Talking Open Access: Interview with LARR Editor in Chief, Philip Oxhorn

Some of us will soon be heading to the Latin American Studies Association Congress in San Francisco, CA, May 23-26, 2012. The Latin American Research Review, which is the journal of the association and one of the preeminent journals in our field, announced in 2010 that it would provide open access to its content for people residing in Latin America and the Caribbean.  I conducted a brief interview about this initiative with the Editor in Chief of LARR, Philip Oxhorn, over email. 

SS: What circumstances led the leadership at the Latin American Research Review (LARR) and the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), to decide to make its journal content freely available to readers in Latin America and the Caribbean?

PO: The decision to provide open access to LARR for people residing in Latin America and the Caribbean was a natural outgrowth of our desire to transform LARR into a preeminent platform for promoting research exchanges between Northern and Southern academics, as well as among Latin American researchers throughout the region. As the flagship journal of the largest interdisciplinary association of its kind, we not only appreciated the importance of such a role for LARR, but also realized we enjoyed the support of research networks that would be essential for its success. LARR has published in English, Portuguese and Spanish since its inception, and a growing percentage of LASA’s membership actually resides in the region. This meant that the people whose research we wanted to disseminate already were well acquainted with high quality that LARR has come to represent. It also meant we had huge potential readership. The challenge was to be able to allow those potential readers to gain access.

The nature of this challenge was reinforced at the 2009 LASA Congress in Rio de Janeiro.  The LARR-sponsored panel on Publishing your Research generated a lively discussion of the value of open access publications for promoting the free exchange of knowledge. This is particularly true for Latin America and the Caribbean given the scarcity of resources. In 2009, just 4 percent of universities in Latin America and the Caribbean received LARR through their institutional memberships in LASA, along with the 2.4 percent of universities that had access of back issues of LARR through their participation in Project Muse. Researchers were also able to purchase individual articles through JSTOR at 17.7 percent of the region’s universities. Of course, most of LASA’s institutional members also belong to Project Muse and JSTOR, so the reality in 2009 was that approximately 80 percent of the Universities in Latin America and the Caribbean did not have ready access to LARR. While the fact that LASA’s 2000 individual members received copies of LARR and compensated for this to a certain extent, it was clear that access to LARR was far more restricted than we liked.

At the same time, we were deeply cognizant of the difficulties researchers in the region generally face when trying to gain access to research done in other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean or trying to disseminate their own work in other countries. While greater academic exchanges and the internet have begun to break down such barriers, it still remains limited and often ad hoc in nature. There is still no single regional peer-reviewed journal with LARR’s prominence that is easily available to all interested researchers. While LARR cannot singlehandedly fill this void, we hope to make an important contribution.

SS: In thinking about steps forward, what are the challenges LARR faces in implementing a broader open access initiative?

PO: There are two principal challenges to providing broader open access. The first is one of perception. Open access in the social sciences and humanities is still in its infancy and we do not know how the shift will be perceived. In particular, there is some trepidation to be the first to provide full open access because it might be viewed as lowering LARR’s standards for publication. Such a perception would be completely unfounded since the review process would not be changed in any way. Yet there is always a risk in attempting to do something radically different like providing full open access and the decision to do so for residents in Latin America and the Caribbean was seen as a good compromise and strategic experiment to allow us to learn more about the real risks involved.

The second challenge is economic. Providing full open access has significant financial implications. This is true even for LARR, which is in a unique situation compared to most journals. While the bulk of our subscriptions are paid for automatically through individual and institutional LASA memberships, LASA receives substantial royalties through its participation in Project Muse and JSTOR, and this would be lost if we provided full open access. For other journals that are far more dependent on individual and institutional subscriptions, open access would be even more costly. Once again, open access to residents in Latin America and the Caribbean was seen as a good compromise that would minimize the economic implications of open access. This is because of the cost of printing and mailing hardcopies of the journal to the region was fairly high, and we stopped mailing hardcopies to Latin America and the Caribbean once open access became available. At the same time, the loss of revenue from Project Muse and JSTOR would be minimal given their limited availability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

SS: While open access initiatives have sprouted throughout Latin America, as far as I know LARR is one of the first journal of its stature in the North to adopt this hybrid model of open access for Latin America and the Caribbean. Do you have any words of advice for journals that might be thinking of following in your footsteps?

