International & Area Studies

Library Trial of Russian Imperial Era Periodicals: a Bibliography and Reference Guide (ImPressDB)

Posted on by Liladhar
The library has set up a trial of a bibliographic database on Russian Imperial Era periodicals, which will run through the end of this month. The trial can be accessed here:
Upon accessing the database, one will see the landing page. A login button will be in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Please click on it, as no password is required. You will be able to test the database and assess its utility.
Please reach out to your Slavic Studies Librarian with your valuable feedback.
Russian Imperial Era Periodicals: a Bibliography and Reference Guide (ImPressDB) is a comprehensive research database of periodicals and serials from the time of the Russian Empire, published between 1702 and 1917. It includes publications from within the Russian Empire itself, across its diverse linguistic and cultural regions, as well as from some territories under its influence, and from the Austrian Empire (Austria-Hungary), Germany and other countries. The database also covers periodicals published by the empire’s diaspora in various parts of the world, including those by émigrés, political exiles, and immigrant communities, offering a broad, transnational perspective on the era’s printed media.
Russian Imperial Era Periodicals: a Bibliography and Reference Guide (ImPressDB) is a comprehensive research database of periodicals and serials from the time of the Russian Empire, published between 1702 and 1917. It includes publications from within the Russian Empire, across its diverse linguistic and cultural regions, and from some territories under its influence, including the Austrian Empire (Austria-Hungary), Germany, and other countries. The database also covers periodicals published by the empire’s diaspora in various parts of the world, including those by émigrés, political exiles, and immigrant communities, offering a broad, transnational perspective on the era’s printed media.

 

"Czołem!" Publication type one-off newspaper Publication dates 1906, July 1 Locality Warsaw Region Warsaw Governorate Country Russian Empire ; Congress Poland Language Polish ID A001391 Persistent URL https://rpdb.impressdb.com/item/A001391
A bibliographic entry for Czołem

Russian Women Writers Project Completed

Posted on by Liladhar

At UC Berkeley Library, with the leadership and guidance from the library’s current acting AUL for Associate University Librarian for Digital Initiatives and Information Technology, Lynne Grigsby, we are excited to report the completion of the Russian Women Writers Collection’s digitization. The collection’s analog items can be searched here.

The digital component of the project can be accessed here.

My predecessor, Dr. Allan Urbanic, was instrumental in helping us with the description of the project, which is as follows, “Russian Women Writers Collection
This project has been created in cooperation with the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. In recent years, scholarship has focused on women’s contributions to the history of Russian literature. It has also been discovered that many of these writers were poorly represented in American libraries’ collections. The project first concentrated on filling in the corpus of women writers at the beginning of the 19th century. As the project moved forward, the works of Russian women authors of the later 19th century and the 20th century have been added.”

Maklakova, Lidii͡a Filippovna. Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ. Izd 2-e. Moskva: Tipo-lit. T-va I.N. Kushnerev i Ko., 1894. Terms governing use and reproduction Researchers may make free and open use of the UC Berkeley Library’s digitized public domain materials. However, some materials in our online collections may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use (Title 17, U.S.C. § 107) requires permission from the copyright owners. The use or reproduction of some materials may also be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, privacy and publicity rights, or trademark law. Responsibility for determining rights status and permissibility of any use or reproduction rests exclusively with the researcher. To learn more or make inquiries, please see our permissions policies (https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies).
Maklakova, Lidii͡a Filippovna. Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ. Izd 2-e. Moskva: Tipo-lit. T-va I.N. Kushnerev i Ko., 1894.

Terms governing use and reproduction
Researchers may freely and openly use the UC Berkeley Library’s digitized public domain materials. However, U.S. copyright law may protect some materials in our online collections (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use (Title 17, U.S.C. § 107) requires permission from the copyright owners. The use or reproduction of some materials may also be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, privacy and publicity rights, or trademark law. Responsibility for determining rights status and permissibility of any use or reproduction rests exclusively with the researcher. Please see our permissions policies to learn more or make inquiries (https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies).
Source
Russian Women Writers

One can look at the usage data of the item called Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ as shown below,

Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ's download statistics as a graphical representation
Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ’s usage statistics

New Library Guide for Iberian Literatures

Posted on by Claude Potts

Iberian Literatures

Today, we are launching a new library research guide for Iberian Literatures & Criticism. The new guide will improve navigation and discovery in UC Berkeley’s vast literature collection in Romance languages, mostly found in a classification commonly known as the PQs. Over the course of the past year, we have critically reviewed the former guides, weeded outdated resources, and replaced them with more current content with links to digital resources when available.

