REMINDER – From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process

Posted on by Timothy Vollmer

UC Berkeley Library’s Scholarly Communication and Information Policy office is partnering with Authors Alliance on our fall semester workshops for new academic authors.

The next workshop is coming up on November 17. RSVP now!

Event flyer for "From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process," held on November 17, 2026, from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm on Zoom. Hosted by Berkeley Library and Authors Alliance, the panel features experts Raina Polivka (UC Press), Darlène Dubuisson (UC Berkeley), and Dave Hansen (Authors Alliance). Includes a description of the event, a "Sign up!" button, and a QR code.

From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process

Date/Time: Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 11am PT / 2pm ET
RSVP to get the Zoom link
Hear from a panel of experts—an acquisitions editor, a first-time book author, and an author rights expert—about the process of turning your dissertation into a book. You’ll come away from this panel discussion with practical advice about revising your dissertation, writing a book proposal, approaching editors, signing your first contract, and navigating the peer review and publication process.

 

Publisher Highlight: Sibylline Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman

Vicki DeArmon (publisher) and Julia Park Tracey (executive editor) started Sibylline Press in 2023, after knowing one another for more than 40 years. Each with dozens of years of publishing experience, they started the press with the goal of providing space for women over 50 to publish.[1] In only a few years, they have released more than 100 titles, including novels, memoirs, mysteries, and more. While predominately producing fiction, the house also releases occasional works on business, including advice on publishing, writing, and the art of storytelling. The idea throughout is that these mature women have knowledge to impart as well as their tales to tell.[2]

Part of that sheer volume of output is related to Sibylline’s imprint Sibylline Digital First, which has a “Pub Date Friday.” Under that imprint, the press puts out a new title each week (on Friday) across mystery, romance, fiction, and memoir. Here, readers will see series such as “Lady Hay Investigates Mystery” or the romantic “Veil of Time.”[3]

Titles at UC Berkeley

Notes

[1] Lara Lillibridge, “Interview: Vicki DeArmon of Sibylline Press,” Hippocampus Magazine, June 6, 2023, https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com; Emell Derra Adolphus, “New Publisher Sibylline Press Celebrates Women Authors Over 50,” PublishersWeekly.Com, February 22, 2023, https://www.publishersweekly.com.

[2] “About Sibylline Press,” Sibylline Press, accessed October 26, 2026, https://shop.sibyllinepress.com/pages/about-sibylline-press.

[3] “Sibylline Digital First,” Sibylline Press, accessed October 26, 2026, https://shop.sibyllinepress.com/pages/sibylline-digital-first.

Publisher Highlight: WTAW Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman
WTAW press cover collage and logo

Based in Santa Rosa, California, WTAW Press has provided access to beautiful prose and poetry since 2016. The 501(c)(3) non-profit came out of a reading series called “Why There Are Words” (WTAW), started in Sausalito in 2010 by Peg Alford Pursell. While starting with prose, in 2013 the series extended to poetry and continued with monthly meetings for another seven years.[1] WTAW continues to host author readings and to provide online workshops, and community support for developing literary communities. Yet, what Pursell and their collaborators now focus on is the press, which they announced in 2015.

WTAW concentrates on what they understand as “exceptional, enduring literary books” with the goal to “enrich the literary landscape.”[2] Toward that end, they have open, anonymous submissions for novels, chapbooks (including under the imprint of the Alcover Chapbook Series), as well as mixed-genre. Within their (around) five books a year, they publish one or more books a year under their “Betty” imprint. That imprint focuses on authors who self-identify as women, opening up space for authors under the imprint to collaborate with one another and publish as a cohort.

Readers can find more about WTAW’s books through their webpage or Instagram account.

Books

Notes

[1] Evan Karp, “Why There Are Words Thriving after 3 Years,” SFGate, January 9, 2013, https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/why-there-are-words-thriving-after-3-years-4180675.php;“About,” Why There Are Words, accessed October 19, 2026, http://www.whytherearewords.com/about/.

[2] “About WTAW Press,” WTAW Press, accessed October 19, 2026, https://www.wtawpress.org/about.

[3] “Our Story: What We Do,” WTAW Press, 2026, https://www.wtawpress.org/our-story.

