What’s New

Recent Shipment of Lusophone African Literature

Posted on by Claude Potts
Map of Luso-African Literary Publishers by City
Map of Luso-African Literary Publishers by City generated by Bee Lehman

More than 80 works of literature from Angola, Cabo Verde, and Mozambique arrived in Doe Library last week. This selection of poetry, short stories, and novels in Portuguese was made possible through a generous 3-year grant from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) in Lisbon. The absence of Lusophone African literature from mainstream African literary studies (mostly in English and French) has been noted by contemporary scholars. These new works of post-colonial fiction and verse listed below are held by few academic libraries and reflect the UC Berkeley Library’s longstanding commitment to collect and make accessible underrepresented voices from across the world in more than 400 distinct languages. Please enjoy this curated list by book dealer Susanne Bach Books which provides a snapshot of the rich literary output from Lusophone Africa over the past three years:

100 poemas para Neto / Poetas da União dos Escritores Angolanos. Luanda, Angola: EAL – Edições de Angola, 2022.

A greve das palavras: contos juvenis / Celso Celestino Cossa. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique : Editorial Fundza, 2024.

A intimidade das sementes: narrativas / Amílcar Armando Raja. Maputo, Moçambique: Gala-Gala Edições, 2024.

A queda do Macombe Chipapata: tramas e revoltas /  Celestino Joanguete. Maputo, Moçambique: Ethale Publishing, 2024.

Almas em tácitas / Lino Mukurruza. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2023.

Amei para me amar / Nyeleti. Inhambene do Céu, Moçambique: Massinhane Edições, 2024.

Amores da província: 3 novelas / Benjamim Pedro João. Maputo, Moçambique: Edições Tarymba, 2022.

Amores e outras cores / Armindo António. Maputo, Moçambique: Catalogus, 2024.

Antologia mulheres e seus destinos / vol. IV :coord., org. Lena Marçal. Cidade da Praia, Cabo Verde :[s.n.], 2024.

As coisas do morto / Francisco Guita Jr. Maputo, Moçambique: Gala-Gala Edições, 2024.

As peripécias de Caia: I volume da trilogia / Benjamim Pedro João. Maputo, Mozambique: Edições Tarymba, 2024.

Até depois da solidão: o diário de Ricardo / Nunes Cristovão; Osvaldo dos Anjos (Exilado). Maputo, Moçambique: Ntxuva Editora, 2023.

Boleia à chave da felicidade / Roberto Savanguanni. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique:Editorial Fundza, 2023.

Canção de setembro para Zamuzaria Maria / Rafael da Câmara. Maputo, Moçambique:Gala-Gala edições, 2023.

Criação do fogo / Álvaro Fausto Taruma.Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2024.

De neve e de bruma = Di nevi i di serason / José Luiz Tavares; ilustrações de Yuran Henrique.Kabuverdi: Gongon Cartoneira, 2022.

Dedicatória: as minhas experiências mais gratificantes e as que não me orgulho / Abilito O Negro. Chimoio, Moçambique: Sguerra DEsign, 2022.

Deixa-me escrever-te / Timóteo Papel. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique: Fundza, 2023.

Delírios matinais / Emerson D’ Oliveira.Maputo, Moçambique: Edição de autor, 2022.

Dias rasgados ao meio / Jorge de Oliveira. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2023.

Dicionário de pequenas solidões /  Ronaldo Cagiano. Maputo, Moçambique: Catalogus, 2024.

Escritores emergentes de Moçambique (antologia) / Benjamim Pedro João. Maputo, Moçambique: Edições Tarymba, 2022.

Estórias trazidas pela ventania / Adelino Albano Luís. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique: Editorial Fundza, 2023.

Eterno cacimbo / Mavu Keyambata. Luanda: Palavra e arte, 2023.

Eu te amo, tu és linda!  Josina Costa Viegas. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores; Clube de Leitura de Qualimane, 2024.

Filosofar dos Corpos / Atanásio Mutoropa. Beira: Fundza, 2024.

