Chair’s Report – SCOLMA AGM 23 June 2023

SCOLMA AGM
23 June 2023

Chair’s Report

During the past year SCOLMA has moved from operating wholly online to a hybrid format with a return to some in person events while continuing to use Zoom and Teams for meetings and other activities. For the last three years the AGM has been online. We are very pleased that some of us have been able to meet in person at SOAS today for this year’s conference and AGM while still connecting with remote participants.

2023 conference
SCOLMA did not hold a conference in 2022 when there was a limited response to our Call for Papers, perhaps caused by continuing uncertainty over travel and gatherings as a result of the pandemic. We are very pleased that today’s conference has come together to examine the critically important subject of Africa and the Environment. We are grateful to our speakers for the wide range of topics being covered; to our sponsors Taylor & Francis and Adam Matthew; to SOAS for the venue and particularly to Anna de Mutiis of the International African Institute for her technical support today. One of our speakers, Livingstone Muchefa from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, had hoped to be here in person but was unable to obtain a visa. With the assistance of our sponsors SCOLMA had planned to support his visit but we are very pleased that he will join us online.

African Research and Documentation/Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation
The first issue of Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation, SCOLMA’s new journal in collaboration with the International African Institute, was published in the autumn of 2022 and a launch event was held at SOAS on 1 December. Munyao Kilolo of of Itu?ka and the Kiswahili Prize for African Literature and Dr Ida Hadjivayanis of SOAS participated in an ‘In conversation’ on African language publishing, translation and literature. The hybrid event attracted a good audience with questions coming from attendees on the African continent. The event was recorded and is available here.

The first volume consisted of an editorial and seven articles, two from Africa-based authors. The second volume is on schedule for publication in autumn 2023, with at least six articles and several book reviews. It will include an article from Clive Kirkwood, Mandy Noble and Michal Singer (of UCT) on What we lost in the Jagger Library Fire. Several proposals are under discussion for the 2024 volume which will also include papers from Scolma’s 2023 Conference: Africa and the Environment: Archives and Data in the Climate Emergency.

The editorial committee, consisting of Terry Barringer (editor), R.E. Bartholomew (compiler, Africa Bibliography), Stephanie Kitchen (IAI, managing editor), Barbara Spina (IAI and SCOLMA) and the Chair of SCOLMA, meets quarterly by Zoom and is in constant email contact. Editing and production routines are now established and working well.
We are grateful to the entire editorial committee and colleagues at Cambridge University Press for all their work in getting the new journal underway so successfully.

Books for the Jagger Library, University of Cape Town
Following SCOLMA’s seminar in June 2022 on the fire at the Jagger Library in Cape Town and its aftermath SCOLMA put out a call for the donation of African Studies books to replace ones destroyed in the fire. A good response was received and, in liaison with UCT librarians, 180 books were selected and sent to Oxford along with a large collection of government publications. The books were transported to South Africa as part of a shipment organised by the Borien Educational Foundation for Southern Africa (BEFSA), which regularly sends books and equipment to schools in the region, and SCOLMA raised some funds towards the shipping costs. The books arrived at UCT on 22 May.

Advocacy
In July and August 2022 SCOLMA wrote two open letters to The National Archives concerning the withdrawal from public accesso of the FCO 141 series (the migrated archives) following the discovery of insecticide contamination in the papers. SCOLMA requested better communication with key stakeholders, the reinstatement of public access to the records as soon as possible and the dissemination of the methodology and safe handling guidance developed in order to benefit other institutions with insecticide-treated materials in their collections. We hope that SCOLMA’s intervention, along with that of others, encouraged TNA to put resources into testing the papers and led to public access being restored in October. Yesterday afternoon (22 June 2023) TNA held a workshop on the historic use of insecticides in library and archive collections, a very useful outcome of this episode.

SCOLMA remains concerned about the fate of the Rhodesian Army Archive and is discussing a Freedom of Information request.

Committee meetings and seminars
SCOLMA has held two committee meetings since the last AGM, on 1 December 2022 and on 3 March 2023. The 1 December meeting was SCOLMA’s first hybrid committee meeting with seven members of the committee meeting in person at SOAS and five joining on Zoom. We are grateful to SOAS for providing a room with the necessary IT. As this format enabled colleagues with longer distances to travel to attend I am sure that we will hold more hybrid meetings in the future.

On 17 January our Programme Secretary Marion Wallace organised an online seminar with Rebecca Adams, archivist at the London Metropolitan Archives, about her work cataloguing the Africa Centre Archive there. The seminar was most informative and there was good attendance. It was recorded and is available here.

Web Site and Communications
We are indebted to Jenni Skinner, ably assisted by Charles Fonge, for managing SCOLMA’s website during another year, organising our online events and putting the recordings onto YouTube – a new venture for SCOLMA! We are fortunate to be able to call on their technical expertise and we are very pleased that Charles has agreed to take on the role of web manager.

We continue to tweet regularly and now have 673 followers on Twitter (@Scolma), a slight increase from 643 a year ago. We encourage anyone interested in SCOLMA’s activities to subscribe to our Jisc mailing list, LIS-SCOLMA, where we publicise news and events.

European Librarians in African Studies (ELIAS)
The 16th ELIAS Annual Meeting took place at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Cologne on 30th May 2023. A number of papers looked at the theme “Images of Africa”. The event was hybrid – Jenni Skinner, Alison Metcalfe and Dawn Wright attended via Zoom.
At the Business Meeting it was agreed that the Working Group would remain the same (elections were held in 2022) with the possible addition of the host for the 2024 meeting. ELIAS will approach SCOLMA to see if they are amenable to a combined SCOLMA / ELIAS meeting to be held in the UK in 2024. The ELIAS Annual Meeting in 2025 will tie in with the next ECAS Conference in Prague.
Jos Damen reported that the ELIAS website has not yet been transferred to a new system. The website is also the ELIAS archive and a transfer would take time. One possibility is if any ELIAS member has an intern who would like to take on this task.
The ELIAS logo has not yet been used and Magali Meunier will recirculate to members in due course.

African Studies Association (UK)
I attended the ASAUK AGM in September, the Council meeting in December and sent a report to the April meeting on behalf of SCOLMA. The meetings are always very informative and useful and we are very grateful for the input of Stephanie Kitchen as ASAUK representative at our committee meetings.

Thank you and committee
The SCOLMA committee has continued to work as a strong team and I would like to thank all members for their commitment and support. I would particularly like to thank Pat Hewitt who is stepping down from the role of Treasurer after four year and has managed our finances most efficiently during a time of change, and Sarah Rhodes for her ongoing work as our reliable Secretary.

Thank you also to our other officers and representatives for their hard work during the past year: Terry Barringer, editor of Africa Bibliography Research and Documentation; Marion Wallace, Development Officer and Programme Secretary; Jenni Skinner, Web Manager; Dawn Wright, our ELIAS representative; and Stephanie Kitchen, ASAUK representative on the SCOLMA committee.

This year’s AGM sees some changes in our roles. I am grateful to Liz Haines for agreeing to take on the role of Programme Secretary and Charles Fonge for becoming Web Manager. I am particularly grateful to Jenni Skinner for taking up the mantle as Chair of SCOLMA, a role she will fill admirably.

Lucy McCann, Chair
23.06.23