most complete reference resource for the field of anthropology and interrelated areas, providing an authoritative and expert overview of the concepts, research, and techniques that together define the discipline. Under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Hilary Callan - former director of the Royal Anthropological Institute (2000-2010) - and fourteen internationally-respected voices acting as Associate Editors, the Encyclopedia features contributions from a team of over 800 international scholars making this a work of unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge. Over 1,000 entries, ranging from concise summaries to longer writings, present the reader with in-depth discussions of hundreds of key topics, including: ecology, human evolution, gender, health, language and education, kinship, politics, and power, as well as biographical entries of many of the world's most influential founding anthropologists. Organized alphabetically and written for both the specialist and the general reader, the Encyclopedia is a landmark reference resource for students and scholars engaged within the broad and dynamic field of anthropology, and those studying and working within the related disciplines of psychology, medicine, religious studies, and sociology. This work is also available as an online resource at www.encyclopediaofanthropology.com.
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Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology
CONCISE DICTIONARY OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY CONCISE DICTIONARY OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY "The Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology will provide invaluable assistance to anthropological researchers both old and new. It provides an authoritative single point of reference to the wide range of technical terms that professional anthropologists are expected to understand." David Zeitlyn, Oxford University The Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology is an accessible, hands-on guide to the hundreds of terms the student of anthropology and the general reader will encounter in dealing with anthropological and ethnographic literature. It includes related terminology from allied fields such as sociology, economics, and geography. The focus is on key concepts in anthropology, with a number of biographies included to identify influential figures who have formulated central theories and conducted the most famous field research within cultures around the world. Extensive bibliographical references provide pointers for further research. Anthropology is a relatively young discipline with a complex history. Anthropological research encompasses hundreds of cultures and provides a valuable perspective on an increasingly globalized world. Written by a researcher and librarian expert in the fields of social and cultural anthropology, this Concise Dictionary offers an invaluable reference to the terminology and accomplishments of this far-reaching and diverse field.
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Annual Reviews This link opens in a new window
Search for literature reviews that capture current understandings of topics, including what is well-supported and what is controversial. These articles also set the topic in historical context, highlight the direction of future research, and outline the general significance of the research to society. Subjects are wide-ranging from the science to law to social sciences to politics. (Annual Reviews)
Annual Review articles of particular interest:
The Anthropology of Money (Maurer 2006)
The Archaeology of Money (Haselgrove and Krmnicek 2012)
The Anthropology of Money and Finance: Between Ethnography and World History (Hart and Ortiz 2014)
Europeanization (Borneman and Fowler 1997)
Grey literature resources
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Policy Commons This link opens in a new window
Search this database of grey literature that includes millions of reports, blogs, papers, and podcasts from thousands of think tanks, IGOs, NGOs, research agencies, cities, and governments. (Coherent Digital)
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Policy File Index This link opens in a new windowSearch for information on public policy issues from think tanks, university research programs, research organizations and publishers, including the Hoover Institution, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, RAND Corporation, and the World Bank. (ProQuest)
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CIAO - Columbia International Affairs Online This link opens in a new windowSearch for ebooks, journal articles, policy briefs, reports, and case studies on topics related to international politics and policy. The content is written by scholars, research institutes, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and think-tanks. (Columbia University Press)
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United Nations Digital Library (UNDL) This link opens in a new window
Access official UN documents and selected UN maps, as well as speech and voting records. (United Nations)
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World Bank Documents and Reports This link opens in a new window
Search for reports and working papers published by the World Bank on international and country-specific economic, development, and environmental issues. (World Bank)
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Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowAccess CRS reports from 2004-present. (Please note the menu in the database itself does not accurately list the years we have purchased.) These reports were established within the Library of Congress to provide members, committees, and congressional staff with nonpartisan, objective research and analysis on all public policy issues. (ProQuest)
Books
History
DT 470 - 671 West Africa. West Coast
DT 509-509.9 Gambia
DT 509.97-512.9 Ghana
DT 515-.42-515.45 Nigeria
DT 516-516.9 Sierra Leone
Link to Library of Congress PDF for more history call number ranges
Other relevant call number ranges
HC 800-1085 Economic history and conditions -- Africa
KQ - KTZ Law of Africa
G 2445-2739 Geography -- Africa
JQ 1870-3981 Political institutions & public administration -- Africa