Fui para dentro de mim e não voltei / Mauro da Silva. 2ª ed. Inhambene-Céu, Moçambique: Massinhane Edições, 2024.

Geba: onde o Tâmega desaguou no Índico / Miguel César. Maputo, Moçambique: Fundação Fernando Leite Couto, 2022.

Ginástica nictofóbica da terra / Wilton dos Zicas. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2023.

Há exorcismos em Njofane / Vitorino Ubisse Oliveira. Inhambane, Mozambique: Massinhane, 2023.

Incêndios à margem do sono / Óscar Fanheiro. Maputo, Moçambique: Fundação Fernando Couto, 2023.

Kwashala blues / Jessemusse Cacinda. Maputo, Moçambique: Ethale, 2023.

Lesões da memória / Ernesto Maluleque Júnior. Maputo, Moçambique: Ethale Publishing, 2024.

Makhalelo: cocktail de crónicas / Adriano Félix. Maputo, Moçambique: Editorial Fundza, 2022.

Mandume: o rei de Oukwanyama / Cigano Satyohamba. Luanda, Angola: Edição do autor, 2021.

Masika: o intuitivo / A’mosi Just A Label. Luanda, Angola: Konono Soul Books, 2023.

Masingita ou a subtileza do incesto / Juvenal Bucuane. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique: Editorial Fundza, 2022.

Memória subterrânea / Mudungazi. Maputo: Editora Kulera, 2024.

Meninas do crepúsculo Leste / Cecília António Moreira. Luanda, Angola: Editora Acácias,2024.

Mulher e marido / Manuel Rui. Luanda, Angola: Mayamba Editora, 2024.

Mutiladas / Eduardo Quive. Maputo, Mozambique: Editora Catalogus, 2024.

Nas areias do tempo / Luís Cezerilo. Maputo, Moçambique: Editora Lithangu, 2024.

Navegar. Amor. Café. /Ruben Morgado. Maputo, Moçambique: Catalogus, 2024.

Névoa na sala/ Mélio Tinga. Maputo, Moçambique: Catalogus Editora, 2024.

Novas vozes, novas estórias / Abrahama Zacarias Noé. Maputo, Moçambique: Catalogus, 2024.

Nunca me abandones / Alcides Simões. Praia, Cabo Verde: Livraria Pedro Cardoso, 2023.

O amor de uma prostituta / Flora Salvador. Luanda, Angola: É Sobre Nós Editora, 2023.

O Amor que há em ti / Larsan Mendes Beira: Editorial Fundza. 2022.

O amor, o gato preto e outras insónias / José Pedro Pinto Lobo. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2024.

O descalço dos murmúrios / Gibson João. Maputo, Moçambique: Fundação Fernando Leite Couto, 2023.

O endereço para dentro do segredo / Baptista Américo. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique: Editorial Fundza, 2024.

O galo cantou na baía… :(e outros contos cabo-verdeanos) / Manuel Lopes. Praia, Cabo Verde: Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional de Cabo Verde, 2023.

O Inventário da Memória: Ensaios/ José dos Remédios (org). Beira, Moçambique: Fundza, 2024.

O lado sujo da metáfora / Jeconias Mocumbe. Maputo, Moçambique: GalaGala Edições, 2024.

O louco que habita em nós: perversão por detrás da aparência / Catarino Luamba. Luanda: Kilunji, 2024.

O manual das mãos / Eduardo White. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance, 2022.

O retrato dos demónios / Naji Sacaúnha.Inhambene-Céu, Moçambique: Massinhane Edições, 2024.

Observador de sonhos / Bruno Morgado. Maputo, Moçambique: Catalogus, 2024.

Orera: um conto de amor e honestidade / Hélder Tsemba. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique: Editora Fundza, 2023.

Os bichos têm dono: estórias verídicas / Almiro Lobo. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2024.

Os funerais de Manguituka, o terrível bandido e outros mambos / Albino Carlos.Luanda, Angola: Editora Acácias, 2023.

