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Archival Research in Guinea-Conakry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

David C. Conrad
David C. Conrad*
Affiliation:
SUNY–Oswego
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Extract

There has been an effective movement afoot in the Republic of Guinea to improve the climate of study and research for local and foreign scholars alike. The most obvious physical evidence of this is the dramatically improved archival facility in Conakry. In April 1991 Les Archives Nationales du Guinée began moving into an entirely new, specially constructed building next to the Ministère de la Jeunesse, des Arts, de la Culture et des Sports. By the summer of 1992, the lengthy process of settling into the building's 1600 square meters appeared to be complete.

This is a modern, well-equipped facility, organized and administered by trained Guinean archivists who are appropriately concerned with preservation of resources. A tour of some of the main archival storage areas revealed a large collection of bound, well-preserved documents. According to the Associate Director, Seydouba Cissé, there are five such climate-controlled rooms, containing a total of 5,000 meters of metal shelving. According to the personnel list there are two conservators on the staff. At their disposal is a studio for restoration and a room for cleaning books and documents. There is also a microfilm room (I did not have time to examine this collection), and a microfilm reading machine. In the summer of 1992 photocopying was readily available at a reasonable price per page. The card catalog in the air-conditioned reading room was in fairly good order, though some student mémoires (see below) were filed under categories inconsistent with their titles.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 20 , 1993 , pp. 369 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1993

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References

Notes

1. Cissé, Seydouba, “Presentation Generale des Archives Nationales,” Conakry, Archives Nationales du Guinée. Unpublished memo, 1992.Google Scholar

2. Camara, Ansoumana, “Etude litteraire de la légende de Manden Mori,” University of Conakry, 1979, 4.Google Scholar

3. Diallo, Amadou, “Le mythe du sorcier dans la société traditionnelle guinéenne,” University of Kankan, 1975, 100.Google Scholar The concluding slogan “pret pour la révolution” was common in these mémoires.

4. Lawrence S. Fein, RLO, USIS Abidjan, Memorandum to Louise Bedichek, PAO, USIS Conakry, 24-25 May 1990.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. These lists were graciously prepared by Professor Seydou Magassouba of the Department of History, University of Conakry, and by the late Professor Ouo-Ouo Pivi of Philosophy/Ethnology, University of Kankan, at the kind behest of Mamadou Sadialiou Bah, Vice-Rector in charge of research at the University of Kankan.

8. Photocopy collected by Tim Geysbeek in Conakry, October, 1990.

9. The lack of recent bibliographical material, of course, underlines the urgent need for the funding of books and periodicals for Guinean universities and libraries.