LibGuides: Latin American & Caribbean Libraries: Reference Sources

General Reference Sources

Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean
Examines urgent contemporary issues like economics and the environment, as well as the long-term factors that have molded Latin America as we find it today: early civilizations, imperial domination, the struggle for independence, and the political turbulence of the twentieth century. Coverage is provided also of music and literature, architecture, painting, and intellectual life. (adapted from summary)
Diccionario de estudios culturales latinoamericano
Dictionary of Latin American Cultural Studies
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean cultures
A helpful list of 62 themes, which are arranged alphabetically. Among the themes: 20th-century decades; cultural institutions; education; language and national identity; media, politics and history; religion, sport and leisure; and, a particularly large category, writers. (adapted from booknews.com)
Encyclopedia of Latin American history and culture
Major resource for information on Latin American history and culture. Of 5824 entries, 3322 are biographies, with equal treatment given throughout to people and countries that are Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking as well as non-Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. (adapted from booknews.com summary)
Latinoamericana: enciclopédia contemporânea da América Latina e do Caribe

Directories & Other Specific Sources

Directory of South & Central American libraries
Call Number: Q. 027.08 D6282010
Publication Date: 2010
Directory of libraries and special collections on Latin America and the West Indies by Bernard Naylor, Laurence Hallewell, & Colin Steele
Call Number: 918 N23D
Publication Date: 1975
Directory of United Kingdom libraries. Entries are listed alphabetically geographically then by name; each entry begins with essential preliminary information concerning the library described, followed by a description of the history of the collection, special subject or area interests, or strength in particular types of materials, and item circulation information.
The appendix includes information regarding addresses of embassies, national tourist offices, airlines, banks, and some academic societies.
One index: includes libraries and subject categories.
Libraries and Special Collections on Latin America and the Caribbean by R. MacDonald; C. Travis
Call Number: 918 N23d 1988
ISBN: 0485177145
Publication Date: 1988-04-01
Revised edition of "Directory of libraries and special collections on Latin America and the West Indies" which covers libraries in Europe, and thus contains over 3x as many entries as the previous volume.
Scope includes any mainland south of the Río Grande, together with the reasonably adjacent islands.
Arrangement of the directory is by country, first section being libraries in the UK, and the following sections are libraries arranged alphabetically by country
Includes a description the history of each library's collection, and indicates library special features, area and subject coverage, kinds of materials held, access to library materials, services offered, etc.
A full index is provided, covering libraries, institutions, subjects, and named special collections.
International Handbook of Universities
Call Number: 378 In86
ISBN: 0230223478
A comprehensive guide/directory of universities worldwide. Since most universities are parent institutions to a library, this may be one approach to discovering institutional libraries in Latin America and the Caribbean which may have escaped other directories or publications. Another version is located here at https://i-share-uiu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CARLI_UIU/gpjosq/alma99933410912205899
The Europa World of Learning
Call Number: 378 W8911
ISBN: 1857436202
Publication Date: 2011-11-09
Directory with profiles of learned societies, museums, libraries, research institutions, and universities worldwide, including names, principal personnel, activities and publications, addresses, etc. UIUC has online access to the Europa World of Learning database, click on the title link to find it in the catalog.
Latin Americana research in the United States and Canada: a guide and directory by Robert P. Haro
Call Number: 918.07 H23L
Publication Date: 1971
Seeks to answer several questions: who has what collection of library materials and information resources? Who is conducting ongoing research on one or more countries or subjects from Latin America? What major tools are available to help the serious student, scholar, librarian, or informed layman identify important materials located close to him?
Discusses library acquisitions plans; lists and describes the countries and subject strengths of the listed collections; lists research centers that have continuing programs of research and investigation dealing with one or more aspects of Latin America.
3 indexes: country, latin American library specialists, and subject. (The numbers in the index section refer to the numerical listings of the organizations in the directory, not to the page numbers.)
Library periodicals directory; a selected list of periodicals currently published throughout the world relating to library work by Compiled by Paul A. Winckler.
Call Number: 016.0205 W72L1967
Publication Date: 1967
Información, cultura y sociedad by Universidad de Buenos Aires
Call Number: e-resource
Publication Date: 1999-
Full text available through SciELO (http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php/script_sci_serial/pid_1851-1740/lng_es/nrm_iso) as well as other UIUC databases by following the "Discover UIUC full-text" link in the WorldCat record
Development of public libraries in Latin America; UNESCO Manuals for Libraries v.5 by UNESCO
Call Number: 020 U578u no.5
Publication Date: 1952
This book is definitely dated, however it does include good sources cited, as well as provide a decent general historical background on librarianship and libraries in Latin America during the mid-twentieth century. Appendix B includes a listing of conference members and their home libraries.
Appendix B lists libraries in Latin America, including a count of the number of different institutions, and their classification, and also sources cited.
Aspects of Librarianship in Latin America by William Vernon Jackson
Call Number: 027.08 J139a
Publication Date: 1992
Includes selective bibliographies for most of the sections of the book, including Libraries in "Latin American Society," "Planning Library Development in Latin America," "Library Education in Latin America: A look backward and forward."

Online Resources

The University of Texas at Austin's Latin American Network Information Center, or LANIC, has a section on Libraries and Reference:

http://lanic.utexas.edu/subject/libraries/

The section includes a listing of links for libraries and archives in North America which focus on Latin America, as well as institutional and national libraries and archives in all the Latin American countries.

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, or IFLA, features the Latin America and the Caribbean Section, which has the goal of encouraging activities related to access to information in the LAC region, and their (relatively new) blog includes posts regular updates on librarianship and IFLA-related

Bibliografía de la Literatura Española desde 1980 is a comprehensive database of works of Spanish literature published since 1980, including books, periodical articles, book reviews, bibliographies and conference proceedings. The title of the database does not seem relevant to libraries in Latin America, but using Spanish terms, and possibly relying on the index available, many resources about Latin American libraries, and Latin American library holdings are available. The text of the materials is not available through this site, however the books all seem to be available through WorldCat.