Publisher Highlight: Sley House

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Collage of sley house book covers and logo

Founded in 2020 in San Francisco, Sley House is a small publishing house focused on genre fiction. They separate their material into southern gothic and horror; science fiction; weird fiction; as well as young adult and middle grade. Alongside stand-alone novels, the house publishes a yearly anthology of shorter mixed-genre fiction. Currently, Jeremy Billingsley, one of the founding members, oversees the operation as Editor-in-Chief.

In addition to their literary output, Sley House also puts out a podcast on Spotify. You can check out more information on their Sley House Presents page.

Readers can find more about Sley House’s publications through their webpage or through their Instagram account.

Books

UC Berkeley Library Trial of El País Historical Archive, 1976-2023

Posted on by Liladhar

UC Berkeley Library has set up a trial of the El País Historical Archive, 1976-2023, through October 23, 2026. Please access it here after authenticating with your CalNet credentials for off-campus access. Please share your feedback with your library liaisons.

 

A landing page of May 5, 2023 issue of El Pais Spanish newspaper
A landing page of El País, Friday, May 5, 2023

Resource Self-Description:

Founded on 4 May 1976, six months after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, El País was created as an independent paper dedicated to the promotion of democratic ideals in post-Franco Spain. Today, El País is the most circulated daily newspaper in Spain, and it is a national newspaper of record, covering local, national, and international news. El País is a highly readable, serious, literate newspaper appealing to diverse interests and schools of political thought.

El País has been offering coverage of global events since 1976. This offering represents a rich historical archive of Spanish-language news from a pro-democracy newspaper. With El País, researchers can dive deeply into a distinctly European-Spanish perspective on historical events, culture, society, politics, sports, and more.

Publisher Highlight: Semiotext(e)

Posted on by Bee Lehman
collage of semiotext covers with logo

Sylvère Lotringer (Wikipedia link) and others at Columbia University in New York City founded Semiotext(e) in 1974 as an anarchic project. The early life of the publisher stemmed from gatherings/conferences of French semioticians. The resulting periodical issues appearing sporadically into the 1990s introduced a wild series of provocations.[1] In the 1980s, Lotringer started the Semiotext(e)’s Foreign Agents book imprint with the intention of introducing French theorists to an English-speaking audience as well as to expose incendiary ideas to that reading public. In 1990, Lotringer and co-editor and writer Chris Kraus started the Native Agents series, focused primarily on U.S. women writers.

In 2001, Lotringer and Kraus took the press to Los Angeles when they moved to the Pacific coast. Revitalizing the press, the editors started a collaboration with MIT Press for distribution, publishing Hatred of Capitalism to mark the occasion. The two also brought on Hedi El Kholti first as art director/managing editor and then as a lead co-editor. Working together, they’ve continued with the Native Agents series and become one of the major publishers for “New Narrative” literature, which emerged in the 1970s in San Francisco partly as an expression of the tensions between Gay Liberation, the Avant-Garde, and the New Left.[3]

The press, still co-edited by Krau and El Kholti, continues to publish 10+ books a year. Their book titles are available on their website and for purchase through MIT Press. Their release announcements and excerpts can be found on their Instagram page.

Recent Books at UC Berkeley

Notes

[1] David L. Ulin, “Appreciation: Sylvère Lotringer Made Book Publishing Safe for Dangerous Ideas,” Books, Los Angeles Times, November 18, 2021, Access through UC Berkeley’s catalog.

[2] “Semiotext(e),” MIT Press, accessed September 2026, https://mitpress.mit.edu/publisher/semiotexte/.

[3] Rob Halpern, “Realism and Utopia: Sex, Writing, and Activism in New Narrative,” Journal of Narrative Theory 41, no. 1 (2011): 82–124, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/443765.

Finding data at the UC Berkeley Library: spotlight on Dataverse

Posted on by Anna Sackmann

two hands around a stage spotlight, black background

Librarians and staff at the UC Berkeley Library work to ensure our students, researchers, and faculty have access to the journals and books they need. But what about data? Our Data and Digital Scholarship Services team purchases and licenses datasets that span the university’s numerous disciplines. Many of these datasets can be found in Dataverse, an open-source repository where UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab affiliates can search for data, access platforms, and download files. 