PO: While the implications of providing full open access would necessarily require a radical change in almost all journals’ business models, providing open access to just Latin American and the Caribbean is surprisingly cost effective. Given low subscription rates and limited access to Project Muse and JSTOR, the impact on revenues is likely to be minimal. Yet our experience suggests that the benefits in terms of knowledge dissemination and prestige are substantial. There were almost 900 universities in the region in 2009, with hundreds of thousands of students and faculty members who would benefit immensely from ready access to cutting-edge research. The feedback we received has only been positive.

SS: This initiative acknowledges resource inequalities between scholarly communities in Latin America and the Caribbean and those in the North. Very few universities in Latin America and the Caribbean have had access to LARR through institutional subscriptions, and subsequently many scholars have been excluded from using the important research published in LARR.  What are your hopes for this initiative in terms of a more equitable scholarly exchange?

PO: Our hopes are quite high. We believe that quality journals like LARR should be read more widely to serve as a foundation for greater scholarly exchange between the North and the South, but also within the global South. This also benefits our contributors, who share this same fundamental goal and want to be read widely. At the same time, authors in Latin America and the Caribbean who might not have thought of submitting their research to LARR might appreciate the fact that LARR provides them with a platform that is not only international in scope, but that effectively strives to integrate Latin America and the Caribbean into a single academic arena, helping to overcome the often artificial national barriers resulting from the lack of resources.

SS: What are the steps a person or institution in Latin America or the Caribbean would have to take to access LARR‘s content through this initiative?

PO: It could not be any easier. Anyone clicking on the link for LARR Online (http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/eng/larr/article-search.asp) from anywhere in Latin America and the Caribbean will automatically be transferred to the search engine. There is no sign-in page. The LARR website also notes the existence of open access for the region.

This interview has also been posted on the HAPI Online Journal Profile section. HAPI provides free subscriptions to its content for people residing in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Sócrates Silva, Associate Editor, Hispanic American Periodicals Index

Category SALALM Blog |

Scholarships available for “History of the Book in Hispanic America, 16th-19th Centuries”

The scholarship deadline for the California Rare Books School’s week-long “History of the Book in Hispanic America, 16th-19th Centuries” course, which several SALALM members have attended in the past, is June 15th, 2012.  Read more about it below!

 

History of the Book in Hispanic America, 16th-19th Centuries
August 6 – 10, 2012
California Rare Book School
Los Angeles, CA

Faculty:
Daniel J. Slive (Head of Special Collections, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University)
David Szewczyk (Co-proprietor, Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company)

Description:

This course will present a comprehensive introduction to the history of the book in Hispanic America from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries.  The focus will be on colonial period imprints, ca. 1539 through ca. 1830, produced throughout the region.  Topics will include the introduction and dissemination of the printing press; the elements of book production (paper, ink, type, illustrations, bindings); printers and publishers; authors and illustrators; audiences and market; monopolies; and censors, collectors, and libraries.  Additional selected subjects to be discussed include the art of the Spanish American book (including 19^th-century lithography), modern private and institutional collectors, and reference sources.  The course will include first-hand examination of materials in class and field trips to UCLA Special Collections, the Huntington Library, and the Getty Research Institute to view additional rare Hispanic American resources.  Intended for special collections librarians, area studies bibliographers, institutional and private collectors, members of the trade, and scholars with an interest in the region, knowledge of Spanish is not necessary.

Course readings:

Calvo, Hortensia.  “The Politics of Print:  The Historiography of the Book in Early Spanish America.”  In:  Book History Vol.6 (2003), 277-305.

Johnson, Julie Greer. The Book in the Americas:  The Role of Books and Printing in the Development of Culture and Society in Colonial Latin America.  Providence: John Carter Brown Library, 1988.

Thompson, Lawrence S.  Printing in Colonial Spanish America. Hamden, Conn.:  Archon Books, The Shoe String Press, Inc., 1962.

Additional recommended readings will also be provided.

*

We are pleased to announce that in 2012, California Rare Book School will offer 12 courses on topics of interest to librarians, archivists, scholars, booksellers, collectors, and students. Each course meets from 9-5 pm for one week. Scholarship opportunities are available!

In 2012, the inaugural Samuel H. Kress Foundation-Dr. Franklin D. Murphy Scholarship will be available for art librarians, art historians, and students studying to enter these professions. The scholarship may be used for any course offered by California Rare Book School.  These scholarships will cover full tuition and, for attendees from outside of the Los Angeles area, up to an additional $1,000 for travel expenses. Students who wish to be considered for a Kress-Murphy Scholarship should submit the supplemental form, an essay and a letter of recommendation along with their completed application form.

