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Dissertation Information for Mary Niles Maack

NAME:
- Mary Niles Maack
- (Alias) Mary N. Maack

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Columbia University (USA) (1978)

ADVISORS:
- Phyllis Dain

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Ambiguous

Title: A HISTORY OF LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENTATION CENTERS IN SENEGAL FROM THEIR COLONIAL BEGINNINGS TO 1975

Abstract: In Senegal libraries and archives were a colonial importation, first brought to the continent to fulfill the needs of the French and of those Africans closely associated with administration, research or education. After independence in 1960, these collections continued to serve much the same function and the same type of clientele as before. By 1975 libraries were receiving greater use by the Senegalese, but library service had not yet reached a majority of those citizens literate in French. Whatever their role, their importance of their limitations, libraries in modern Senegal have been shaped by priorities, practices and attitudes which have their roots in the country's colonial past.

Conceived as a general history of libraries and archives in Senegal, this study aims to relate the overall pattern of library service during the colonial period to the subsequent development of libraries since independence, to analyze the continuing influence of the French political and cultural legacy on librarianship, and to examine those areas where departure has been made from colonial precedents. Since the primary goal of this thesis is to provide a general overview rather than a narrative history of individual organization of institutions, the perspective is broad, encompassing the development of all types of library and archival collections and the growth of the library profession. This approach makes it possible to analyze both the interrelations within the library field and the relationship of libraries to the Senegalese government in terms of planning, priorities and funding.

This study is divided into two parts which mark two distinct stages of the history of Senegalese libraries and archives. Part I covers the period 1803 to 1950 when library and archival collections set up by the French colonial government were largely dependent on the initiative of individual administrators. The early development of these collections has been examined within the context of the French empire and attention has been given to the complex interplay of internal and external forces which shaped the nature of libraries in the colony. Since institutions in the colony were directly patterned after those in the mother country, consideration is given to the nature of contemporary library organization and service in France.

Part II opens with 1950, which marks the beginning of a transitional decade when more Senegalese libraries were organized by Professional librarians in accordance with standards then used in Europe. Funding for major collections also became more stable at this time, allowing for continuous, systematic collection development. By the late 1950's the influence of UNESCO was felt in the region, and in 1957 the first library association was organized in Senegal. The kind of library development and professional activity which began in the 1950's continued for the next two decades, and although Senegalese libraries grew rapidly and the number of trained librarians increased during this time, there were few dramatic changes from precedents established prior to independence.

The geographical focus of this study is on Senegal, but since the archivists of the Government General who serves in Dakar made inspection tours of all eight territories of French West Africa, some consideration is given to the comparative development of libraries and archives in these colonies from 1913 to 1950. For the period from 1950 to 1975 only Senegalese libraries and archives and documentation centers are discussed, but some attention is devoted to the development of librarianship in the region due to the Inter-African vocation of the library association and the Dakar Library School.

Research for this study was carried out in Senegal from September 1973 to March 1975. Primary source material was obtained through visits to forty-five Senegalese libraries, through interviews with library personnel and through research in the archives Nationales du Senegal, the Archives Nationales, Section d'Outre-Mer in Paris and the archives of the Inter-African library association in Dakar.

MPACT Scores for Mary Niles Maack

A = 6
C = 16
A+C = 22
T = 6
G = 1
W = 6
TD = 6
TA = 0
calculated 2014-07-02 17:29:24

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