The database JSTOR has a special collection for people interested in researching Africa. World Heritage Sites: Africa includes photographs, 3D models, GIS data, site plans, aerial and satellite photography, images of rock art, excavation reports, manuscripts, traveler's accounts, historical and antiquarian maps, books, articles, and other scholarly research. The nearby picture is one page of the famous manuscripts found in Timbuktu. 

"The Timbuktu Manuscripts Collection offers an unparalleled window into societies and intellectual traditions of the Western Sudan from the late 15th century onward. The manuscripts are now under grave threat from a variety of sources, both natural and human." (quoted from https://www.aluka.org/heritage/collection/TIMMAN)