For more details, course descriptions, and course/scholarship applications please visit:  www.calrbs.org<http://www.calrbs.org/>

If you have additional questions please contact us at: calrbs@gseis.ucla.edu<mailto:calrbs@gseis.ucla.edu>

 

Daniel J. Slive
Perkins School of Theology

Tags: professional development, rare books
Category SALALM Blog |

LAII UNM soliciting submissions for publication in electronic Research Paper Series

The Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII)  at the University of New Mexico is soliciting submissions by faculty and graduate students for publication in the LAII’s peer-reviewed, electronic Research Paper Series.

The Research Paper Series publishes works in relevant disciplines including the arts, humanities, natural sciences, communications and social sciences. Interdisciplinary research is encouraged. Submissions should focus on Latin America and/or Iberia (Spain and Portugal). Papers may be written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese and must be between 5,000 and 9,000 words, including notes and bibliography.

Please refer to the submission guidelines at http://laii.unm.edu/node/57.
A full-text archive of previously published titles in the Research Paper Series and Reference Works Series is available online at https://repository.unm.edu/handle/1928/2580.

Category SALALM Blog |

Why travel?

On the same trip that took him to Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham purchased an enormous cache of manuscripts, printed books and periodicals that are among Yale University’s prized possessions.  A century after Bingham’s acquisition, I’m visiting Lima on behalf of the Benson Latin American Collection. But I get ahead of myself.

The passage of time and the consistent investment of library funds in the region has diminished the expeditionary character of working in Peru– llamas are no longer employed, DHL is. But the excitement of discovery remains very much a part of working here.

Because it is too fugitive to identify, too cheap to profitably distribute, or in formats that booksellers disdain, much of what scholars desire to view cannot be acquired through established channels.  For instance, this trip enabled the purchase of Peruvian feature films, many of which are located nowhere in North American research libraries, and a side trip to Bolivia brought back (alive) a collection of early 20th century photographs from Amazonia. Hiram would be proud!

Travel also nourishes relationships in a country where face-to-face contact remains a coin of the realm. Over the past year I have met twice with the director of Peru’s National Library to establish an agreement that deposits the personal papers of the feminist poet and political activist, Magda Portal, in the National Library and sends scanned images of the materials to Austin for mounting in our digital library. Expect additional details soon.

Your man in Lima,

David

Tags: digitization projects, national libraries, Peru, trip notes
Category SALALM Blog, Trip Notes |

The Rare, Unique and Exotic @ San Francisco’s Antiquarian Book Fair.

In past years, when the Antiquarian Book Fair comes to San Francisco, the rainy weather has been a welcome incentive to spend a weekend indoors discovering the rare, unique, exotic and colorful. This time, a Spring-like sunny morning welcomed the 200 exhibitors from as far away as England. With names like “Cook Book Lady,” and “Vagabond Books,” it promised “Amazing Adventures” and not to disappoint even the most exigente of collectors.

It was not meant to be a chronological adventure, but the first item that caught my attention was an illustrated manuscript from the early 1700s. The dealer allowed me to take a photo and gave me a catalogue with the full description of the $55,000 item. He was most amiable, even when I finally said I “was just looking.”

The recorrido continued until I could not resist the stare from a Mexican movie poster (Novillero-1937), which claimed to be the first color movie in Spanish. The cast included a young composer (Agustin Lara), whose famous paso doble has become one of the most emblematic melodies we now associate with the fiesta brava. Lara’s fame endures to this day with other songs as Granada, Solamente una vez, and has even made it to Almodovar’s High Heels with Piensa en mí.

The same vendor also displayed the album Central America with watercolors by Max Vollmberg, a British artist who spent several years traveling throughout the region. The portfolio includes seventeen watercolor scenes from El Salvador that were originally published as postcards. The preface notes “…the characteristic types and subjects which the artist had opportunity of encountering on his travels, and the painting of which was often enough carried out under the most difficult conditions possible.” (OCLC: 13972155, 11860892, 651295904).

Other pictorial accounts of travels to our shores (even if less of a real visitor than Vollmberg) included Theodor de Bry’s Brevis narratio eorum quae in Florida Americae…. A pristine copy can go for as much as $70,000. Although missing a few important pages, this one was still priced at $27,500.

