International & Area Studies
French ebooks from L’Harmathèque
Here’s a list of 350 French ebooks (and a couple in Spanish) acquired last year but just recently batch cataloged. Now available through OskiCat, they are discoverable by author, title, or keyword along with other digital versions by the same publisher L’Harmattan which specializes in topics related to Africa, Europe and the rest of the world. Search by handle “Harmathèque ebooks” to pull up the full list of 1041 titles in Berkeley’s collection.
In memoriam: Diego Armando Maradona (1960-2020)
Diego Maradona is dead! One of the greatest players of football (not to be confused with our American football), Diego Armando Maradona or El Pibe de Oro (the Golden Child) rose to fame and much has been written about the trajectory of his life. Instead of repeating the information about the life of this Argentine player, I leave you with some books about him and football from our collection.
In order to search for books about Maradona, please see some relevant tips below.
Subject term = Maradona, Diego, 1960-2020.
Here is another book about him below,
I leave you with this clip that will perhaps make one wonder about the “Hand of God incident.”
On another sad note, Mexican Singer and Actress “Flor Silvestre” also died at the age of 90. RIP, Maradona and Flor Silvestre.
Adding to the distinctive collections of Latin Americana at UC Berkeley Library!
Besides Mexico City, Lima served as an important center for early colonial publishing in Spanish South America (Virreinato de Nueva España). We know that Antonio Ricardo (originally from Turin) was the first printer in South America, and he published the first book in South America in Lima in 1584. It was entitled, “Doctrina Christiana y catecismo para instruccion de los Indios.” Since then Lima continued to serve as an important printing center for the Viceroyalty of New Spain. We were able to acquire a few Lima related imprints for the UC Berkeley Library. A 1668 hagiography of the first Catholic Saint in Americas St. Rosa de Lima. This will be the only physical copy for now in the United States in our understanding.
Compendiolvm Vitæ Admirabilis Et Pretiosæ Mortis B. Rosæ De S. Maria Limensis Peruanæ, Tertii Ordinis S.P. Dominici à S.D.N. Clemente IX. Beatis Annumeratæ Juxta exemplar Romanum
Author: Antonius González de Acuña; Leonhard Hansen; Rosa, Limensis; Simon Utzschneider
Publisher: Augustae Vindelicorum Utzschneider 1668.
The other books that we acquired are indicated below. These will be housed in Bancroft Library for custodial reasons. I wanted to thank Bancroft Library’s staff for all their help.
Rodrigo de Alloza y de Olivan (Rodrigo) and Blasquez de Balverde (Juan), Por el capitan Pedro de Vera Montoya con el alférez Francisco de Aguilar, como marido, y conjunta persona de Doña Catalina de Alarcón, sobre la nulidad que se opone, contra el testamento de Doña Juana de Luque y Alarcón, muger legitima, que fue del dicho Capitan Pedro de Vera Montoya*
(Lima, Pedro de Cabrera, 1640?)
Folio. Title page, 22 f., old water stains, Modern boards.
Very rare Lima imprint: Only copy traced: /Biblioteca Nacional de Chile/ Medina, Imprenta en Lima, III, 2311, Vargas Ugarte, Rubén: Impresos peruanos,(1584-1650), p. 166, n° 282, Araujo Espinoza, Graciela, Adiciones a La imprenta en Lima, 1584-1824. CCBSF-25341. Iberian Books, 50644.
COVID-19: Israeli and Jewish Studies Librarians Speak (November 19, 2020)
This is the penultimate event in the series: “Collecting Conversations: Academic Libraries and Research in Flux,” that we have organized at our library. The registration information is here: https://berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CSqP-OQgRpulyYCTP-26XQ
A special note of thanks to Dr. Ruth Haber, our curator for Judaica Collections, and our campus partners for their generous support and encouragement: The UCB Center for Jewish Studies; The Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies; and The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life. Also, the event could not have been possible if not for the help from Library Administration and the Library Communications Team. ALL ARE WELCOME!
In memoriam: Luis Zapata- A trailblazer and a pioneer of the LGBT Literature in Mexico!
I was shocked by the news of the untimely demise of Mexican author Luiz Zapata, who is considered a trailblazer of the LGBT literary genre in Mexico. As the newspaper, Millenio reported he had been sick for sometime. Luis Zapata Quiroz‘s acclaimed book, “El vampiro de la colonia Roma,” is considered one of the first books that broke the silence on the issues of gay presence in Mexican literature. It was the recipient of the 1979 Juan Grijalbo book prize.
