To research American Folklife Center (AFC) collections, a good place to start is the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Each AFC collection has an individual catalog record. The following links provide custom searches in the catalog for materials from the countries of Eastern Africa:

Finding aids provide a gateway to a wealth of Library of Congress treasures. These guides provide comprehensive overviews of unique Library resources. Progressively detailed descriptions of a collection's component parts summarize the overall scope of the content, convey details about the individuals and organizations involved, and list box and folder headings. Each link below represents a customized search of Library of Congress Finding Aids for collections held by the American Folklife Center that contain materials relating to individual countries of Eastern Africa.

Over a period of forty years, AFC staff compiled meticulous guides to archival collection materials by country. Although these are no longer maintained, they provide information at a more granular level than that found in the Library's Online Catalog. Not all countries are represented; below are the guides to Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda.

The following guide offers general research strategies for use of the American Folklife Center collections.