Asia, Pacific & Africa Collections

Introduction

The Department of Asia, Pacific & Africa Collections is the focus within the British Library for collecting and providing access to material relating to all the cultures of these regions.

Detail of 'Visvamitra attacking the hermitage of Vasistha.' Udaipur, 1712. Add. MS 15295 (I), f.154. Copyright ©The British Library Board

general information Collection Development Policy Services to Readers Electronic Resources family history Sources for Family History Research Family History Search Training sessions in using IOR sources special collections Asian, N.African Language Collections African Collections Australian, New Zealand Collections Periodicals and newspapers Prints, Drawings & Photographs Western Language Collections International Dunhuang Project archival collections India Office Records Private Papers A2A - Access to Archives specific subjects Afghanistan Asians in Britain China Indian Independence Indians Overseas (PDF format) 455KB Moving Here Svadesh Videsh: Home From Home - pictorial sources of South Asian landscape and architecture related websites World Wide Web Links National Committee for Information Resources on Asia South Asia Archive & Library Group

Overview

The department of Asia, Pacific & Africa Collections of the British Library is responsible for the British Library's holdings in the languages of Asia and of north Africa as well as for books in Western languages, covering the humanities and social and political sciences, published in Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries and in Australia and New Zealand. Apart from its vast library collections, the department also houses the archives of the India Office Library and Records, which reflect the territorial interests and activities of the East India Company and the India Office, and include literature and documents on India, Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, Iran and the Gulf states, South Africa, St Helena, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Japan.

Related material elsewhere in the British Library

In addition to the material held in the Asia, Pacific & Africa Collections (APAC), more Western language material of Asian, African and Pacific interest may also be found in:

Early Printed Collections; Document Supply service; Manuscript Collections; Music Library; Map Library; Official Publications and Social Sciences Service. Asian and African recorded music can be heard through the Sound Archive Listening and Viewing Service. The Philatelic Collections also contain much of Asian African interest. Modern scientific and technological literature in some oriental languages is to be found in the Science Technology & Business collections. Some of the western-language newspapers from Asia may be consulted at British Library Newspapers, although most titles from South Asia are available on microfilm in the Asian & African Studies Reading Room.

Exhibitions of the Library's Asian and African material are held from time to time in the Exhibition Galleries at St Pancras.

Further information

The British Library
Asia, Pacific & Africa Collections
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7873
Fax: +44 (0)20 7412 7641
Email: apac-enquiries@bl.uk