Serendipity and surprise occasionally contribute to the work of the historian. A chance discovery of crucial documents, a word from an informant, or a brief text helping to resolve a puzzle from the past, can set the adrenalin pulsing. Despite the apparent dull, desk-bound procedures of historical research it can at times be a rather exciting venture with eureka moments. There is another dimension that never ceases to thrill me: bringing to life an insignificant voice from the past, recovering the words of those supposedly ‘without history’, giving flesh and being to a forgotten ‘common person’, and contributing a further piece of evidence to history ‘from below’.

Here is a eureka moment, John L. Comaroff, the South African social anthropologist describing finding the diary of Sol T. Plaatje written about the siege of Mafeking in 1899: “The document was discovered by accident rather than by design.

Indiana University (IU) owns several collections of Africana personal papers. In this presentation, I will discuss this conference's theme, that is the research potential of such papers, from a librarian's perspective, based on my work with those collections, and based on research which resulted from this work.

First, a brief overview of IU's collections of personal papers:

While IU's Africana collection in the Wells Library (i.e., the main library) is primarily a working collection, it also includes several collections of personal papers. Probably the most notable among them is the

The National English Literary Museum (NELM) is one of South Africa's greatest treasures (website: http://www.ru.ac.za/nelm). Tucked away in the university town of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, NELM collects-all creative writing by southern African authors who write in English, and in the following genres: novels, short stories, plays, essays, poetry, theatre, television and film scripts, autobiography, travel, letters, memoirs and diaries. Critical writing on the authors and their works is also collected, as well as writings on related subjects such as literary history, censorship and literary awards. These materials are collected in all formats: books, study guides, theses, literary manuscripts, press clippings and audio-visual material.

This study investigates management perceptions of internet-based banking services with special references to commercial banks in Nigeria. There was a significant difference between male and female management perceptions of internet-based banking services; management had significant positive rather than negative perception of Internet-based banking services; there was a significant difference between strategic and tactical management perceptions of Internet-based banking services. Gender age, work experience, management cadre and computer experience/training strongly influenced the management perceptions of Internet-based banking services in the Nigerian commercial banking system. Suggestions are proffered on how to further enhance management's positive perceptions of the Internet-based banking services in Nigerian commercial banks.