History: Societies, Institutes and Libraries

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from many countries, in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK.

A source for South African genealogy.

Historical Publications Southern Africa (previously the Van Riebeeck Society) was established in 1918 to publish meticulously edited original sources on Southern African history, which were inaccessible to the average South African.

The Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States and it serves as the research arm of the US Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.

The National Library of South Africa is the custodian and provider of the nation's key knowledge resources. It is mandated by the National Library of South Africa Act to collect and preserve published documents and to make them accessible. The NLSA's collections include rare manuscripts, books published in South Africa, periodicals, government publications, official foreign publications, maps, technical reports, Africana and newspapers. Many of these are available on CD or microfilm, in digital format or accessible online.

The SAHS is an active network for communication among professional historians located throughout the subcontinental region and the organisational home for the accredited South African Historical Journal.