Romance Language Collections Newsletter no. 8 (Fall 2023)

This year’s welcome back newsletter for those working in the Romance languages focuses on digital and print resources. For the most up-to-date information on the UC Berkeley Library’s services, please continue to check the Library’s Get Help page.

Cinegramas: Revista Semanal (1934-36)
A substantial run of the Spanish weekly film magazine Cinegramas: Revista Semanal (1934-36) was acquired months before the Covid pandemic hit but can now be consulted in The Bancroft Library. It ceased publication with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936.
What’s new in the Library for Fall 2023?

  • 2022-23 Serials Reductions
  • E-reserves & bCourses
  • Reference & Instruction
  • Library Workshops
  • Library Research Guides
  • New Books and More
  • Open Access Books
  • UC Library Search – 4 FAQs
  • Featured Digitized Work

See also:


Nexis Data Lab Computing Environment

 

The UC Berkeley Library is pleased to announce access to a new text and data mining platform, Nexis Data Lab from LexisNexis. The cloud-based platform enables users to run computational analysis in a Jupyter notebook on content licensed for use at UC Berkeley. Please take a look at this brief, two minute video to see how the environment works. Researchers should be familiar with Python or R. Each account may have up to 6 projects (workspaces), with a limit of 100,000 documents per project. The number of seats are limited, so we ask that you have a TDM project in progress. 

 

Please view the list of content and titles available to UC Berkeley users. LexisNexis will continue to make additional content available as the platform grows. (Note that the following publications are NOT available: The New York Times (NDL does include NYT International), The New York Times Blogs, Wall Street Journal Abstracts, Information Base Abstracts, and Jane’s Defence Weekly.)

 

If you would like to get started using the platform, request a seat by filling out this form. The Library is holding a training session for the platform (hosted by LexisNexis) on August 15, 2022 at 9:00 AM. Please register here for the event. For more information on text and data mining platforms and resources available at UC Berkeley, please check out our guide to Text Mining and Computational Text Analysis. Contact the Library Data Services Program at librarydataservices@berkeley.edu with questions. 

 

Library Data Services Program logo


Check out the Romance Language Collections on Instagram

The Romance Language Collections Instagram feed brings forth little known and new resources and services in the UC Berkeley Library. Once you start following you’ll instantly receive early notices of new books, e-resources, exhibits, readings and more through your smartphone or any web browser.


Romance Language Collections Newsletter no.6 (Fall 2021)

It has been a challenging year and we look forward to most of you returning to campus where you can take advantage of all the resources the Library has to offer. By August 25, most of UC Berkeley’s libraries will have reopened. This year’s welcome back newsletter for those working in the Romance languages focuses on both digital and print resources. For the most up-to-date information on the UC Berkeley Library’s services, please continue to check the Library services and resources during COVID-19 page.

book sculpture
Photo: Centre Cultural La Nau – Universitat de València by Claude Potts, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
What’s new in the Library for Fall 2021?

  • UC Library Search
  • bCourses
  • Reference & Instruction
  • New Books and More
  • Library Research Guides
  • Print Books
  • eBooks
  • Databases
  • Library Workshops
  • Featured Digitized Work

See also:


530K Primary Resources Now Available Online through The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement: A Digital Archive

Map of Minidoka War Relocation Center.
BANC MSS 67/14 c, folder P1.05, Blueprints and charts, general layout, Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records 1930-1974, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

The Bancroft Library has recently completed the digitization of nearly 150,000 items related to the confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II as part of a two-year effort to select, prepare, and digitize these primary source records as part of a grant supported by the National Park Service’s Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program. This program helps to support the preservation and interpretation of U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. This recent project, The Japanese American Internment Sites: A Digital Archive, represents our fourth grant from this program, which together have culminated in over 530,000 primary resource materials being made available online.

Annual Report cover with image of Arizona landscape.
BANC MSS 67/14 c, folder fJ2.18, Annual report, photograph album, Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records 1930-1974, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

The project focused on the U.S. War Relocation Authority (WRA) files from the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records (BANC MSS 67/14 c). The WRA was created in 1942 to assume jurisdiction over the incarceration of Japanese Americans during the war. Between 1942-1946, the agency managed the relocation centers, administered an extensive resettlement program, and oversaw the details of the registration and segregation programs. These newly digitized records from the Washington Office headquarters and the district, field, and regional offices, formally document WRA management of internment of Japanese Americans in “relocation” centers and resettlement of approved individuals under supervision in the eastern states. Digitized materials document the registration of individuals; disturbances such as strikes; policies and attitudes; daily life in the camps including educational and employment programs; correspondences and other writings by evacuees; Japanese American service in the armed forces; and public opinion.

