The Nordic Africa Institute

Distance users

Some of our resources and services are available without you needing to visit us. We focus mainly on users throughout the Nordic countries.

Search for information

AfricaLit Plus External link, opens in new window. is our library search tool. Use it to search for a wide range of our information resources. Parts of the online materials are freely available, but others require special access.

We keep a list of databases, some of which are free.

Explore all of our resources.

Borrow from us

We don't send books or other types of materials directly to library users elsewhere. Instead, within the Nordic countries you can visit your local library and ask them to do an interlibrary loan (including article copies) from us. We're part of Libris External link, opens in new window. which most Swedish libraries (and some Nordic) use for interlibrary loans, and in Denmark we're included in Bibliotek.dk External link..

You are of course welcome to borrow directly from the library while visiting, even if you've come from further away within the Nordics. In that case you must return the materials in time, at your own expense.

Access to databases we subscribe to

Normally you need to be within our premises to access the databases we subscribe to. For our Nordic users at higher educational institutions we can however provide remote access to a few of these resources. Read more and apply for access.

Ask us

We answer questions about Africa and help you out with literature searches in both our resources and external ones. Keep your question short, but with enough details for us to understand it. Tell us what you already know about your subject or question.

Send your question to library@nai.uu.se

We will try to answer as soon as possible. Extensive questions may require more time.

It's helpful if you provide this information:

  • How will you use the information? Are you writing a term paper or a newspaper article? Or are you just curious? Knowing this is helpful for us, since there are different kinds of material and information sources.
  • Language(s)? Let us know in what language(s) you can read the information. Our library is specialised in contemporary Africa and our material is international, therefore it is mainly in English. Literature is also available in other languages, e.g. French and Swedish.
  • Year(s)? Tell us what period you are interested in for grater relevance.
  • Latest date? If you will not need the information after a certain date, please let us know.