Commonwealth Universities Yearbook 2002

Citation

Wallis, J. (2004), "Commonwealth Universities Yearbook 2002", Library Review, Vol. 53 No. 4, pp. 239-240. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530410531901

The Commonwealth Universities Yearbook is a publication of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), an organisation that was formed in 1913 with the aim of strengthening “the universities in membership through international co‐operation and understanding”. The Yearbook is currently in its 77th edition and has over 2,500 pages of detailed information about 500 member institutions. These include 477 universities, 19 university colleges and four approved institutions of higher learning from 36 existing or former commonwealth countries from Australia to Zimbabwe. The information is compiled by the ACU and verified by the universities themselves, which should mean that the information is up to date and accurate.

The directory is separated into countries, appendices and indexes. The country sections are in alphabetical order and begin with an introduction to the education system, which includes information on the academic year, methods of application and staff and student numbers. A directory of subjects available to study follows and is a straightforward guide with information about which subjects are offered at which universities and at what level – undergraduate, master's or doctorate.

Each university is profiled individually. Users will be able to glean basic facts from the general information at the beginning including contact addresses, senior staff, history, admission, academic awards, and statistics. Details of the institutions, their various faculties, schools, academic units and support services form the larger part of information and provide the reader with information on research subjects, names of academic staff and contact numbers for support staff.

Four appendices supplement the main sections. Appendix 1 includes information on Hong Kong and its universities. Appendix 2 gives details of inter‐university bodies, with the name of the associations, their mission, membership information and addresses and contact numbers. Appendix 3 is titled the Commonwealth of Learning. This group promotes collaboration in distance learning and details of its senior staff, its profile, background and activities are listed. Appendix 4 is the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan. Here one can find the origin of the plan its aims, operation, commonwealth scholarships and fellowships and further sources of information.

For ease of use there are also four indexes. Institutions are indexed, as are personal names. The latter is the largest index containing the names of approximately 175,000 members of staff who are listed in the directory. For those with specific degree or research interests there is an index to subjects offered and an index to staff research interests.

The directory has a wide‐ranging appeal and will be useful as a reference tool for students. The Commonwealth Universities Yearbook is a thorough and detailed directory with a wealth of information made easy to find by the excellent layout and referencing tools. This guide is an important work for every reference library to stock.

Helen Tose

Reference Assistant, Bradford Libraries, Archives and Information Service

As of September 2003, the 2003‐2004 edition of the Commonwealth Universities Yearbook is available from the Association of Commonwealth Universities. The Association plans to launch an electronic version named CUDOS (Commonwealth Universities Online Database Service). A free trial of this service is available online at: www.acu.ac.uk/cudos.