Os heróis que não sabiam voar /Honório Quimbuari. Luanda, Angola: Imprensa Nacional, 2023.

Os lobos não podem esperar / Natacha Magalhães. Praia, Cabo Verde: Pedro Cardoso Livraria,2022.

Os pores-do-sol / Lahissane. Maputo, Moçambique: Ethale Publishing, 2022.

Os últimos animais / Whaskety Fernando. idade da Beira, Moçambique: Editora Fundza, 2023.

Pedaços da eternidade / Piedade Manuel. Benguela, Angola: Editora Shalom, 2024.

Peneiras de poalha / Humberto Santos. Cidade da Praia, Cabo Verde: Livraria Pedro Cardoso, 2023.

Pétalas negras: ou a sombra do inanimado / Belmiro Mouzinho. Cidade da Beira, Moçambique: Fundza, 2022.

Pita kufa: o leito da morte / Carlos Paradona Rufino Roque. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2024.

Poemas de infância e o reencontro com o passado – presente / Joaquim Nhampoca.Maputo, Moçambique: Edição de Autor, 2022.

Poemas do breve / Lex Mucache. Beira; Fundza, 2024.

Quando os mochos piam: contos / Geremias Mendoso. Maputo, Moçambique: Fundação Fernando Leite Couto, 2022.

Quarentena /Jorge Ferrão.  Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance editores, 2024.

Raízes e gritos / Lorna Zita. Maputo, Moçambique: Editora Kulera,2023.

Saudades do ventre da minha mãe / Márcio Batalha. Luanda, Angola: Editora Acácias, 2022.

Siavuma 100 anos / org. Ricardo Santos. Maputo: Alcance editores, 2024.

Singularidades IV: estudos africanos / Lourenço Rosário. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2024.

Sonata de uma nação vagabunda / Mudungazi.Maputo, Moçambique: Editora Kulera, 2024.

Sopro / Nelson Lineu. Maputo, Moçambique: TPC Editora, 2023.

Tanto amor / Kaya M. Maputo, Moçambique: Editora Kulera, 2023.

Te amo mecanicamente / Marco Lole de Andrade. Songo, Moçambique: Soletra Editora, 2022.

Uma onça na cidade / Deusa D’África. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance editores, 2024.

Verdades dos mitos / Hélder Muteia. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2023.

Yolela / Zaki Wamai. Luanda, Angola: É Sobre Nós Editora, 2024.

Zero sobre zero: o espião que veio de Kigali / Aurélio Furdela. Maputo, Moçambique: Alcance Editores, 2024.

Zeus, quando é cão / Francisco Muianga. Beira, Moçambique. Editorial Fundza 2022.

flowerVisit the Iberian Studies library research guide for more books about Luso-African Literature and Criticism.

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

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.

 

UC Berkeley Library’s Dataverse

Posted on by Anna Sackmann

artistic logo and text that reads Data and Digital Scholarship Services UC Berkeley Library

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.

Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library

Posted on by Claude Potts
Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library

At the intersection of Chicana/o/x Studies, Digital Humanities and Library History, Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library chronicles the history of one of the first Chicana/o/x collections, the Chicano Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Bibliopolítica shares the stories of trailblazing library workers, students and community members who worked to preserve and make Chicana/o/x resources available. Featuring photographs, ephemera, archival documents, and oral histories, Bibliopolítica offers an original digital collection of primary sources and is the first audiovisual history of this special place that helped redefine what libraries could be.

Bibliopolítica takes its name from a book of the same title that Richard Chabrán and librarian colleague Francisco García-Ayvens published in 1984, BiblioPolítica: Chicano Perspectives on Library Service in the United States. In 2024, it remains one of the few titles dedicated to the discussion of Chicana/o/x librarianship. Bibliopolítica: a Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library adds to this important conversation, but it is only the beginning of a much needed longer and more detailed history of the Chicano Studies Library and the contributions of Chicana/o/x library workers.

You can explore the digital exhibit, listen to recorded oral histories, browse digitized archival items, or explore on your own path.

