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About the Collection
The Latin American collection contains over 400,000 volumes and 1,500 serial titles, along with manuscripts, oral histories, maps, prints, microform materials, music CDs, DVDs, and a variety of electronic resources. Holdings of titles published in Spain and Portugal exceed 75,000 volumes, in addition to comprehensive collections of works about these countries published in other Western European languages. The Library collects materials published in or about Latin America and Iberia across many disciplines. The collection is strong in coverage of Mexico, Brazil, the Spanish Caribbean, and the countries of the Southern Cone. Subject strengths include architecture, economic development, history, languages and literature, political science, sociology, and anthropology. Materials are acquired in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and in other European and indigenous Latin American languages.
Exploring the Collections
The Latin American print collection is distributed throughout the many Libraries at Columbia University. Most materials can be found in the following locations:
Other Libraries on campus hold significant Latin American collections, including the Law School Library, the Burke Library (Union Theological Seminary), and the Health Sciences Library.
Use the online catalog, CLIO, to search across all libraries EXCEPT the Law Library and Teachers College Library which each have their own catalogs.
The Latin American Studies Research Guides page provides access to guides and handouts, and to important resources available on LibraryWeb. The main Latin American & Iberian Studies page also directs you to digital resources and more information about the collections.
Newspapers
Current newspapers from Latin America are shelved on the 2nd floor (lower level) of the Lehman Library. Microform holdings of older issues are housed in our remote storage facility, ReCAP. Check CLIO for holdings information and to request delivery of microfilm to campus. The Butler Periodical & Microform Reading Room (4th floor) has equipment that allows you to view, print and/or scan microform images.
Digital Social Science Center, Data, and Print Maps
The Digital Social Science Center, located in the northeast area of the main level of Lehman Library, has individual and collaborative workstations to support high-end computing and data analysis, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. Group study space and a presentation practice room are also available. DSSC subject specialists can assist with numeric and spatial data resource and software questions. A print map collection is available in the MAP ROOM in the Lehman Social Sciences Library’s second floor. Large format scanners are available in Lehman Library. Other campus libraries also hold many atlases and reference works containing maps. Search CLIO to explore these holdings.
Documents--US, Foreign, and International
Columbia has been a depository for U.S. Federal government documents since 1882. Records for most documents are available in CLIO, which will indicate whether a document is available online and whether we hold a print copy in our collections. Our collection of print documents published after 1976 is housed at ReCAP as are some earlier documents. Some documents are located in Butler Library. Refer to the U.S. Government Documents pages for information on locating these materials.
Documents of Latin American governments are held throughout the departmental libraries, according to subject, with general censuses held at Butler. Use CLIO to locate these items. Many government publications are also available on the Web. For assistance, ask Reference staff or contact the Latin American Studies Librarian.
Documents of the Organization of American States, and United Nations are held at the Law Library. Selected items from these and other organizations are also held in other libraries on campus. Search CLIO for holdings and location information.
Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Electronic Texts
The Rare Book and Manuscript Library, located on the sixth floor of Butler, houses collections of original papers, manuscripts, letters, documents and other rare and valuable research materials. Several collections on colonial and modern Latin America are held. Search the ARCHIVES PORTAL to locate collections. For more assistance contact RBML Reference or the Latin American Studies Librarian. The Electronic Text Service (ETS) on the third floor of Butler, can help you access machine-readable primary source texts along with software and other tools for textual analysis. Several Spanish-language materials are available, online and in CD-ROM. These materials are cataloged in CLIO.
Beyond Columbia
Columbia's membership in the Latin American Microform Project (LAMP) and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) allows readers access to microforms of retrospective and hard-to-obtain journals, newspapers, and other research materials, which may be borrowed for use at Columbia through interlibrary loan. CRL's catalog and information about CRL's Latin American collections are also available on their web pages. The BorrowDirect Service allows Columbia affiliates to request books held at several major northeastern academic libraries. Requests are filled within 4 working days. Inter-Library Loan provide access to materials held at libraries throughout the country and provides electronic delivery of journal articles for journals not available at Columbia.
REFERENCE ASSISTANCE
The Latin American Studies Librarian is available for individual consultations and specialized reference. Services include assistance with searching major print and electronic resources for information on Latin American research topics. Suggestions for purchases and other feedback about the collection are welcome.
Orientation sessions and tours are given at the beginning of each semester and can be scheduled for other times as well. Consult the LibraryWeb training pages and Reference Desks for more information. Class visits to provide assistance with research on particular topics may also be arranged.
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