Out of the Desert cover with a red cross and image of desert landscape.
Poston I High School, “Out of the Desert”, Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records 1930-1974, BANC MSS 67/14 c, folder fJ2.92B, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Topaz Scrap Book cover.
BANC MSS 67/14c, folder fH1.46, Topaz scrapbook, Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records 1930-1974, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Since 2011, the Bancroft has been awarded four grants from the National Park Service’s Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program. The previous grants have digitized records from the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study and archival collections selected from individual internee’s personal papers, photographs, maps, artworks, and audiovisual materials. The Bancroft’s Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement: A Digital Archive website (http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/jacs) brings together all the digitized content and the recently published LibGuide (https://guides.lible.berkeley.edu/internment) that explains how to use and access these collection resources.

As we now embark on our recently awarded fifth grant from this program, we look forward to bringing even more collections online to support researcher access. We are honored and grateful to be able to make these important resources available to help interpret this period in American history and to preserve them for future generations.

 

Page of a typewritten report.
BANC MSS 67/14 c, folder E2.91, Miller, Ray, Evolution of a Wartime Procedures Manual, Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records 1930-1974, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

The project was led by digital project archivist Lucy Hernandez and principal investigator Mary Elings, Assistant Director of Bancroft and Head of Technical Services. Special thanks to Julie Musson, digital collections archivist at Bancroft and Jennafer Prongos, BackStage Library Works technician for their work on this project, as well as support from Theresa Salazar, Bancroft curator of Western Americana. Many thanks to the Library Information Technology group at the University Library for their work in managing the files, maintaining the information systems used in the project, and ensuring the publication and long term preservation of the digitized collections through our partnership with the California Digital Library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

————

This project was funded, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior.  


Scenic Views, Civic Pride, and Silly Gags: Edward H. Mitchell Postcards at The Bancroft Library

We all feel our wings are clipped this holiday season, but you can enjoy a tour around turn-of-the-century California, journey up the Pacific Coast, around the American West, or even visit Hawaii and the Philippines, thanks to newly published content on the Berkeley Library’s Digital Collections site.

Over 10,000 postcards issued by San Francisco publisher Edward H. Mitchell, circa 1898-1920, are now online. This nearly-comprehensive collection was compiled over many decades by Walt Kransky, who generously donated it to The Bancroft Library. Walt’s website has been the go-to site for collectors interested in Mitchell cards; there he compiled a checklist of all known Mitchell postcards, whether he owned examples or not. And he did own the vast majority!

Color postcard, circa 1905, of the exterior of a Victorian hotel on the floor of Yosemite Valley, among evergreen trees
Sentinel Hotel, Yosemite Valley, California
Color postcard of well-dressed crowds on the beach at Long Beach, with pier in background, circa 1905
Beach and Sun Pavilion, Long Beach, California

Must-see tourist sites from Yosemite to Southern California beaches and the mountains and forests of the Northwest are in abundance, but so are local industries, agriculture, and countless examples of small town pride.

Color postcard, circa 1900, of a Southern California ostrich farm and feather factory.
Feather Factory, Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena, California.
Color postcard of a factory wth workers and many dead salmon to be canned.
Interior of a Salmon Cannery, Bellingham, Washington
Color postcard, circa 1905, of a hayfield and three large barns in the distance, near Hollister, California
Largest Hay Warehouses in the World, Hollister, California

There is quite a range of court houses, schools, asylums, and even irrigation works on view.

Color postcard, circa 1900-1910, of courhouse building exterior
Placer County Court House, Auburn, Cal.
Color postcard, circa 1905, of a Spanish Mission Style high school in Watsonville, California
High School, Watsonville, California
Black and white photographic postcard of a concrete irrigation canal in a flat and treeless landscape near Patterson, California
Irrigation canal – Patterson, Cal. (a “real photo postcard”)

Period humor, for better or worse, is a recurring feature.

Color postcard, circa 1905, of the Alameda County Jail with humorous text printed in upper left, suggestive of a hotel advertisement
Alameda County Jail, Oakland, California. (words added — Barnet Hotel)
Humorous color postcard, circa 1905, of an enormous watermelon that fills and entire flatbed railroad car
A California Watermelon
Color cartoon postcard with a giant sequoia tree at left and a giant beet (vegetable) at right with two "beat cops" asleep on it, making a pun about beets and beat cops
San Francisco. There are Big Trees in California. Also big vegetables. I saw two policemen asleep on one beat

In addition to great images, Kransky’s Mitchell collection provides insight into the business of early postcard production. This was a new form when 1898 “Private Mailing Cards” were first issued as  “authorized by act of Congress.”