Co-curated by Amanda Belantara – Assistant Curator at New York University Libraries, Lillian Castillo-Speed – former Chicano Studies Library Coordinator, now Head Librarian of the Ethnic Studies Library at UC Berkeley, and Richard Chabrán – former Chicano Studies Library Coordinator, Team Leader Latino Digital Archive Group.

Digitization of archival items by Chrissy Huhn and UC Berkeley Library IT and Oral history recordings at Berkeley by Pablo Gonzalez and Angelica Garcia. See additional credits.

 

Library Trial: Brill’s Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, 1959-, Part 4: Music

Posted on by Liladhar

The Library is currently trialing Brill’s Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, Part IV: Music until October 14, 2024. The database can be accessed here.

This primary source collection documents the history of music in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a special focus on Revolutionary Cuba. It explores the role of music in society and covers festivals, performances, trends, and persons (musicians, composers, producers, etc.). The collection is scanned from the so-called “vertical archive” at Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba (source: Brill)

Title: Abelardo Barroso. 1968Localidad: Cuba Resumen: Entrevista al sonero cubano. Publicada en Bohemia. Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical type: Personalidades Estado conservation: Bueno Cant. Doc.: 1 documento
Title: Abelardo Barroso. 1968
Localidad: Cuba
Resumen: Entrevista al sonero cubano. Publicada en Bohemia.
Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical

 

Así canta y dice Puerto Rico. 1982Title: Así canta y dice Puerto Rico. 1982 Localidad: Cuba Resumen: Artículos sobre el citado evento, celebrado en Casa de las Américas. Artistas participantes. Publicado en Granma y Trabajadores. Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical type: Congreso
Así canta y dice Puerto Rico. 1982

Please use ez proxy or VPN if you are accessing the resource from an off-campus location. Please provide your feedback to your Librarian of the Caribbean and Latin American Studies at Lpendse (at) berkeley (dot) edu

Please access the resource here.

 

Art for the Asking: Check-Out Art From The Graphic Arts Loan Collection At The Morrison Library August 26 & 27

Posted on by Scott Peterson

1958 GALC Catalog CoverThe Graphic Arts Loan Collection (GALC) at the Morrison Library has been checking out art to UC Berkeley students, staff, and faculty since 1958 and it is back again this year!

Student riding bike with GALC printThe purpose of the GALC since its inception has been to put art in the hands of UC Berkeley students (and the best way to appreciate art is to live with it!), so on August 26 and 27, from 10am to 4pm, UC Berkeley students can come to the Morrison Library (101 Doe Library) and check-out up to two pieces of art from the GALC’s collection to take home and hang on their walls for the academic year. The prints will be available to students on a first come, first served basis.

If you would like to see what we have before you come to the Morrison Library, all the prints are available to browse online at the Graphic Arts Loan Collection website. Not everything in the collection will be available at the Morrison Library these days, but much of the collection will. Please note that the Graphic Arts Loan Collection will not be available to staff and faculty members during this time, but only available to UC Berkeley students. Starting August 29th students can reserve prints from the collection through the GALC website, and on September 9th, faculty and staff can begin reserving prints. Any questions about the GALC can be directed to graphicarts-library@berkeley.edu.

Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled: Trees With Mattress        Culebra en el Petate Sergio Sanchez Santamaria         Faith Ringgold, Jo Baker's Birthday

  Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled: Trees With Mattress              Culebra en el Petate, Sergio Sanchez Santamaria                     Faith Ringgold, Jo Baker’s Birthday

The Bancroft Library’s San Francisco Examiner photograph archive

Posted on by Michael Lange

As part of the UC Berkeley University Library’s ongoing commitment to make all our collections easier to use, reuse, and publish from, we are excited to announce that we have just eliminated licensing hurdles for use of over 5 million photographs taken by San Francisco Examiner staff photographers in our Fang family San Francisco examiner photograph archive negative files, BANC PIC 2006.029–NEG, and Fang family San Francisco examiner photograph archive photographic print files, BANC PIC 2006.029–PIC.

