The Provision of Raw Materials for African History

Abstract

I want to lay the emphasis on the word "provision" in the title of my paper. The function of the Oxford University Colonial Records Project is to provide. Material cannot be provided unless it is first obtained and this involves a great deal of detective work. Search, discovery, rescue and administration - all these are essential parts of the Project Organiser’s work. The decision to set up an organization to find and preserve papers on the British colonial-period' was taken after much thought by many people over a considerable length of time. They realised that the speed with which British colonial rule was ending might endanger the supply of historical material in the years ahead.