Courtesy of Michael Maslan (oldphoto4u@aol.com)

Much closer to home, for the adventurer North of the Border, travel guides described the distant as a very accessible destination. Postcards of those from here, who have visited over there, made that far away place more familiar: “July, 1910…spending my vacation in Mexico and having the loveliest kind of time….” Although, every so often, there is a not so subtle advertencia.

Surprises await at any moment, at any corner, at any booth, like some of Gabo’s translations into English. If you have a first edition of One Years Years of Solitude, with dust jacket and all, especially with “no number line at the end of the text, a price of $7.95 and an exclamation point (“!”) at end of first paragraph on the front jacket flap,” you’ll be surprised what a treasure you posses.

Adan Griego
Curator for Latin American, Mexican American & Iberian Collections
Stanford University Libraries

Tags: antiquarian book trade, book fairs, rare books
Category SALALM Blog |

SALALM’s Presence in Iberoamerican Book Fairs: 2011-The Year in Review

The 2011 book fair cycle for Iberoamerica probably started with Havana, whose book festival celebrated its 20th anniversary in February and is often attended by SALALM librarians and book dealers. This year Teresa Chapa (North Carolina) and Eudora Loh (UCLA) were present and went to a satellite book fair in Matanzas, where they also visited Editorial Vigía (home to those colorfully unique hand-made books). Given the commercial restrictions imposed by the United States on the Island, for many of our libraries Cuban research materials have an unusual trajectory of more than 8,000 miles (Havana-Montevideo) before reaching our bibliographic shores.

Mexico City’s Feria del Libro de Minería already in its 32nd year is organized by UNAM and takes place usually in late Winter at the historic Palace of Mines, much smaller than Guadalajara’s FIL (and less focused on “profesionales del libro”). SALALM vendors attend regularly and report that many regional publishers have opted for Minería due to Guadalajara’s high priced exhibit space.

April brings International Day of the Book and Buenos Aires has traditionally scheduled its annual book festival to coincide with this date and can claim one of the oldest (37 years), and largest book events in the Spanish-speaking world reaching more than one million visitors. This year the city was also named “capital mundial del libro” by UNESCO and Nobel laureate Vargas Llosa was a keynote speaker, sparking a polemic, even before the fair opened its doors.

Ten SALALM dealers and librarians were present, witnessing a constant mention of ebooks. It seemed like a continuation of similar discussions from LIBER-Barcelona 2010 six months earlier when the Ministry of Culture’s representative mentioned “contenidos digitales” and “libros electrónicos” several times at the opening ceremony. This year Buenos Aires was no exception and a one day seminar on ebooks was held at the Fair during the professional days. My presentation ended just on time for the 50 attendees and I rushed to hear Argentina’s Telefonica launching of its ebook service.

In May, several SALALMistas arrived in Bogota to participate in the city’s 24th annual book fair. The year before a visionary from MIT had scared participants at the Primer Encuentro del Libro Digital when he predicted the end of “libros de papel” in just a few years. This time a series of presentations included strategies for publishers to market digital content. David Block (Texas) documented some of the collective activities from our group and the Fair’s own blog provided a more detailed account of events.

For the Caribbean, Santo Domingo’s outdoor book festival is always a lively event. As in previous years, SALALM vendor Libros de Barlovento was present and Darlene Hull noted that “there were more booths offering religious publications than in the past. We even found some Christian hip-hop and Rap,” not surprising since the Vatican was the “país invitado.”

By Summer’s end, it was Madrid’s turn to host LIBER 2011 and ten eager SALAMistas landed in the Spanish capital for LIBER’s 19th anniversary. Even before the first “profesionales del libro” stepped into the IFEMA exhibit halls, several SALALM members were already busy sharing professional experiences to a packed audience of more than 150 Spanish librarians.

In between meetings with publishers and cultural outings, our group also visited the Arrebato, Sins Entido, and Tres rosas amarillas bookshops in the mythical Barrio de Malasaña, at times feeling that Almodovar or any of his La Movida characters of the 1980s had just left or was about to arrive.

This year LIBER included a digital corner that showcased all sorts of ebook initiatives, with a ubiquitous Javier Celaya as its most enthusiastic supporter. Former SALALM vendor Maria Jose Acuña provided a summary of this “novedad“.

