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I understand very well what librarians go through for both during my
secondary school days and as an undergraduate and graduate student at
the University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon, I served many hours in the
library. I volunteered for a short while at the National Archives Buea
and also made great use of the National Archives Yaoundé.
I think the debate you are attempting to raise is a good one and to
contribute to that I have a few questions to ask. Does it mean that
because “archivist, librarians and people like that in many African
countries” endure much to provide researchers with the valuable
resources we need we should shy away from mentioning how they work?
Could you have been happier if I mentioned only that generally,
librarians and archivist “will try to provide what you are looking for”
and left out the fact that some of workers were not dedicated? Do you
think I am not doing justice in seeking the very precious services of
archivists and librarians while at the same time identifying and
mentioning what I find as deficient in their delivery system? I hope
not. Do you think that by criticizing some workers I am directly
providing “a valid reason [for researchers] not to recognize the
invaluable efforts that librarians and archivists put into serve us?” I
hope not. If you found similar situations as I describe in Kenya,
Senegal, Sierra Leone and France, then what is wrong with me informing
an inquisitive researcher what to expect in the field?
By the way, before I allow myself to be carried away with the
digression and lure of “the larger picture of this issue” I want us to
go back to base. What advice do you have for the researcher who asked
the original question? What can you tell her “about getting research
clearance to do field work in Cameroon?” Or which institutions can she
contact? She needs our help in solving these specific problems.
I am pleased with the excitement my response has raise in you. I
understand very well the realities of the conditions under which some
African archivists and librarians work for I have been there and still
do make use of their priceless services. Yet, I belief we should be a
bit free to advise other researchers what to expect. It is only by
acknowledging some of the challenges in the field that researchers can
be better prepared and may be, seek to improve them. Thank you.
Zacharia Nchinda
MATC, Milwaukee
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
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