Documentation center
History of the CREDO documentation center
The CREDO Documentation Center is the foundation of a team of oceanic researchers. This is reflected in the choice of the acronym CREDO: Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie.
The need for a center in France to bring together books, specialized journals on Oceania and academic works was at the origin of the creation of the Oceania or Pacific Documentary Fund. The ultimate aim is to create a resource center comparable to those of the major oceanic centers abroad. This is because, until now, the collections of oceanic works in France, which are very well endowed with old works and art books, have only an insufficient proportion of recent works, and do not cover all the disciplines relating to the human sciences.
The Pacific collection really began to take shape in 1998, with the allocation of more substantial resources. The Pacific collection brings together high-level documentary references for oceanic researchers. From then on, the lines of research driven by the researchers fueled a targeted documentary policy: references focused on Oceania in the field of social sciences, and few “general” references.
The collection
Le fonds Pacifique de la bibliothèque de l’UAR Maison Asie Pacifique (MAP) rassemble des références documentaires de haut niveau ayant trait aux sciences humaines et sociales sur le Pacifique et plus particulièrement à l’anthropologie océanienne : ouvrages anciens, modernes et contemporains axés sur les différentes aires de l’Océan Pacifique, l’Australie, la Mélanésie, la Micronésie, la Polynésie.
The Documentation Center is primarily at the service of CREDO researchers and visitors. The laboratory's research orientations, driven by the researchers, inform the acquisition and enrichment of the collection
The Pacifique collection is now the only specialized documentary center of its kind in France. It currently includes over 10,000 references: books, periodicals, dissertations, theses and ethnographic films. The recent growth of online publications has also contributed to the enrichment of the collection. The average annual increase is around 300 references. This collection includes high-level research works in social and cultural anthropology, archaeology, history, linguistics, sociology, political science, environmental science, human geography; references relating to the major cultural areas of Oceania: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, as well as Australia (see maps).
The books
The majority of references concern Papua New Guinea, followed by the entire Pacific Rim and Australia. Over 90% of our publications are in English. French Polynesia is the only area where the number of French-language publications is significant. For some years now, the acquisition policy has included works of Pacific literature in both vernacular and non-native languages. The balance between cultural areas, and within them between the various nation-states, is one of the essential objectives of the documentary policy.
Films
The Pacific collection has a recent collection of ethnographic films and films about indigenous communities in Oceania. In January 2014, the documentation center had around 150 films, all chosen on scientific criteria and produced in the Pacific or about Pacific populations. The collection is made up of essential ethnographic films, as well as contemporary films focusing on recent changes in Oceanic societies.
Periodicals
The CREDO subscribes to specialized periodicals on Oceania, but also has access to a large number of online periodicals through its supervisory bodies, Aix-Marseille Université and CNRS.
Dissertations and theses
The documentation center holds over 450 dissertations and theses on the Pacific, most of them written in French and defended in French-speaking universities. The collection also includes a large number of documents in English, which are difficult to collect due to their unpublished nature. If you have written a dissertation or thesis in the Social Sciences on the Pacific/Oceania, please send a hard copy to CREDO or the PDF file to michel.schlotter@cnrs.fr
Practical information about the CREDO documentation center
Opening hours : Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm
Catalog click on the link below https://smultidoc.msh-lse.fr/
Contacts : Michel SCHLOTTER, Head of the Oceania Fund / michel.schlotter@cnrs.fr / Phone. 04 13 55 07 24
Electronic resources :
- Biblioshs : https://bib.cnrs.fr/
- Aix-Marseille University libraries : https://bu.univ-amu.fr/en
How it works :
- Consultation: on site, open to all
- Photocopying service (chargeable): available to the public
- Loan strictly reserved for Maison Asie-Pacifique researchers and doctoral students, as well as students (minimum undergraduate level) tutored by MAP researchers-teachers.
- Interlibrary loans: under certain conditions