Getting started is simple. Navigate to UC Berkeley Library’s Dataverse and log in using your Calnet ID and passphrase in the upper right hand corner. You will be asked to review and agree to our general terms of use. Note that individual datasets may have additional terms. 

A few datasets to check out: 

  • Web of Science XML data: metadata from over 63 million scholarly article records  spanning multiple disciplines (1900 – 2025)
  • Linguistic Data Consortium datasets: hundreds of datasets from the University of Pennsylvania’s Linguistic Data Consortium supporting linguistic education and research. 
  • RateWatch Scholar: financial data covering banks, credit unions, and savings and loan associations
  • Historical Newspapers: San Francisco Chronicle (and other titles!) from 1865 – 1922 in machine readable format

Questions or suggestions?

If you have questions on how you may or may not use the data in Dataverse, especially related to AI, email tdm-access@berkeley.edu. And if you have a dataset that you would like the library to purchase, please fill out our purchase request form or email librarydataservices@berkeley.edu.

Check back for our October spotlight to learn about ICPSR!

Data and Digital Scholarship services logo with elevation lines, an orange blob and a blue square
spotlight photo by max im on Unsplash

REMINDER: Managing and Maximizing Your Scholarly Impact workshop coming up October 13

Posted on by Timothy Vollmer

UC Berkeley Library’s Scholarly Communication and Information Policy office is partnering with Authors Alliance on our fall semester workshops for new academic authors.

The next workshop is coming up on October 13. RSVP at the link below!

Event flyer: "Managing & Maximizing Your Scholarly Impact," Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 11am PT / 2pm ET, presented by Authors Alliance and Berkeley Library.

Managing & Maximizing Your Scholarly Impact

Date/Time: Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 11am PT / 2pm ET
RSVP to get the Zoom link
This workshop will provide you with practical strategies and tips for promoting your scholarship, increasing your citations, and monitoring your success. You’ll also learn how to understand metrics, use scholarly networking tools, and evaluate journals and publishing options, including open access publishing options.

Publisher Highlight: punctum books

Posted on by Bee Lehman
collage of book covers and punctum books logo

Eileen A. Fradenburg Joy and Nicola Masciandaro, two medievalists, founded punctum books in 2011 in Brooklyn, New York. The two wanted to provide a space for experiments with form and para-academic writing, as well as mash-ups of different genres of art and academic thought. In 2012, Masciandaro decided to focus on other things, leaving the press. In 2015, Vincent W. J. van Gerven Oei (an art curator and book designer, among other skills) joined as co-director and brought their own press, Uitgeverij, into the fold.[1]

Now in Santa Barbara, California, with an imprint line reading “Earth, Milky Way,” the press has an impressive list of hundreds of publications explore the idea of literature, medieval studies, Nubian studies (including Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies), as well as space, gender, and the body.

Alongside pushing the boundaries of academia and art, the press’ co-directors and Advisory Boards have also emphasized the importance of open access scholarship and art. In particular, they emphasize the right to read but also distribute and create derivative works. For them, this has meant contributing to developing Open Access (OA) models in collaboration with institutions like UCSB. They also publish all of their books as Open Access, making them fully available through their website and popular spaces like Project MUSE and JSTOR as PDFs you can read on your preferred e-reader (e.g., your phone).[2]

You can find–and access–punctum books’ entire catalog through their website and through multiple library portals. You can also get news about new publications through their Instagram page and other social media platforms.

Accessing Books at UC Berkeley

You can access punctum’s entire catalog either through their website or through our UC Berkeley Library Search (as well as on Project MUSE and JSTOR). Here are a few highlights!

 

Notes

[1] Vincent W. J. van Gerven Oei and Eileen A. Fradenburg Jo, “Scenes: Punctum Books: An Interview with Vincent W. J. van Gerven Oei and Eileen A. Fradenburg Joy,” American Book Review 45, no. 2 (2024): 168–73.

[2] “Vision Statement — Punctum Books,” punctum books accessed September 23, 2026, https://punctumbooks.com/vision-statement.