This literary research guide, like the others for Italian and French & Francophone literatures launched last year, is now benefiting from the LibGuides platform, which makes it much easier to revise than the former PDFs. The guide is structured by sections for article databases, general guides and literary histories, reference tools, poetry, theater & performance, and literary periods. In addition to literature in Spanish and Portuguese, it also includes less commonly taught literatures and languages such as Catalan, Galician, Basque, Arabic, Ladino, and more. There is also a new section for Luso-African and Hispano-African literature.

The online guide also interfaces seamlessly with related guides published by the UC Berkeley Library. For example, on the home page, there is a prominent link to the online list of recently acquired publications on the general Spanish & Portuguese guide, making it even easier to stay current on new books in all of the call number ranges.

Because the guides are much easier to update, they encourage user interaction and invite community suggestions for inclusion (or deletion).

When you have time, please take a look at this new resource and let us know what you think.

Claude Potts, Romance Languages Librarian
Cameron Flynn, RLL Doctoral Candidate

Library Trial: Muslim in Russia Online (Brill Database)

Posted on by Liladhar

UC Berkeley Library has set up a trial of Brill’s Muslim in Russia Online Database. The database trial will continue until February 1, 2025. You can access the trial here.

This collection examines the varied Russian Muslim population during the period of 1861-1918. It includes works by and about Muslims, highlighting the significance of this heritage as the history and spirituality of Muslims in Russia are being reexamined. A word of caution: Most of the periodicals in this database have been digitized from microfilms; thus, digitization quality is problematic. The OCR seems unchecked and automated “dirty,” so one has to look at the images.

Please access the database here: https://shorturl.at/M4IyT

Please see the screenshot below:

Title: V mīri͡e musulʹmanstva:ezhenedelʹnai͡a, literaturnai͡a, politicheskai͡a i obshchestvennai͡a gazeta.<br />Date: 1911<br /> Date in Source: [1911-1912]
Title: V mīri͡e musulʹmanstva:ezhenedelʹnai͡a, literaturnai͡a, politicheskai͡a i obshchestvennai͡a gazeta.
Date: 1911
Date in Source: [1911-1912]

Here are the key points about this database are highlighted below:

  • Role in Russian State: Muslims played a crucial role in the creation of the multinational Russian state, completed with the annexation of Central Asia in the 1860s. By 1897, Muslims made up almost 11% of Imperial Russia’s population (14 million).
  • Russian State Policy: Russian policy towards Muslims varied. Initially, there was forced Russification and Christianization. From Ekaterina II onwards, the policy shifted towards legitimizing Muslims. Under Alexander III, discrimination against non-Christians, including Muslims, increased.
  • Early 20th Century: The early 1900s saw a rise in Muslim nationalism, fueled by religious reformism and liberal ideas. The First Russian Revolution (1905-1907) led to significant political changes, including creating the State Duma and civil freedoms.
  • Union of Muslims of Russia: Formed in 1905-1906, this organization became the most powerful political body for Muslims until 1917, with branches across various regions.
  • Intellectual and National Identity: Early 20th century saw more Muslim intellectuals and interest in national identity, heritage, and traditions.
  • 1917 Revolutions: Muslim nationalist movements grew during the February and October Revolutions of 1917. Post-1917, Bolshevik policies negatively impacted Muslims’ religious freedoms.
  • Muslim Press: Until 1905-1907, Muslim issues were poorly reported. The 1905 revolution led to a surge in Muslim publications. These periodicals covered a range of ideological perspectives and helped address Muslim problems.
  • Unique Publications: Publications from 1861-1918 provide insights into Muslim life in the Russian Empire and their leaders’ perspectives. These works are valuable for understanding Muslims’ historical and spiritual heritage in Russia.

