Commonwealth Resource Centre

Title: Commonwealth Resource Centre

Description: The Commonwealth Resource Centre is currently the most comprehensive information source on the modern Commonwealth available to the general public. It holds a range of multi-media resources for loan and reference on the 54 member countries, peoples and organisations making up the contemporary Commonwealth community. It also contains a unique collection of Commonwealth writing in English: the 'Commonwealth Literature Collection'.
Within the general collection c.3000 books, 10 periodicals, 100 pamphlets, 300 sound recordings and 20 videos are specifically pertinent to Caribbean studies, covering a wide range of subjects, including: Art and design; Cultural studies; Performing arts; Geography; History; Music; Social policy and administration; Social anthropology; and Tourism. These resources deal mainly with the contemporary Caribbean.
The holdings for Black and Asian studies (approximately 500 books, 10 periodicals, 10 videos and 2 files of press cuttings) mainly relate to peoples from the Commonwealth presently in the UK and some historical sources. Key subject areas covered include economic and social history, slavery and abolition, population demography, race relations, religion and the arts. The collection is not a research collection, but is aimed more at education practitioners, schools and the general public interested in these subjects.
Special sub-collection:
The Commonwealth Literature Collection contains material on the contemporary literatures from the Commonwealth (in English and English translation). In particular it covers the English-speaking Caribbean and Black and Asian literatures in Britain. The collection comprises c.2300 books, 50 periodicals, 30 video recordings, 50 sound recordings and 7 box files of press cuttings, and includes both creative and critical writing (poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, etc.).

Strengths: Commonwealth Literature Collection

Size: c.3500 books; 50 periodicals; 50 video recordings; 30 sound recordings

Catalogue:

Catalogue URL:

Main URL: http://www.commonwealth.org.uk/resource/index.htm

Access: Open access to members of the general public (reference only), Monday - Saturday 10am - 4pm. Lending facilities are available to members only. For details see the web site http://www.commonwealth.org.uk and select the page for the Resource Centre.

Acquisition dates: 1962 - ongoing

Note:

Interest: Asian, Black, Caribbean

Complete: Complete

Subjects

Migration

Literature

Economic and social development

International relations

International politics

Contemporary literature

Personal/Corporate names

Places

Caribbean

Asia

Africa