Back in the Southern hemisphere Santiago celebrated its 31st annual book fair with barely enough time for many of Chile’s publishers to unpack from LIBER and Frankfort . For the first time digital projects/companies like Buscalibros, Dimacofi, and ebookspatagonia were showcased at the main entrance of the exhibit hall held at the former train station Mapocho, now a cultural venue.

On the day I arrived Amazon’s representative for Latin America presented a videoconference and encouraged publishers to enter the digital arena, reminding them all that Amazon would arrive in Latin America soon and will most likely revolutionize the book industry, as it had already done in Spain only a month earlier. A few doors away a two day e-book seminar sponsored by CERLALC was also being held. “If you don’t do it, some else will do it” noted the main speaker to the mostly 40 something audience during the morning session I attended. It seems everyone wants to enter this yet uncharted market with concerns that a Napster-like entity will cause irrevocable damage to book publishing as it did to the music industry.

The year ended with Guadalajara’s FIL “echando la casa por la ventana” as it celebrated 25 years in what has become the most important book festival in the Spanish speaking world. Germany was the featured country this year and Chile will be the “país invitado” for 2012.

It has not gone unnoticed that no Central American country has been given that honor and I could not help but wonder if that was one of the reasons why this year’s international pavilion had a special stand showcasing publications from throughout the region. This, in addition to the “cámaras del libro” and other vendors from some Central American countries, which had separate stands.

The ever present discussion on digital content seemed to continue here as part of the program for the X Foro Internacional de Editores y Profesionales del Libro ‘Analógico / Digital. Dos soportes, un futuro’.

FIL closed on Sunday (December 4th) with a record of more than 658,000 attendees. Probably the event that will be remembered most was the presentation the night before by the telegenic presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto who could not name books that influenced him most that was followed by series of jokes through the social networks.

SALALM members were active not only as book buyers but also sharing professional experiences with Mexican colleagues.

Thanks to Patricia Figueroa (Brown), Jesus Alonso Regalado (SUNY-Albany) and Teresa Chapa (North Carolina) who corrected errors/made suggestions in earlier versions of this report.

Adan Griego (Stanford)

Tags: book fairs, travel notes
Category SALALM Blog |

SALAMistas at Guadalajara’s 25th Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL 2011)

Even before landing in Guadalajara for the 25th annual Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL) SALALM  was already present via virtual spaces.  On November 16th SALALM’s Webinar Pilot Project Working Group led a online orientation for new FIL attendees for more than  40 virtual participants.  A follow-up session was held in Guadalajara (Sunday November 26) with participation from other SALAMistas:  Hortensia Calvo (Tulane University), George and Virginia Gause (Univ. of Texas-Panamerican) and Adán Griego (Stanford).

This year SALALMistas constituted about 20% of the ALA-FIL attendees with activities in/out of the exhibit hall:

*Ulrike Mühlschlegel, Berlin’s Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, gave the keynote speech at the 18th Coloquio Internacional de Bibliotecarios.

*Alison Hicks (Colorado) and Adán Griego (Stanford) also participated as speakers at the Coloquio.

*This year marked FIL’s 25th anniversary and to celebrate the occasion, groups of 25 professionals in several different fields were awarded honors.  In the “librarian” category Micaela Chávez Villa (El Colegio de Mexico) and Adán Griego were among  the 25 professionals from Mexico and the United States honored for their contributions to the Fair and the Coloquio. Also honored were former ENLACE fellows Helen Ladrón de Guevara (1988) and Jesus Lau (1996) as well as former SALALM member Barbara J. Ford. It was under Barbara’s ALA presidency that the current ALA-FIL pass was started.

*As in previous years, Jesus Alonso Regalado (University at Albany-SUNY) shared his varied FIL activities via Facebook.

*Paloma Celis Carbajal (Wisconsin), Socrates Silva (UCLA), Luis Gonzalez (Indiana) and Martin Sanchez (Libros Mexicanos) attended the Noche Cartonera as part of “La otra FIL” events.

*As professional days came to an end, several SALALMistas embarked on a trip to the neighboring town of Tequila and got a behind the scenes tour on how tequila drinks are made. They also visited the CodexMexico artist book exhibit. A handsomely illustrated catalog of the exhibit is available for sale through your Mexico distributor.

FIL closed on Sunday (December 4th) with a record of more than 658,000 attendees. Probably the event that will be remembered most was the presentation the night before by the telegenic presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto who could not name books that influenced him most.