Library Book Talk (Webinar): On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe

Posted on by Liladhar

Please save the date on your calendars for an exciting upcoming conversation-book talk (On Savage Shores : How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe) for our community of UC Berkeley Library and affiliated staff and librarians.
Date: February 6, 2024
Day: Thursday, Time: 12-1 pm (Pacific Time) 8 pm-9 pm UK Time

Zoom Webinar Link: https://berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LGoU0V9ZQXegc5fHxlF_WA

Registration: https://ucberk.li/3GW

Free and Open to All with prior registration. If you need special assistance or accommodation, please contact Dr. Liladhar R Pendse, the event organizer.

About the Webinar: In this webinar, Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock (She/her) will discuss her book, On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe. This book challenges the traditional Eurocentric view of the Age of Discovery by focusing on the Indigenous Americans who crossed the Atlantic to Europe after 1492. For centuries, history has taught that global history began when the “Old World” met the “New World” with Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. However, Caroline Dodds Pennock’s research reveals that, for many Indigenous people—Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit, and others—Europe was the “New World.”

A Collage of pages of Codex Mendoza. The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541.[1] It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is written using traditional Aztec pictograms with a translation and explanation of the text provided in Spanish. It is named after Don Antonio de Mendoza (1495-1552), the viceroy of New Spain, who supervised its creation and who was a leading patron of native artists.
Collaged pages of Codex Mendoza. The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541.
These individuals, including enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, and traders, saw Europe as a land of both wonder and cruelty, filled with vast wealth inequality, and strange customs. Their experiences, marked by abduction, cultural clashes, and loss, have been largely excluded from mainstream historical narratives. This book tells the untold stories of the Indigenous Americans who traveled to Europe, such as the Brazilian king who met Henry VIII, the Aztecs at the court of Charles V, or the Inuit displayed in London pubs. Pennock uses their stories and European accounts to reveal how these Indigenous people, though marginalized, left a lasting impact on European culture and society.

About the author

Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock (She/her) has been at the University of Sheffield since 2010, where they are known as one of the few British historians specializing in Aztec studies. Their current research, however, has expanded to include Indigenous histories in a global context, with a particular focus on the Atlantic world. Dr. Caroline Dodds Pennock recently published On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe, which tells the stories of Indigenous Americans who traveled to Europe in the sixteenth century. These accounts, often involving abduction, loss, and cultural appropriation, have largely been overlooked in mainstream history.

Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock (she/her)B.A., M.St., D.Phil. (Oxon), FRHistS School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities Professor in International History Department Director of One University, University of Sheffield
Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock, University of Sheffield. Image Credit: University of Sheffield

Dodds Pennock, Caroline. On Savage Shores : How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe / Caroline Dodds Pennock. First American edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.

https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/1thfj9n/alma991086032106106532

Event Sponsors:  Social Sciences Division. Library’s Equity and Inclusion Committee, Institute for European Studies, UC Berkeley and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), UC Berkeley

 

Meeting of Library’s Global & Area Studies Interest Group

Posted on by Claude Potts
United Nations: For all children a safe tomorrow-IF you do your part
United Nations: For All Children a Safe Tomorrow-IF You Do Your Part. Issued by United Nations, Department of Public Information. United Nations poster collection, circa 1940s. The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. BANC PIC 2005.010:002–D

On Wednesday, January 15, members of the newly formed Global & Area Studies Interest Group (GASIG) convened via Zoom to discuss new directions and topics of interest for librarians and staff working on international issues and themes at UC Berkeley. The knowledge sharing group provides a forum for Library employees to address issues related to supporting teaching, learning and research about specific world regions and countries, as well as international and global studies broadly. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: collection development, collection management, digitization, metadata and discovery issues, campus partnerships, and fundraising.

Since its founding in 1868, students and faculty at UC Berkeley have concerned themselves with a breathtaking range of languages. In support of teaching and research, the University Library, which collects and preserves materials in all languages, now boasts a collection of nearly fourteen million volumes. It is among the largest academic libraries in the U.S. with more than one third of its print resources in more than 400 non-English languages, and even more in digital formats. Over a dozen Berkeley departments offer instruction in more than sixty languages.

