Library Collections
The Library Buildings
The Library operates in two buildings: Dr. Wilbert K. Chagula Library and University of Dar es Salaam Library, both of which have collections. The East-Africana Collection, which holds research and rare materials, is located in the former, while other library collections are located in the latter.
Library Collections
The Library maintains the following collections:
- Law
In this collection, users can access books, periodicals, and government publications pertaining to legal information, including Acts, Bills, Subsidiary Legislation (GN), Government Gazettes, and Tanzania Law Reports (TLR).
- Science and Engineering
In the Science and Engineering Collection, users can access all library materials related to mathematics, life science, engineering, and information technology.
- Arts and Social Sciences
Users can access all library materials related to arts and social sciences, including but not limited to history, sociology, philosophy, commerce and management, journalism, and geography.
- The East Africana
The East Africana Collection is dedicated to research and contains mainly items on East Africa and Tanzania in particular. There are also other research materials on African liberation movements. The collection hosts books, pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, Swahili and Arabic manuscripts, maps, photographs, Hansards, theses and dissertations, publications of the East African universities, UN publications, and government documents. Members who are eligible to use the East Africana Collection include academic staff, postgraduate students, final-year undergraduate students, and researchers. Other users may be allowed by the Director of the University Library upon request.
- Reference and Document Delivery
The Reference and Document Delivery section contains reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, manuals, gazetteers, atlases, etc. In addition, the following services are offered:
- Current Awareness Services (CAS): The Library provides current awareness services through the library website, fliers, and notice boards. Users are advised to access these services from time to time to get updated information.
- User Education: The Library provides user education through orientation programmes, guided library tours, information literacy training, online tutorials, virtual library tours, etc. Inexperienced users are requested to register to attend user education at the Reference Section. Users are also encouraged to study online tutorials to educate themselves on how to discover library resources via: https://www.udsm.ac.tz/web/index.php/institutes/library/subscribed-electronic-resources and attend information literacy (IL) trainings to enhance their online search skills. Users may also consult library staff for further assistance through email: library.usereducation@udsm.ac.tz.
- Reference Desk: The Reference Desk, located on the first floor of the UDSM Library building, is the focal point of information on the library’s resources. A librarian is on duty during all library hours to help readers get the required materials and information. Users can obtain information on appropriate library sections they need to visit.
- Inter-Library Loan Services: Inter-Library Loan is a service that helps library users obtain copies of materials not available/accessibly in the Library. These materials may be available in other university and research library collections such as Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), and other Tanzanian or foreign higher learning institutions.
- Carrel Services: The library maintains a total of 13 special private rooms for researchers and postgraduate students. These rooms are available in two sessions: the first session starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 1:00 p.m., while the second session begins at 1:00 p.m. and ends at 6:00 p.m. Clients must book these rooms online by filling out forms linked to the Library website and subsequently pay a modest fee of TZS 10,000.00 per session.