Tags: CodexMexico Artist Book Exhibit, Coloquio Internacional de Bibliotecarios, Feria Internacional del Libro
Category SALALM Blog, Trip Notes |

SALALM Member Readies FIL Newbies Online

Last Wednesday, November 16, ALA’s International Relations Office and SALALM jointly hosted the first ever Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL) Orientation webinar for first-time attendees and FIL Free Pass Program recipients. The webinar was led by SALALM member and Stanford librarian Adan Griego.  The ten-day book fair, which is held in Guadalajara, Mexico, will be celebrating its 25^th birthday later this month.

The hour-long webinar was roughly comprised of 40 minutes of presentation and 20 minutes of Q&A.  The session opened with a brief history of FIL and an orientation to the city of Guadalajara.  Then, Griego quickly moved on to describe the kinds of questions book fair attendees need to address before embarking on a book buying trip:  the characteristics of the users they serve, how their libraries handle international purchasing and shipping, which vendors – in the US or Latin America – they intend to use, if any.  Griego explained how sorting out these details ahead of time will prevent headaches later on when attendees are surrounded by thousands of other FIL visitors.  Next, Griego described the state of the publishing industry in Latin America, emphasizing the challenges presented by large media conglomerates and small print runs in order to help illustrate the advantages of physically attending and purchasing books at the book fair.  Finally, the orientation finished with a virtual tour of the convention center and the resources available to librarians visiting from the United States.  After this “tour,” the 44 attendees asked questions – by phone or through chat.

The session was informative but focused, neatly tailored to address the needs of attendees who may have never gone on a book-buying trip before or may not feel comfortable with their command of the Spanish language.  This webinar assuaged these anxieties, and its online format lent the advantage of providing an orientation before attendees arrived to Guadalajara.  Griego also offers an in-person orientation once librarians arrive to Guadalajara, but the online orientation allows librarians to plan and prepare for the conference ahead of time and maximize their trip to its fullest.

The webinar was hosted through iLinc, provided and supported by the ALA’s International Relations office.

Tags: Adán Griego, book fairs, FIL, Guadalajara, Meagan Lacy, webinar
Category SALALM Blog |

FILs por todas partes

 

October/November is a good time to visit Peru and Bolivia as both Lima and Cochabamba host book fairs.  Neither should be compared with their better-known South American counterparts in Bogota, Santiago de Chile or Buenos Aires.  But both give a good accounting of book production in their countries.

32 Feria Internacional del Libro Ricardo Palma <http://www.mirafloresperu.com/turismo-miraflores-lima-peru/feria-libro-ricardo-palma.php>
October 19- November 1, 2011
Held in Parque Kennedy, Miraflores

I counted 90 stands, between publishers and booksellers. Major academic publishers, some listed below, were in full force as were others, e.g. Casa de la Biblia, that produce material not usually of interest to research libraries.

Academic Publishers and their  2011 publications:

Universidad Alas Peruanas. Memorias del arqueologo Eloy Linares Malaga. La Paz despues de la violencia en el Peru. Belaunde, el pueblo lo hizo. El compartir.

Universidad San Martin de Porres. Del cielo a la tierra. Los arrieros de Chuquibamba.

IFEA. La ciudad de Los cholos.

Universidad de San Marcos. La increible historia de una guerra. La casona de San Marcos. Trabajos de historia, religion, cultura y political en el Peru. Juventud y clandestinidad en Lima. La produccion cientifica en San Marcos. Derecho penal en el Tahuantinsuyu.

Also exhibiting, without showing 2011 imprints, were Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Congreso de la Republica, Centro Bartolome de las Casas, Banco Central de la Reserva, Fondo Editorial.

The most interesting news I got at the fair is the names of several out of print sources: Casa del Libro Viejo (www.libroviejoymas.com); Libreria Aleph, Mario Morales owner (I have only the phone number 991964365); IDEAL Libros y Revistas Antiguos del Peru, Av. Nicolas de Pierola, librospalomino@terra.com; Libreria Inestable, Porta 185 “B”, Miraflores.

And although they were not at the fair, our old friends at Libreria El Virrey have relocated their store in San Isidro to Bolognesi 510 in Miraflores.  They maintain their sucursal downtown, Pasaje Nicolas de Rivera near the old post office.

V Feria Internacional del Libro de Cochabamba
27 October – 6 November
Campo Ferial de Alalay

Smaller than the Lima fair, but not by much. Argentina, specifically Salta, was this year’s international invitee. Authorities from Cochabamba and Salta announced an agreement whereby collections of Argentine and Bolivian fiction would be exchanged between the two cities and housed in appropriate locations.