I leave you with some of his books that we have in our collections and a video recording. RIP, Luis Zapata.
- De cuerpo entero / Luis Zapata.
- Melodrama : De petalos perennes
- En jirones
- Ese amor que hasta ayer nos quemaba
- La hermana secreta de Angélica María
[Open Access] Anáforas: Publicaciones Periódicas Del Uruguay
Libraries for me are always open, however, due to COVID-19, we can talk all day about how it has restricted our access to the physical spaces and books and periodicals. Thus, our access to electronic editions acquires special importance. We all know the fact that the marginal cost of producing an electronic version is significantly lower than the price we pay to purchase a multi-user, unlimited simultaneous user license for an electronic book. Thus, as UC has already noted that Open Access becomes a point of departure from the traditional business models. In Latin America as well as in many parts of the global south, OA means even more due to institutional budgetary constraints.
One such journal that provides insight into the life in Uruguay is “Mundo Uruguayo.” Its issues have been digitized for the period from 1919-1967 and are available in the repository of “Universidad de la Republica (UdelaR)“.
Image 1: The digitized issues of Mundo Uruguayo.
The database can be searched for the individual issues and these can be downloaded in their PDF format. The image below shows a specific issue of Mundo Uruguayo, which due to its illustrated nature provides the user interesting insights into the evolution of society.
Image 2: The landing page of the digitized 1951 issues of Mundo Uruguayo.
(Open Access)Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents at Library of Congress!
Transcribing is sacred when it comes to different historical documents and crowdsourcing seems to be an acceptable mantra for many of such projects. One such project is that of transcribing Spanish Legal documents that were acquired by the Library of Congress. This volunteer based effort warrants attention and thus this post. The collection is located here. The screenshot below shows the landing page of the collection.
Spanish Legal Documents (15th-19th Centuries) at Library of Congress
One might wonder, how the interface for transcribing looks like, and guidance on how to proceed? Below is the screenshot that can provide us some insight.
Perhaps one can consider volunteering for transcribing these Spanish legal documents?
CLAS: Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj Trade, Improvement and Survival: An Indigenous Approach to the Current Immigration “Crisis”
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(Open Access) KĀRAWĀN- Afghanistan Newspaper Digitized by University of Nebraska Libraries
Since the US invasion of Afghanistan, we continue to hear about the success of US policies when it comes to the nation-building in a war-torn land. We also continue hearing the ongoing violence in the country, and how we are winning the war. Policies aside, I personally support and stand by our American troops our soldiers overseas!
We rarely hear about the projects that lead to a sort of cultural memory preservation or often these are relegated to backstage. And our homeland is a major sponsor of such projects overseas. Domestically, public institutions of higher education continue to perform miracles by offering more and more digitized resources. Open Access matters!
Karawan is indeed a breath of fresh air in the OA domain. The University of Nebraska has digitized its issues. That can be accessed here.
The site-description states that it was established by Sạbahuddin̄ Kushkakī (not to be confused with Burhanuddin Kushkaki) on 24 September 1968. Who was Sạbahuddin̄ Kushkakī is the question to which the answer cannot be simple? The US National Security Archive at GW University provides some insight on him in the context of National Endowment for Democracy (NED). A document entitled Afghanistan Democratic Education Project is informative of the early US efforts to carry out democratic goodwill projects. One can also find more information about him through the FOIA releases here (page.3) I will not dwell upon the trajectory of “the American Friends of Afghanistan, as one can read into who could have been its executive director at one point: z.k.”
The point here is that due to these policies we have an effect of unintended consequences– we have access to Karawan!
Trial: Arte Público Press Databases (EBSCO)- Ending on October 31, 2020
We are glad to announce that the UC Berkeley Library has started trials of Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1 and Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 2 that have been hosted by EBSCO. (Please click on the hyperlinks above to access the resources).
Combined search has been enabled by the library. And the trials are good through October 31, 2020. Please click on the icon below to start your searches. If you are accessing from an off-campus location, please make sure that the proxy or VPN are set up.
EBSCO’s Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection is an archive of publications focused exclusively on U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture from colonial times until 1960. Available in two series, Series 1 focuses on the creative life of U.S. Latinos and Hispanics. Content is written, indexed and searchable in Spanish and English.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 2
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection is an archive of publications focused exclusively on U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture from colonial times until 1960. Available in two series, Series 2 focuses on Hispanic American civil rights, religion and women’s rights from the 18th through the 20th century. Content is written, indexed and searchable in Spanish and English.
There are multiple sources included in these databases.
