Resources for Research on Latin America:BL and beyond

Christine Anderson - christine.anderson@london.ac.uk

Aquiles Alencar-Brayner- aquiles.alencarbrayner@bl.uk

ACLAIIR

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Acquirerelevant research material

Facilitate public

access to collections +information

Engage inoutreach

programmes

Collection development: Human & Social Sciences Identify trends of research

(present and future)

Objectives: Provide support for researchers

world-wide Foster interest for future research

on Latin America Continue to develop a word class

collection

Delivered through: Close contact with HE institutions Liaise with official bodies Attend events, conferences and

seminars Plan visits and exhibitions User’s feedback Effective ways of monitoring the

development of collections in relation to the publishing market

Dissemination

Care

Sele

ction

Resources exploitation

(e.g. treasures,technology)

Identifygaps + provide

solutions

Curator

Curatorial responsibilities

External Contact:Media,

DiplomaticBodies, etc

Engagement with

Latin Americanresearchers

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Curator of Latin American Studies

Expert in Latin American Studies

Cares for existing collection: facilitating and improving access, training researchers on how to use it

Builds collection: acquires contemporary publications and antiquarian items

Promotes and facilitates research on the subject area

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Why and how does the British Library have a

Latin American Collection?

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Collections Overview

Latin American Collections began with the library’s foundation in 1753.

Legal Deposit: all Latin American titles published in the UK are deposited in the BL.

Latin American materials are acquired in Spanish and Portuguese as well as English and indigenous languages.

Acquisition focuses on research-level modern printed monographs and serials – we acquire some second-hand and antiquarian.

Material acquired is broad within the humanities and social sciences.

Wide range of format: manuscripts, printed, electronic, microfilm, sound, image, etc.

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Sources & Formats

Manuscripts: Official documents; personal archives; drawings, etc.

Digital resources (including digitised items, Web archive, etc.)

Printed material: Travelogues, ephemera, political pamphlets, etc.

Microfilm Collections

Sound recording: Interviews, music, etc.

Images: Photographs, engravings, moving images, posters, stamps, etc.

Newspapers: Printed, microfilmed and digital

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Manuscripts

Examples of sources found in manuscripts Documents related to exploration, trade, plantation life, and slavery 17-19 century

Indigenous languages

Maps and charts, Spanish and Portuguese colonial reports

Government of Buenos Aires, and the Falkland Islands and Patagonia

Documents relating to the Spanish occupation in Trinidad, Margarita, Guiana, Venezuela and other adjacent provinces, and to the position there of the English, Dutch, French and Portuguese, 1530-1824

Documents relating to the Portuguese occupation of Maranhão, Grão Pará and the adjoining parts of Brazil, 1624-1822

Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1852 and 1861-1866 - miscellaneous items on or from most Latin American countries

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Manuscripts

Key Collections:

Egerton, Sloane and Liverpool papers

Coventry papers

South Sea Company papers and correspondence, 1711-1856

Vansittart papers

Sir Woodbine Parish papers

Venezuelan papers

British Guiana papers

Papers of Sir Austen Henry Layard,

A more detailed list of Hispanic and Latin American manuscripts held at the BL can be found at:

http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelplang/spanish/hispcoll/hispmanblspanish/hisman.html

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Imprints

Rare and Recent Printed Books

The BL has one of the world’s most outstanding collections of printed books from and relating to Latin America

It ranges from key early works published in Europe and Latin America

Such as: the Christopher Columbus letters, rare holdings of early printed books published in Peru and Mexico, early books relating to Latin America published in Europe

To the most recent research publications from Latin America.

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Treasures: some early examples

Juan de Zumárraga, Archbishop of Mexico, Dotrina breve muy pvechosa de ls cosas q ptenecen a la fe catholica y nra cristianidad: en estilo llano p comu inteligencia G.L. (Mexico, 1543[?]; BL Shelfmark: C.37.e.8). Published in 1543 or 1544, this work is one of the earliest surviving Mexican imprints, of which there are few extant copies.