The group will meet once or twice per semester, communicate via a group email list, and endeavors to host a series of educational events such as a library resource showcase featuring both hidden and well-known collections. Membership is open to all interested UC Berkeley Library employees across units, functions, and classifications. José Adrián Barragán-Álvarez (Bancroft Library) and Claude Potts (Arts & Humanities Division) are co-facilitators for the first two years. For more information or to join the group, please either one of us directly.

 

New book by Jeroen Dewulf

Posted on by Claude Potts

Nova Historia

Nova História do Cristianismo Negro na África Ocidental e nas Américas makes a historiographical intervention aimed at the history of black Catholicism and black religion in the Americas in a broader way. Dewulf’s central and well-documented assertion is that black Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, has roots in pre-Tridentine Portuguese Catholicism. Even before the advent of the slave trade, Catholicism had become an indigenous African religion, at times assuming pre-Tridentine and syncretic forms that have become irreconcilable for the Europeans of the post-Tridentine period. This argument has significant historiographical consequences; the long-standing confusion about the religiosity of the enslaved people is, at least in part, the result of assumptions that Africans knew little about Christianity before their enslavement. On the contrary, Dewulf traces these religious forms to the slave ships that transported human “cargo” to the Americas. This book is a timely salute to the Catholic and Christian studies that has for a long time portrayed Christians of African descent as marginalized and atypical people, rather than important global actors. (Citation of the Committee of the Prize John Gilmary Shea of ​​the year 2023)

[from publisher’s site]

Jeroen Dewulf is Queen Beatrix Professor in Dutch Studies at the UC Berkeley Department of German and a Professor at Berkeley’s Folklore Program and an affiliated member of the Center for African Studies and the Center for Latin American Studies. He recently completed his long-term role as director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies where he is chair of the Center for Portuguese Studies. His main area of research is Dutch and Portuguese colonial history, with a focus on the transatlantic slave trade and the culture and religion of African-descended people in the American diaspora. He also publishes in the field of Folklore Studies and about other aspects of Dutch, German, and Portuguese literature, culture, and history.

Nova História do Cristianismo Negro na África Ocidental e nas Américas. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, 2024.

Library Trial: Piatidnevka Digital Archive (DA-PIAT) through December 5, 2024

Posted on by Liladhar

The UC Berkeley Library has started a trial of Piatidnevka Digital Archive.  The trial will end on December 5, 2024. Please provide your feedback to your Librarian for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies at Lpendse at berkeley dot edu

The Piatidnevka Digital Archive is a valuable resource for researchers studying early Soviet history, particularly between 1929 and 1931. Published six times a month, this journal documents the Soviet Union’s brief experiment with a five-day workweek. The archive provides insight into the Soviet goal of replacing traditional societal norms with innovative approaches. It contains a wealth of visual and textual materials, including photographs, articles, editorials, and commentaries that offer firsthand perspectives on this significant period.

The trial can be accessed here.

The Piatidnevka (Пятидневка, “Five Day Week”) Digital Archive stands as an invaluable asset for scholars engaged in the study of early Soviet history. Specifically focusing on the period between 1929 and 1931 and published six times per month, this illustrative journal provides critical insights into the Soviet Union’s brief but notable experiment with a five-day workweek, comprising four workdays followed by a day of rest. This initiative reflects the broader Soviet aim of dismantling traditional societal structures in favor of innovative paradigms. The archive is rich in visual and textual content, offering wonderful artistic photos, articles, editorials, and commentaries that furnish first-hand accounts of this significant phase in Soviet history.
The title page of issue of Piatidnevka for July 1930.

Intelligenza Artificiale in Italia

Posted on by Claude Potts

artificial intelligence in Italy

Judging by the explosion of new books on artificial intelligence, or AI, being published in Italy,  you might think this Mediterranean country is the the editorial epicenter for one of the hottest interdisciplinary topics. Whether you are in the humanities, social sciences, human sciences,  computer science, or STEM fields, “intelligenza artificiale” as it’s called in Italian will eventually find its way into your coursework or research. Here are just a few of the books on AI to recently reach bookstores in Italy and that have not automatically been sent to the UC Berkeley Library. However, if you are inclined just let your friendly Romance languages librarian know and he’ll be happy to push the first button to initiate this demand-driven order.*

 

*Demand-driven acquisition (DDA), is a model of library collection development in which a library only purchases materials when it is clear that a patron has demonstrated the need for a resource. If implemented correctly, DDA can make it possible to purchase only what is needed, allowing libraries to spend the same amount of money as they previously spent on monographs, but with a higher rate of use.

