Collection Services
UC Berkeley Library’s Dataverse
Library IT and the Library Data Services Program are thrilled to announce the launch of the UC Berkeley Library Dataverse, a new platform designed to streamline access to data licensed by the UC Berkeley Library. This initiative addresses the challenges users have faced in finding and managing data for research, teaching, and learning.
With Dataverse, we have simplified the data acquisition process and created a central hub where users can easily locate datasets and understand their terms of use. Dataverse is an open-source platform managed by Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and was selected for its robust features that enhance the user experience.
All licensed data, whether locally stored or vendor-managed, will now be available in Dataverse. While metadata is publicly accessible, users will need to log in to download datasets. This platform is the result of a collaborative effort to support both library staff and users. Anna Sackmann, our Data Services Librarian, will continue to assist with the acquisition process, while Library IT oversees the platform’s maintenance. We are also committed to helping researchers publish their data by guiding them toward the best repository options.
Access the UC Berkeley Library Dataverse via the Library’s website under Data + Digital Scholarship Services. Please email librarydataservices@berkeley.edu with questions.
Current Trial: Nikkei Asian Review
A trial of Nikkei Asian Review magazine is available to all UC campuses until March 31. The URL to access the trial is: http://asia.nikkei.com/
The Nikkei Asian Review which began publishing in 2013 brings together stories on politics, the economy, business and international affairs. Leading minds from around the world share their perspectives on Asia, while its Asia300 special provides in-depth coverage of the continent’s 300 most influential companies.
For information about Nikkei Asian Review, please see the links below:
Nikkei Asian Review Introduction Movie
● Introduction Nikkei Asian Review (full version) https://youtu.be/fNeUznBVXSU
● Introduction Nikkei Asian Review (full version with subtitles) https://youtu.be/6Pi50oZZza4
If you have any questions and comments on this resource, please contact Toshie Marra <tmarra@library.berkeley.edu>.
Access issues related to Amazon Web Services outage
Numerous library resources have been impacted by the ongoing Amazon Web Services outages. The AWS outage has affected access and functionality across numerous platforms, including JSTOR, Elsevier ScienceDirect, and Proquest, among others. Library users may experience issues accessing web pages or downloading content from impacted resources while Amazon works to fix the issue.
UPDATE: The AWS issue seems to be resolved, and normal access and functionality has been restored to affected resources.
Current Trial: Churchill Archive
A trial of the Churchill Archive is available to the UC Berkeley community until April 21, 2017. The URL to access the trial is www.churchillarchive.com.
The Churchill Archive includes more than 800,000 pages of original documents, produced between 1874 and 1965, ranging from Winston S. Churchill’s personal correspondence to his official exchanges with kings, presidents, politicians, and military leaders.
To learn more about using the archive, there is a video available at: http://www.churchillarchive.com/take-a-tour
Please contact Jennifer Dorner at jdorner@berkeley.edu with your feedback about this resource.
Current Trial: Early European Books
Early European Books traces the history of printing in Europe from its origins through to the close of the seventeenth century (1450s-1701), offering full-colour, high-resolution facsimile images of rare and hard-to-access printed sources. This resources focuses on European languages other than English, including Dutch, Danish, Italian, Latin, and French. Of interest to book historians, the scans are of the entire physical object and pages (rather than just the text), including marginalia and binding. You can search by country of publication, language, page features (illustration, musical notation), and source library, and you can include historical and linguistic variants in your search. Books can be browsed in an online Flash-based viewer or downloaded as JPEGs or PDFs.
The trial will last until March 16th, 2017.
Please send your comments and feedback to Stacy Reardon (sreardon at berkeley)
Current Trial: The Digital Karl Barth Library
The Digital Karl Barth Library – http://bart.alexanderstreet.com
The Digital Karl Barth Library supports a new generation of research into the works of one of the 20th century’s most influential theologians. The collection includes the original German version and the English translation of Karl Barth’s magnum opus, The Church Dogmatics, in its entirety. Also included is Barth’s Gesamtausgabe, which includes hundreds of letters, sermons, lectures, conversations, and academic writings.
For more information about the content included in this collection, click HERE.
For general help, including navigation instructions and search tips, click HERE.
The trial will run through March 8th.
Please send your comments and feedback to jdorner (at) library.berkeley.edu.
Current Trial: Drama Online
Drama Online (Bloomsbury) 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 platform has a web-based e-reader with page and line numbers that correspond to the print edition, download options, full text search, visualization tools including a Words and Speeches Graph and a Character Grid for each play, the ability to view lines for one specific character, genre, period, title, or playwright browsing, and annotation tools.
Content included:
* 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.
* Productions from Shakespeare’s Globe On Screen
* Early modern drama titles staged and filmed specifically for educational use (Doctor Faustus, The Duchess of Malfi, Volpone and School for Scandal).
* L.A. Theatre Works audio collection
* Playscripts from theatre publisher Nick Hern
* BBC Drama Films
The trial will last until March 24th, and can be accessed at http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/
Please send your comments and feedback to sreardon at berkeley.edu.
