The library
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- Last Updated: Friday, 08 September 2023 11:10
The Documentation Centre is at the basis for the constitution of a team of researchers on Oceania. This is reflected in the choice of the CREDO acronym itself: Center for Research and Documentation.
The need for a center in France collecting books, journals on Oceania, and academic work is the reason for the creation of a collection on Oceania. The ambition is to develop a resource center that is comparable to those of large foreign Oceanistes centers.
It was in 1998 that the constitution Pacific collections begun, with the allocation of greater resources.
La collection
The Pacific collections of UMS MAP library collects references of high scientific level related to the human and social sciences on the Pacific and particularly in Pacific anthropology: old and rare books as well as modern and contemporary focuses on different areas on the Pacicic (Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia). The Documentation Centre has as task to help researchers of CREDO and visitors. The research axes of CREDO constitute the topics on which acquisition of new titles is primarily (but not exclusively) based.
The Pacific collection is now the only specialized resource center of its kind in France. It currently holds over 10 000 references: books, periodicals, theses, and ethnographic films. The recent increase of online publications greatly enriches the collection as well. The average annual increase of titles is about 300 references. The collection brings together high-level research in social and cultural anthropology, archeology, history, linguistics, sociology, political science, environmental science, human geography; as well as references to major cultural areas of Oceania: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia.
The catalog is available online: Online Catalog
Books
The majority of references concerns Papua New Guinea and the Pacific area as a whole, as well as Australia. Over 90% of the books are in English. French Polynesia is the only area where the number of French -language publications is important. In recent years, the acquisition policy includes also Pacific literature in, also in vernacular languages. The balance between cultural areas, and within them, between the various States and Nations of the Pacific is a key objective of the documentary policy.
Films
The center has a collection of recent ethnographic films and on indigenous communities of Oceania. In January 2014, the documentation center had 150 films. The collection consists of important ethnographic films, but also of contemporary films interested in the recent transformations of Pacific societies.
Journals
CREDO is subscribed to periodicals on Oceania but also has access to a large number of online journals.
Check the list of available journals.
Theses
The documentation center has over 450 theses on the Pacific. Many of these written in French and were submitted in Francophone Universities. The collection also contains a large number of documents in English. If you have written a thesis or dissertation in the social sciences or humanities on the Pacific, please send a paper copy to CREDO or PDF version to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
For a list of theses (on site consultation only), check the Catalog.