Paper short abstract:

The African Studies Library portal has innovative functionalities concerning the discoverability of publications, such as aiming to recreate the act of browsing along library shelves online through knowledge graphs, offering engaging and surprising suggestions related to the original search topic.

Paper long abstract:

One of the key aims of the African Studies Library (FID Afrikastudien), a project funded by the German Research Association (DFG) at the Goethe-University Library in Frankfurt is to make research published on the African continent accessible in Germany and beyond. This goal is pursued through an acquisition policy of buying exclusively publications from publishers on the African continent as well as so-called “grey literature”, which are often difficult to access internationally. These publications are being made findable and accessible through its new portal by incorporation into its integrated African Studies online catalogue. This paper will present the African Studies Library portal and its key and innovative functionalities concerning the discoverability of publications. For example, the portal aims to recreate the act of browsing along library shelves online through the use of knowledge graphs, offering engaging and surprising suggestions to users related to the original search topic, hoping to broaden horizons of relevant literature. However, the project-based nature of funding poses challenges to the sustainability of such innovative services in libraries.