The winner: Africa Bibliography, Research, and Documentation (ABRD). Editor: Terry A. Barringer. Publisher: Cambridge University Press and International African Institute.

The Conover-Porter Award Committee is pleased to announce on behalf of the Africana Librarians Council and the African Studies Association, that the 2024 award-winning work is Africa Bibliography, Research, and Documentation (ABRD). The award is based on volume one (2022) and volume two (2023) of this journal publication. ABRD is the product of the recent merger of two long established serials, African Research and Documentation (ARD) and Africa Bibliography. The award was presented during the 2024 Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, held in December 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

The Award Committee noted the diversity of contributions throughout both volumes of ABRD. Content seeks to inform a global audience on specific aspects of African collections and bibliographical issues, attempting to fill niches in information gaps. Several articles concerned African language collections while others focused on collections at African institutions, ranging from monographs, audio-visual materials and dissertations to rare manuscripts and documents.

ARBD’s format, collecting bibliographic essays ranging from collection overviews to deeper investigations for advanced researchers and information professionals, spoke to a flexibility of bibliographic methodology. Essays contained theoretical and practical coverage, giving broader information one could apply to other collections and research situations. This was especially true for essays concerning African language collections, which noted practical approaches to overcome shortcomings in catalog records to identify specific items. This issue is common for scholars researching vernacular language collections globally. Bringing together these methodological approaches and collection descriptions is valuable for Africana scholars of all disciplines.

The Conover-Porter Award was established in honor of two pioneers in African studies bibliography: Helen F. Conover and Dorothy B. Porter Wesley. Helen F. Conover was senior bibliographer, African Section of the Library of Congress, serving 32 years before her retirement in 1963, and Dorothy B. Porter Wesley was librarian of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, retiring in 1973 after 45 years of service. The Award is presented every two years jointly by the Africana Librarians Council and the African Studies Association (US). The award recognizes outstanding achievement in Africana bibliography and reference tools among works published in the preceding two years and includes a prize of $300.

2024 Award Committee

Jason Schultz, Chair, Vanderbilt University

Ruby A. Bell-Gam, University of California, Los Angeles

Daniel A. Reboussin, University of Florida