Black and white photo of an adult llama with baby llama in a zoo. People looking at llamas through chainlink fence.
Baby llama at zoo, 1935, Fang family San Francisco Examiner photograph archive, © The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Every photograph within these photographic print and negative collections that were taken by an SF Examiner staff photographer are now licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0). This means that anyone around the world can incorporate these photos into papers, projects, and productions—even commercial ones—without ever getting further permission or another license from us.

What is the San Francisco Examiner collection?
The SF Examiner has been published since 1863, and continues to be one of The City’s daily newspapers. It was acquired by George Hearst in 1880 and given to his son, William Randolph Hearst, in 1887. It was the founding cornerstone of the Hearst media empire, and remained part of the Hearst Corporation’s holdings until it was sold, in 2000, to the Fang family of San Francisco. In 2006 the Examiner’s photo morgue, totaling over 5 million individual images, was donated to The Bancroft Library by the Fang family’s successors, the SF Newspaper Company, LLC.

Along with the gift of negatives and photographic prints, the copyright to all photographs taken by SF Examiner staff photographers was transferred to the UC Regents, to be managed by UC Berkeley Library. However, the copyright to works (mainly in the form of photographic prints) that appear in the collection that were not created by SF Examiner staff was not part of the copyright transfer to the University. Copyright to any works not taken by SF Examiner staff is presumed to rest with the originating agency or photographer. The Library maintains a list of known SF Examiner staff photographers and can assist in making identification of particular photographs until the metadata has been updated.

What has changed about the collection?
Although people did not previously need the UC Regents’ permission (sometimes called a “license”) to make fair uses of our SF Examiner photograph archive, because of the progressive permissions policy we created, prior to January 2024 people did need a license to reuse these works if their intended use exceeded fair use. As a result, hundreds of book publishers, journals, and film-makers sought licenses from the Library each year to publish our Examiner photos.
The UC Berkeley Library recognized this as an unnecessary barrier for research and scholarship, and has now exercised its authority on behalf of the UC Regents to freely license the SF Examiner photographs in our collection that were taken by staff photographers under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0). This license is designed for maximum dissemination and use of the materials.

How to use SF Examiner collection photographs
Now that the photographs by SF Examiner staff photographers have a CC BY license applied to them, no additional permission or license from the UC Regents or anyone else is needed to use these works, even if you are using the work for commercial purposes. No fees will be charged, and no additional paperwork is necessary from us for you to proceed with your use.

Black and white photo of large group at Sather Gate on UC Berkeley campus gathered around a speaker who cannot be seen over the crowd.
Edward Alexander, State Educational Director, Young Communist League, speaking against Hitler at Sather Gate, UC campus, 1938, Fang family San Francisco Examiner photograph archive, © The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Making your usage even easier is the fact that over 22,000 of these negative strips have been digitized and made available via the Library’s Digital Collections Site, and the finding aid for the prints and negatives have more information about the photographs that have not yet been digitized.

The CC BY license does require attribution to the copyright owner, which in this case is the UC Regents. Researchers are asked to attribute use of reproductions subject to this policy as follows, or in accordance with discipline-specific standards:

Fang family San Francisco Examiner photograph archive, © The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

One final note on usage: While the SF Examiner Collection now carries a CC BY license, this does not mean that other federal or state laws or contractual agreements do not apply to their use and distribution. For instance, there may be sensitive material protected by privacy laws, or intended uses that might fall under state rights of publicity. It is the researcher’s responsibility to assess permissible uses under all other laws and conditions. Please see our Permissions Policy for more information.

Other Library collections with a CC BY license
The Fang family San Francisco Examiner photograph archive joins a number of other collections that the Library has opened under a CC BY license, including the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin. All of the collections that have had a CC BY license applied can be found on our Easy to Use Collections page.

Happy researching!