Map of Tenochtitlan – the oldest surviving plan of Mexico city possibly made for Hernan Cortes. Woodcut from Praeclara Ferdinandi Cortesii de Nova Maris Oceani Hispania Narratio, Nürnberg, 1524 (first publication of Cortes's letters.) BL Shelfmark: C.20.e.9

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Maps

Bauzá Collection: Maps of the private library of Alexander von Humbolt

Acquired in the 1840s

Contains 260 manuscript maps of varying sizes and 300 written geographical and statistical texts relating to Spanish America from about 1700 – 1830 compiled by Felipe Bauzá .

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Digitised resources: e.g. European Travelogues; maps, etc.

See: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:British_Library/Mechanical_Curator_collection/Synoptic_index

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Microfilm / Microfiche

Brazil’s popular groups: 1966 – 1987

Brazilian’s work party : 1980 – 2002

Latin American 20th Century pamphlets: over 5,000 pamphlets, grey literature, and ephemera from Latin American countries

Latin American and Caribbean official statistical serials (19th to 20th c) includes demography, administration, finance, commerce, industry, labour, agriculture, education law and public health

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Sound Archive

Examples of various collections:

World and Traditional Music

Concert performances of Latin American music organised by the Como no! promotion company between 1993 and 1997.

Unpublished North, South and Central American holdings Wax cylinder Collections

27 cylinders of recordings of the ‘Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco’, recorded in 1910.

North, South and Central American ethnographic collections

Recordings made by Alberto Jiménez Pérez in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Hinduras, Guatemala, Mexico and Cuba in 1999

Wildlife Sound

Extracts from Rainforest Requiem (available on CD from British Library)

Items relevant to Latin America can also be found in Jazz, Drama and Literature and Oral History.

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Images

Photographs: Catalogues > Photographically illustrated books or Photographs

Online Images and Imaging Reproduction: http://www.imagesonline.bl.uk

Stamps: Collections > Philatelic

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Databases at the British Library

Hispanic American Periodical Index

Handbook of Latin American Studies

JSTOR

19th century Newspapers

http://braw.britishonlinearchives.co.uk/collection.php?cid=9781851172009&sid=&keywords=

http://www.bl.uk/eresources/main.shtml

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Online Open Access Resources for Research on Latin America

– WordCat (a global catalogue of library collections) http://www.worldcat.org/

–Fundacion MAPFRE (Directorio Web de Archivos Iberoamericanos) http://www.mapfre.com/fundacion/es/centrodocs/3_4-directorio-iberoamericano.shtml

–SALALM (Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials) http://salalm.org/collection-development-resources/special-collections-resources/

– REDIAL (Red Europea de Información y Documentación Sobre América Latina) http://www.red-redial.net/

– LAP (Latin American Pamphlet – Digital Collection from Harvard University mostly 19th century) http://vc.lib.harvard.edu/vc/deliver/home?_collection=LAP

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Open access – Electronic texts and databases

–Redalyc (Red de Revistas Cientificas de America Latina y el Caribe, Espana y Portugal) http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/

– Latindex http://www.latindex.unam.mx/

–SciElo (Scientific Electronic Library Online) http://www.scielo.br/

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Other services

– Online exhibition: Spanish American Independence

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/spanishamericanind/homepage.html

– Endangered Archives Programme (EAP)

http://eap.bl.uk/database/overview_project.a4d?projID=EAP060;r=41

Blog: Americas

http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/americas/

– Twitter:

http://twitter.com/_Americas

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Current Projects

Liberalism in the Americas

Collaborative PhD projects

Training Days for Researchers

Academic Conferences

Digitisation

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Stay in touch!

For further information or enquiries you can reach me by email:

Aquiles.alencarbrayner@bl.uk or by telephone: 020 7412 7248

Keep up with the Americas at the BL through our blog: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/americas/

Or follow us on Twitter: BL American Studies@ _Americas

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Q&A