 

 

Library Trial: Brill’s British Intelligence on Russia in Central Asia, c. 1865–1949

Posted on by Liladhar

The UC Berkeley Library has initiated a thirty-day trial of British Intelligence on Russia in Central Asia, c. 1865–1949’s database. The trial ends on November 17, 2024

One may access the trial here: Brill’s British Intelligence on Russia in Central Asia.

Please log in using proxy or VPN if you are accessing the resource from an off-campus location.

The database contains the following primary sources according to the self-description below, ”

Michell’s Russian Abstracts

During the 1870s and 1880s, the India Office Political and Secret Department considered the Russian and Central Asian question so vital that it employed an interpreter, Robert Michell, whose task was to review and translate Russian printed reports and extracts from Russian newspapers and other publications. Newspapers and journals regularly monitored included the Moscow Gazette, Turkestan Gazette, Journal de St Petersbourg, Russian Invalid, St Petersburg Gazette, Golos, Turkestan Gazette, and Novoye Vremia.

This image depicts SectionMichell's Russian Abstracts and Memories, 1872-1883 Year 1879 Institution London: War Office, Intelligence Division Dates Jan 1879-Dec 1880 Physical Description 206 ff British Library File Number L/P&S/20/RUS/4 Microform Collection fiche 34-38 (12-16) | reel 4 Scope and Content includes: Captain Kuropatkin's itineraries of routes in Kashgaria. From Osh to Kashgar, traversed by the Russian Mission under Colonel Kuropatkin in October 1876; from the city of Kashgar to the city of Aksu, November to December 1876 Bykof's survey of the upper course of the Oxus, from the Turkestan Gazette, May 1879 Turcomania and the Turcomans, by Captain Kuropatkin, from the Russian Military Journal, 1879 Colonel Grodekof's journey from Tashkend through Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh and Herat to Persia, from the Novoye Vremia, 1880
Section
Michell’s Russian Abstracts and Memories, 1872-1883
Year
1879
Institution
London: War Office, Intelligence Division

Political and Secret Memoranda

At about the same time, as a result of the increasing quantity of intelligence now being regularly received, the India Office Political and Secret Department began to produce printed memoranda in order to provide ministers with easily digestible précis of the information they needed to formulate policy. For officials in India and London, processing information from the frontiers and providing background papers for successive incoming governments and their ministers became an almost full-time occupation. The Memoranda was arranged and numbered by contemporary India Office officials in an alphanumeric sequence that reflected the geographical subject area. Memoranda relating to Central Asia, which included items reflecting the great political debate and guessing game over the nature of Russian intentions in the region, were usually put away in series “C”.

Political and Secret Files on Soviet Central Asia

Although Anglo-Russian rivalry officially ended with the Convention of 1907, Russian ascendancy in Central Asia continued to interest the British imperial administrations. The two powers confronted each other again after the First World War and the Russian Revolution. With the creation of Soviet Socialist Republics in the period between the two World Wars, the British rulers of India were increasingly concerned with infiltrating Indian politics of communist and nationalist agents and ideas. During this period, a new generation of British military and political intelligence officers, spies, and adventurers made courageous, sometimes unofficial, journeys into the Central Asian republics and beyond into Sinkiang. A British Indian agent was stationed at Kashgar in 1893, but 1911 the post was upgraded to Consulate-General. Kashgar became the listening post and source of regular intelligence briefings, political diaries, and trade reports.

Provenance and Archival Background

The archives of the India Office Political and Secret Department (and Military Department) form part of the Oriental and India Office Collections (OIOC) now within the Asia, Pacific, and Africa Collections at the British Library. The Political and Secret Department papers and printed material have now been catalogued under the OIOC reference L/PS. Military Department papers are located under the reference L/MIL.