Welcoming Jo Anne Newyear-Ramirez
Jo Anne comes to us from her position as Associate University Librarian for Collection Development and Management Programs at the University of British Columbia, where she served eight years. Previously she served ten years as the Assistant Head of Research Services at University of Texas at Austin, with broad responsibilities for collection management. During that time she was also selector-bibliographer for nursing.
As senior administrator for collections at UBC, Jo Anne provided stewardship to programs and practices that enhanced its library collections and supported existing and emerging academic and research needs of the university community. She was a leader on matters relating to collections, scholarly communications, open access, copyright/rights management, digital publishing and the institutional repository. She also provided leadership and direction to the Rare Books & Special Collections unit, technical services, and the University Archives.
Among many accomplishments at UBC, Jo Anne developed a preservation and conservation program. She developed and implemented the Library retention and collection location and storage strategy, which included creation of building plans and operational processes for a new long-term library storage facility. She developed a licensing negotiating strategy and model license framework for UBC. Jo Anne was also the lead investigator for UBC’s participation in the California Digital Library Mellon grant for the Pay-It-Forward Project on the economics of “gold” open access, headed by MacKenzie Smith (University Librarian at UC Davis).
At UC Berkeley, Jo Anne will lead our scholarly resource (collections and beyond) development, our new program in scholarly communications, and our Library-wide assessment and evaluation efforts.
I want to thank Jean McKenzie for serving as our Acting AUL for Collections since July 2013. Following an unsuccessful search for the AUL for Collection Services in 2013, Jean accepted the Library’s invitation to transition from her position as Head of the Engineering Library into an interim AUL position. Jean brought a wealth of knowledge and experience from her many years as a selector and participant in library committees. Over the past three years, Jean made many contributions: she reshaped collections-related staffing and services especially within the Acquisitions Department, enhanced the roles of and collaboration among the Collection Development Leadership Group, implemented new funding models to better support multi-disciplinary fields, launched a new Data Acquisition and Access Program, contributed to improved selector training, served as interim selector and liaison for Germanic Studies, and ably represented Berkeley’s position in UC systemwide conversations as a member of the Collections Licensing Subgroup and the Shared Content Leadership Group. Also under Jean’s initiative, the Berkeley Library was selected as a host for the ACRL Scholarly Communications Roadshow and welcomed our first Scholarly Communications Officer this summer. Jean’s role in this difficult job was extended by a year due to the transition in University Librarians, and I am especially appreciative of how much Jean supported and helped me during my first nine months here.
Post submitted by:
Jeff MacKie-Mason
University Librarian
Chief Digital Scholarship Officer
Professor, School of Information and Professor of Economics
Current Trial: Flavius Josephus Online
Flavius Josephus Online is the first comprehensive literary-historical online commentary in English on the works of Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian.
“Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, is without a doubt the most important witness to ancient Judaism from the close of the biblical period to the aftermath of the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. After fighting against the Romans in the war of 66-73 and surrendering in the earliest phase of the campaign, he moved to Rome where he began a productive literary career. His four surviving works – Judean War, Judean Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion, in thirty Greek volumes – provide the narrative structure for interpreting the other, more fragmentary written sources and physical remains from this period. Josephus’ descriptions of the Temple, the Judean countryside, Jewish-Roman relations and conflicts, and groups and institutions of ancient Judea have become indispensable for students of early Judaism, Classics, and of Christian origins alike.”
This online collection of Josephus’ texts takes the form of a tree: starting with the four works (Judean War, Judean Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion) one can navigate to the relevant books and sections within these books. Indicated are both the separate sections within each book as introduced by William Whiston, as well as the order of lines as introducted by Benedikt Niese. The buttons at the top and the bottom of every entry enable one to go to the previous or next section, to go back to an overview of the book or to an overview of the entire work.
The editor’s introduction to each separate work can be found under ‘Introduction’. ‘Contents’ holds the original Greek text as well as commentary and interpretation. The tab ‘Appendixes and Bibliographies’ presents an overview of maps, excursus and appendixes to the four works.”
The Introduction, Contents, Appendixes and Bibliography, and How To are available at http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/flavius-josephus-online
The trial runs for 30 days beginning September 12.
NOW ON TRIAL: Classical Performance in Video from from Alexander Street.
Classical Performance in Video is the largest and most comprehensive video resource for the study of classical music. Users experience classical music through 1,600 performances, including 200 full operas and 75 dance titles, as well as masterclasses, documentaries, scores, and interviews. Video as a learning tool provides a rich experience for music students, and all patrons use the multimedia tools in this collection to research, analyze, learn, and enjoy the classical music genre.
- For more information about the content included in this collection, click HERE.
- For general help, including navigation instructions and search tips, click HERE.
- Check out Resource Center to find helpful information, complimentary services and marketing tools.
Our trial runs from August 31st to October 1st.
Please send your comments and feedback to John Shepard.