Front (picture side) of a color postcard, circa 1898, of large Victorian resort hotel, with writing around the sides of the image
Hotel Del Monte, Monterey County, Cal. (front of postcard)
Back side, for address only, of early postcard with "Private Mailing Card" text and reference to 1898 act of Congress authorizing postcards
(Back of postcard referencing 1898 Act of Congress:) Hotel Del Monte, Monterey County, Cal.

Walt Kransky arranged his collection by back type and imprint style and he collected duplicates of given images in all their various styles of presentation. This variety, all from a single publisher, offers great opportunity for scholarship and close studies of visual culture early in the 20th century.

So, whatever your interest, make a cup of cocoa and enjoy an armchair tour, courtesy the Walter Robert and Gail Lynn Kransky collection of Edward H. Mitchell postcards at The Bancroft Library!

Color postcard, in red and green, of poinettia blossoms and leaves
Poinsettia Blossoms

 

Many Library staff collaborated to bring this collection online. Bancroft curatorial and acquisitions staff worked with the donor to preserve this collection at Berkeley, and hundreds of hours of work on descriptive data and inventory alignment were carried out in Bancroft Technical Services’ Pictorial Unit. Library Imaging Services created the thousands of high resolution scans, and the descriptions and images were linked together and brought online through the efforts of Library IT. Most importantly, thanks are due to Walt and Gail Kransky for their generosity, his decades of collecting, and the years of expertise he committed to documenting his collection.


Romance Language Collections Newsletter no.5 (Fall 2020)

This year’s welcome back newsletter for those working in the romance languages focuses mostly on digital resources. After abrupt closures in March due to the global pandemic, the UC Berkeley Library has recently resumed acquisitions of non-digital formats but the bulk of this material remains in transit or is still being processed. For the most up-to-date information about the evolving services in the Library, please consult the Library services and resources during COVID-19 page.

Dibs Earth
Dibs Earth by Philip Chapman-Bell on Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Romance Language Collections Newsletter no.5 (Fall 2020)

  • Remote Reference & Instruction
  • New Databases
  • HathiTrust ETAS
  • New books and more
  • Library Research Guides
  • New Journals
  • Open Access
  • bCourses
  • Digital Collections
  • Library Workshops (Online)
  • Featured Digitized Work

See also:


Art History: Social justice and anti-racism library resources guide

Explore the new resource guide for Social Justice and Anti-Racism located under Art History Research Guides on the Art History/ Classics Library page.   Gain online access to the publications featured below by U.C. Berkeley Faculty: Lauren Kroiz, Darcy Grigsby, Julia Bryan- Wilson, and Keyatta A.C. Hinkle, and Alumnus Huey Copeland.

Along with these titles, find additional ebooks on art, race, and social justice; image collections from the Bancroft Library on Calisphere; and films and videos available through our Kanopy subscription.  This resource guide provides a sample of some of the resources available online through the U.C. Berkeley Library’s collections.


New Resources: Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels (Digital Collection)

new resources at the library

The UC Berkeley Library has acquired a new online resource with the Underground and Independent Comic, Comix, and Graphic Novels digital collection from Alexander Street Press, Volumes I and II.

This collection contains full-text, digitized collection of comics, comix, and graphic novels from the pre-Comics Code era works to modern sequential releases from artists in the US, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, England, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Korea, Japan, and more. This includes:

  • Titles like Essex County by Jeff Lemire, From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, 120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors, Gen Manhwa by various artists, Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason, and God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga.
  • Selected works from artists such as Alex Toth, Boody Rogers, Fletcher Hanks, Steve Ditko, Joe Kubert, Bill Everett, Joe Simon, and Jack Kirby
  • Series such as Crime Does Not Pay and Mister Mystery.
  • 25,000 pages of interviews, commentary, theory, and criticism from journals, books, and magazines, including The Comics Journal.
  • The Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Frederick Wertham and the complete transcripts of the senate subcommittee hearings that led to the Comics Code Authority and, inadvertently, the underground comix movement.

The library has also acquired additional resources from Drama Online and OverDrive.



New Resources: Additional Drama Online Modules

drama online

The UC Berkeley community now has access to new content through our subscription to Drama Online. Drama Online is an online resource of primary and secondary sources for the study and performance of drama. It contains 1700 playtexts, 350 audio performances, and 150 hours of video. The new resources include:

This strengthens existing content in Drama Online, including:

  • 1,100+ playtexts from Methuen Drama, Faber and Faber, and Arden Shakespeare, as well as contextual and critical background through scholarly works and practical guides.
  • Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen 1
  • Early modern drama titles staged and filmed specifically for educational use (Doctor Faustus, The Duchess of Malfi, Volpone and School for Scandal).
  • BBC Drama Films

For more of recent library acquisitions, see our posts on Underground and Independent Comic, Comix, and Graphic Novels and OverDrive.