Presented by Alexander Chaparro-Silva, Ph.D. candidate in history, The University of Texas at Austin, and 2022 recipient of The Bancroft Library Summer Study Award
During the 19th century, many intellectuals and diplomats from Latin America came to California, published continental newspapers and books, sponsored intellectual circles and political clubs, and established transnational correspondence networks to engage with the political problems common to the American hemisphere. These transnational crossings contributed to debates over slavery, citizenship, and immigration in Latin America and reinforced an Anglo/Latin distinction within the hemisphere as the boundary between two competing civilizations. Drawing upon 19th-century printed materials, travelogues, diaries, official documents, and diplomatic correspondence — many from The Bancroft Library — Alexander Chaparro-Silva will explore the role of these hemispheric mobilities in the making of the geopolitical category of “Latin America,” and reflect on the possibilities and challenges of assembling a hemispheric archive dispersed across a vast geography.
The UC Berkeley Oral History Center is proud to host a talk by oral historian Venkat Srinivasan, an alumnus of the 2014 Advanced Oral History Institute. Srinivasan invites us to imagine how we might construct a more inclusive, ethical, and accessible oral history archive.
Every archive accession brings with it questions about inclusivity, ethics and privacy. Please join the Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library for a special guest presentation on ethics in the contemporary archive, by Venkat Srinivasan, archivist at the Archives at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore.
Tuesday, October 25, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Pacific Time.
In person in The Bancroft Library, Conference Room 267
Or join online via Zoom.
In his talk, “An Act of Imagination: The Archives as Commons,” Venkat Srinivasan—an alumnus of the Oral History Center’s Advanced Oral History Institute from 2014—invites us to imagine how we might construct a more inclusive, ethical, and accessible oral history archive. His presentation will address how questions of inclusivity, ethics and privacy are critical when an archive is just starting out, as is the case with the Archives at NCBS. Through examples from correspondence, oral histories, native digital files, its nascent accession and retention policies, and the challenge of a campus COVID-19 archive, this presentation will address the conflicts and synergies on rights to information, diversity, privacy, and the ethics of a contemporary archive.
Archives at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India. (Photo: Ravi Kumar Boyapati)
The Archives at NCBS is a public collecting center for the history of science in contemporary India. It opened in 2019 and houses about 150,000 objects spread across 25 collections. The Archives at NCBS has one underlying philosophy: archives enable diverse stories. Through sharing the work that took place in 2020–21, this presentation will discuss four objectives for the archives: strengthening research collections and access in domain areas, pushing the frontiers of research in archival sciences, building capacity and public awareness through education, training and programming, and reimagining the archives as part of the commons. The Archives at NCBS is also part of Milli, a broader collective of individuals and communities interested in the nurturing of archives, and for the public to find, describe and share archival material and stories.
Speaker Biography
Venkat Srinivasan is the archivist at the Archives at NCBS in Bangalore. In addition, he currently serves on the institutional review boards for the archives at IIT Madras, ISI Kolkata, and NID Ahmedabad, and on the board of the Commission on Bibliography and Documentation of the IUHPST (International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology). He is a member of the Encoded Archival Descriptions – Technical Sub-committee (Society of American Archivists), and Committee on the Archives of Science and Technology (CAST) of the ICA Section on Research Institutions (International Council on Archives). He is a life member of the Oral History Association of India (OHAI), and served in an executive role in OHAI between 2020 and 2022. He is a founding member of Milli, a collective of individuals and communities committed to the nurturing of archives. Prior to this, he was a research engineer at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University. In addition, he is an independent science writer, with work in The Atlantic and Scientific American online, Nautilus, Aeon, Wired, and the Caravan. He graduated with a Masters in Materials Science from Stanford University (2005), a Masters in Journalism (science) from Columbia University (2009), and a Bachelors in Engineering from the University of Delhi (2003).
In-person directions and Zoom details
Zoom details
Please be sure to sign into a Zoom account (free, institutional, or paid).
Through the main entrance of The Bancroft Library, go straight. Once you pass the museum on your right, the Conference Room 267 is the first door on your left. This room is wheelchair accessible.