Wikiphiliacs, Unite! (At our Wikipedia Editathon, on Valentine’s Day, 2024)

Posted on by Ann Glusker

"Edit for Change" Wikipedia Editathon date and time details, with a graphic looking like a crossword puzzle

I am a proud Wikiphiliac.  At least, according to the Urban Dictionary, which defines Wikiphilia as “a powerful obsession with Wikipedia”. I have many of the signs it warns of, including “accessing Wikipedia several times a day…spending much more time on Wikipedia than originally intended [and]… compulsively switching to other Wikipedia articles, using the hyperlinks within articles, often without obtaining the originally sought information and leaving a bizarre informational “trail” in his/her browsing history” (but that last part is just normal life as a librarian).

How else do I love Wikipedia?  Let me count the ways!  As a librarian, I always approach crowd-sourced information with a critical eye, but I also admire that Wikipedia has its own standards for fact-checking, and in fact some topics are locked to public editing.  It takes its mission very seriously.  It also has an accessible and neutral tone.  Especially when I want to learn about a technical topic, it can give me a straightforward and helpful way to approach it.  I also use it pretty routinely as a way to look at collections of sources about a topic; when I was a medical librarian, I was asked for data on the condition neurofibromatosis, and at that time the best basic links I found were in the references for the Wikipedia article.   Last and maybe most importantly, the fact that anyone can edit is a huge strength…with challenges.  Wikipedia openly admits its content is skewed by the gender and racial imbalance of its editors, and knowing this is part of approaching it critically, but it also means that IT CAN CHANGE, and WE CAN CHANGE IT.

Given that philia, a word taken from Ancient Greek (according to the philia Wikipedia article), means affection for or love of something, it’s fitting that our 2024 Wikipedia Editathon is part of UC’s Love Data Week, and happens on Valentine’s Day.   If you would like to learn to contribute to this amazing resource, and perhaps even help diversify its editorial pool, we can get you started!  There isn’t yet a Wikipedia page on Wikiphilia, but maybe you could create one!  There already is a podcast series…

If you’re interested in learning more, we warmly welcome you and invite you to join us on Wednesday, February 14, from 1-2:30 for the 2024 UC Berkeley Libraries Wikipedia Editathon.  No experience is required—we will teach you all you need to know about editing!  (but, if you want to edit with us in real time, please create a Wikipedia account before the workshop—information on how to do that is on the registration page).  The link to register is here, and you can contact any of the workshop leaders with questions.  We hope you will join us, and we look forward to editing with you!

NOTE: the Wikipedia Editathon is just one of the programs that’s part of the University of California’s Love Data Week 2024!  Don’t forget to check out all the other great UC Love Data Week offerings—this year UC Berkeley Librarians are hosting/co-hosting SIX different sessions!  Here are those UCB-led workshop links, and the full calendar is linked here:

Thinking About and Finding Health Statistics & Data
GIS & Mapping: Where to Start
Cultivating Collaboration: Getting Started with Open Research
Code-free Data Analysis
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon 
Getting Started with Qualitative Data Analysis

Love Data Week calendar, with Berkeley-led offerings circled

New Publication from Faculty Julia Bryan-Wilson

Posted on by Nina Bayley
Liza Lou
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Doris and Clarence Malo Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, has a new book out, available at the UC Berkeley Library.

The most comprehensive book on the work of Liza Lou, whose popular and critically acclaimed installations made entirely of beads consider the important themes of women, community, and the valorization of labor.

Liza Lou first gained attention in 1996 when her room-sized sculpture Kitchen was shown at the New Museum in New York. Representing five years of individual labor, this groundbreaking work subverted standards of art by introducing glass beads as a fine art material. The project blurred the rigid boundary between fine art and craft, and established Lou’s long-standing exploration of materiality, process, and beauty. Working within a craft métier has led the artist to work in a variety of socially engaged settings, from community groups in Los Angeles, to a collective she founded in Durban, South Africa. Over the past fifteen years, Lou has focused on a poetic approach to abstraction as a way to highlight the process underlying her work.

In this comprehensive volume that considers the entirety of Lou’s singular vision, curators, art historians, and artists offer important perspectives on the breadth of the work.