Come celebrate the 2026 Hispanic American Heritage Month with UC Berkeley Library and SALALM

Posted on by Liladhar

Celebrating Hispanic American Heritage Month with the SALALM Librarians!

Each year, as part of Hispanic American Heritage Month, UC Berkeley Library’s Social Sciences Division, the Seminar on Acquisitions of Latin American Materials (SALALM) membership committee, and the Oakland Public Library present programs highlighting the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the cultural and intellectual life of the United States.

While discussions about terms such as Hispanic American and Latinx remain important, this webinar focuses on the work of librarians who serve their communities every day. Panelists will discuss their career paths, the challenges and opportunities they have encountered in their professional lives, and their perspectives on area and global studies librarianship including how their expertise can help libraries better serve diverse communities.

The event is free and open to all with advance registration.

Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026

Time: 12:00–1:30 pm Pacific / 3:00–4:30 pm Eastern

Register Here:https://t.ly/Id818 

Amanda T. Moreno-SchroederAmanda T. Moreno-Schroeder is the Esperanza Bravo de Varona Chair and Director of the Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) at the University of Miami Libraries. She holds dual master's degrees in Latin American and Caribbean Studies (NYU) and Library and Information Science (Long Island University), supported by a NYU MacCracken Fellowship, an ALA Spectrum Scholarship, and an ARL Diversity Fellowship. She participated in the Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Program (2015), was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage at Rare Book School (2020–2024), and was named a UCLA Library Senior Fellow in 2026. As CHC Director, she oversees collection development, public programming, community engagement, and fundraising. She previously served as the Collection's Archivist (2017–2023), managing archival collections documenting Cuba and its diaspora. Within SALALM, she co-chaired the Scholarship Committee (2020–2022), chaired the Special Collections and Archives Committee (2023–2026), and was elected Vice-President/President-Elect in 2026. She also co-chaired the Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Heritage Archives Section of the Society of American Archivists (2018–2020). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paloma Barraza Paloma Barraza is the History, Iberian, and Latin American Studies Librarian in the Arts, Humanities, & Area Studies Department at the University of Minnesota Libraries (since 2023). She liaises with the History, Chicano/Latino Studies, and Spanish & Portuguese departments. She holds an MLIS from the University of Arizona and an MA in Art History (Art of the Americas) from the University of New Mexico, with experience in archives, museums, and academic and public libraries. Paloma serves as SALALM Member-at-Large (2026–2029) and Convener of the Midwest Organization of Libraries for Latin American Studies (MOLLAS). Since 2026, she has been Secretary of the Latin American Collections Committee within the Center for Research Libraries Global Connections Committee. -------------------------------------------------- Janette Núñez Janette Núñez is the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Librarian and Archivist at Michigan State University Libraries (since 2022). In this role, she oversees collection development, archival processing, exhibitions, and public programming. She is also an active member of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials, where she serves as co-chair of both the Research and Instruction Services Committee and Special Collections and Archives Committee. She holds an MS in Information Studies and an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a Graduate Research Assistant at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection. She completed her BA in Latin American Studies and Politics at University of California, Santa Cruz and previously interned in the Hispanic Reading Room at the Library of Congress. Her research focuses on the intersections of archives, human rights, and collective memory. --------------------------------------------- Melissa Jerome Melissa Jerome is the Digital Initiatives Librarian for the Latin American and Caribbean Collection at the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. She leads the development and management of digital collections, with expertise in newspaper digitization, digital humanities, and digital scholarship. She has led numerous grant-funded digitization initiatives focused on Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Latinx diaspora, and publishes on digital collection development, bilingual digital publishing, and equitable access to cultural heritage. She also organizes the Latin American and Caribbean Digital Humanities Symposium. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Melissa Aslo de la Torre Melissa Aslo de la Torre is the Librarian for Latin American, Caribbean, Spanish, and Portuguese Studies at New York University Libraries. A scholar and memory worker, she is recognized for her research on queer and trans archival practices in Latin America. She is a founding member of the Malflora Collective, dedicated to preserving and documenting the lives and legacies of Latina/e lesbians. Her scholarship explores collective memory, zine-making, and visual activism. She holds an MA in Latin American Studies and an MS in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
Celebrating Hispanic American Heritage Month 2026 with SALALM Librarians