About the Oral History Center
The Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library preserves voices of people from all walks of life, with varying political perspectives, national origins, and ethnic backgrounds. You can find all our oral histories from the search feature on our home page. Search by name, keyword, and several other criteria. We are committed to open access and our oral histories and interpretive materials are available online at no cost to scholars and the public. Sign up for our monthly newsletter featuring think pieces, new releases, podcasts, Q&As, and everything oral history.
University of California authors published about 50,000 scholarly articles last year alone—comprising nearly 10% of all research in the United States. Despite this tremendous productivity, UC scholars continue to experience a tension between publishing their research in ways that ensure readership or access, and perceptions about the effect of certain outlets and publishing choices on their research impact or career advancement.
In this panel, we’ll unpack the landscape of modern scholarly publishing by exploring economics and stakeholder power structures, and what the University of California is doing to address these issues through recent publisher negotiations.
We will also learn from publishing experts about how to maximize research dissemination, access, and impact through the decisions we make about open access, copyright transfer, and publication choices. Faculty will share publishing advice and guidance for early career researchers as they navigate their academic careers. They will also discuss how tenure and promotion practices are being adjusted to better reflect diversity in publishing outputs and venues. There will be a Q&A session at the end of the discussion.
Speakers will include:
Benjamin Hermalin, Vice Provost for the Faculty; Professor of Finance and Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley
Philip B. Stark, Professor of Statistics, Associate Dean, Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Regional Associate Dean (Interim), College of Chemistry and Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, UC Berkeley
Rachael Samberg, Scholarly Communication Officer, UC Berkeley Library
Timothy Vollmer, Scholarly Communication & Copyright Librarian, UC Berkeley Library
RSVP to join us for this timely conversation on current scholarly publishing issues.
Homecoming at UC Berkeley Saturday, October 13 9am – 3pm 303 Doe Library
The 4,500+ books on the shelves of 303 Doe will be offered for $1 each. Most books are fresh – that is, they have not been offered for sale before. You will find some surprisingly attractive books in the room. I hope that many move from the Library’s shelves to yours.
The Doe Library building will open at 9am on the day of the sale. The best place to wait, if you plan to arrive in advance, is at the main (North) entrance to Doe. Right at 9am I’ll walk up to room 303 with those who have been waiting in line. I’ll ask that everyone maintains his or her place in the line.
Scanners are permitted for those who require an electronic second opinion. Hoarding books for subsequent leisurely review, however, is not.
Thank you for your interest, and we hope to see you there,
Dirk Kennedy
Elephant’s Dream
A film by Kristof Bilsen
Doe Library, Room 180
UC Berkeley
Monday, April 16, 2018
6-8pm
Followed by discussion with the Director / Producer
Set in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Elephant’s Dream is a breath-taking documentary that captures the daily lives of Congolese street-level civil servants in Kinshasa and Bas-Congo. Kristof Bilsen’s documentary is a long overdue testimony to the courage of the men and women who, against all odds, continue to build society and resilience.
This event is free, open to the public, and all are invited to participate. Sponsored by the University Library’s Free Speech Movement (FSM) Educational Programs Committee, the UC Berkeley Department of Geography, and the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies.
Sign up now to participate in the Library’s Edible Book Festival! (After signing up, you’ll have until April 6th to come up with your entry idea.)
Ever wondered what a great literary pun you could make with Catcher in the Rye if you just had some rye bread? Or how cute Velveteen Rabbit themed cupcakes could be? This might just be your chance to explore the more culinary side of your literary interests.
UC Berkeley’s first Edible Book Festival is held in Moffitt Library on April 10, 2017. (Photo courtesy of the Library)
The UC Berkeley Library is hosting an Edible Books Festival on Monday, April 9th. What is an Edible Books Festival, you ask? Just what it sounds like! Edible books might physically resemble books, or they might refer to an aspect of a story, or they might incorporate text. Judges select winners for an array of light-hearted prize categories, such as “Best Literary Pun” or “Most Delicious Looking.” The Festivals are a great way to celebrate both book-making culture and the culinary arts. Edible Book Festivals began with the Books2Eat website in 2000 and is now celebrated internationally during the month of April.
Participants view the work on display in last year’s Festival. (Photo courtesy of the Library.)
Elephant’s Dream