The Argentines stole the show with what Los Tiempos reported as forty stands.  Of course, I was there for the Bolivians.  Editorial Nuevo Milenario, a publisher new to me, was showing Edmundo Paz Soldan’s latest novel, Norte. Universidad Mayor de San Andres had several new titles, including Ciudades en transformacion, coordinated by Patricia Urquieta; and Fundacion Tierra had copies of Reconfigurando territorios.

Other Bolivian publishers featuring 2011 imprints included:

Universidad Mayor San Simon- Movimientos sociales en torno al agua en Bolivia.

Fundacion Quipus- La corrupcion en Bolivia and Facetas de la contraversia con Chile.

Museo de Etnologia y Folklore- Reunion anual de etnologia, 24

Vicepresidencia de la Nacion- Archivos militares de Bolivia and Archivos graficos (cartels) de Bolivia

PIEB- Ciudad sin fronteras and Formaciones y transformaciones

Plural- Hablemos de tierras

CEDIB announced a compilation on compact disk of its long-running Bolivian news service, 30 dias.

Some may remember a Bolivian feminist organization, “Mujeres Creando,” from their appearance at a recent LASA meeting.  They’re still at it, mas que jamas, and among the publications they showed in Cochabamba were: La pobreza, un gran negocio; Mujeres creando … mas and Ninguna mujer nace para puta.

Coda:

La Paz Bookstores

Current Imprints:

Libreria Yachaywasi. Avenida Villazon, Paisaje Trigo 447.  Tel: 2442437.  Near the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA) and because of its location, the best and largest academically-oriented bookstore in the city.  Especially good for journals.

Libreria Gisbert y Cia. 1270 Comercio.  Large stock but much of it is text books. Closed shelves limit browsing.

Los Amigos del Libro.  Its traditional location on Calle Mercado now houses two fast food restaurants. Currently occupies a less inviting space with a less interesting stock.  Calle Ballivian 1275, next to Libreria Juridica Temis.

Libreria Don Bosco.  1805 16 de Julio (El Prado). Once a very good book store and publisher of scholarly journals, increasingly devotional.

PIEB. Avenida Arce 2799, esquina Calle Cordero. Edificio Fortaleza, piso 6, oficina 601. Features its own publications, including periodicals Tinkazos, Nexos, Temas de debate and Medio ambiente y sociedad.

Plural Editores.  Avenida Ecuador, esquina Rosendo Gutierrez. Wide selection of works published by Plural, including journal back files.

Of specialized interest:

Museo Nacional de Arte. Plaza Murillo, corner of Calle Comercio.

Museo de Etnografia y Folklore (MUSEF). corner Sanjines and Ingavi.

Both museums are dependencies of the Banco Nacional de Bolivia and feature BNB’s publications, but have much additional materials on art and anthropology.

Casa Municipal de la Cultura Franz Tamayo.  Avenida Mariscal Santa Cruz, esquina Potosi. Features publications of the Municipalidad de La Paz, including music CDs and films.

 Out of Print:

Libreria BAUL del Libro. Avenida Villazon, Edificio Viveross No. 1957. Near UMSA; large stock of academic books.

Associacion de Libreros Mariscal de Santa Cruz. Many small stalls now consolidated in the newly refurbished Centro Comercial Lanza. North of the San Francisco Church.  Most active on weekends.

Paisaje Comercial Marina Nunez del Prado.  A series of stalls situated along a walkway beside the Rio La Paz.  You descend to river level at several points, e.g. one a half block east (upward) from the corner of 16 de Julio and Camacho.

 

 

Tags: Bolivia, book fairs, David Block, FIL, Peru, trip notes
Category SALALM Blog, Trip Notes |

SALALM in Madrid

More than 150 Spanish information professionals attended the panel discussion ¨Nuevas tecnologías y redes sociales en la labor de los profesionales de la información,¨ organized by Madrid´s SEDIC group (http://www.sedic.es/queessedic.asp). Several SALALAM members shared their experiences in reaching out to library users both inside and outside library walls (http://www.sedic.es/nuevas-tecnologias-redes-sociales-oct011.asp). The panel was very well received with several avid Spanish ¨tuiteros¨ reporting live.

 

Adán Griego
Stanford University

Category SALALM Blog |