Library @ Berkeley
Ready to be inspired, informed, and entertained? Check out the Library's spring lineup of exhibits, prose and poetry readings, new acquisitions, training workshops, and other events. Complete and up-to-date info is always available at www.lib.berkeley.edu.
New electronic resources
A selection of electronic resources recently acquired by the University Library. Note that some are limited to UC Berkeley access only. For a full list, visit www.lib.berkeley.edu/find/types/electronic_resources.html.
ebrary
A database of more than 37,000 complete e-books covering 16 key subject areas, including business and economics, computers and IT, literature and linguistics, history, political science, and more. site.ebrary.com/lib/berkeley/home.action
Europeana
Direct access to more than 2 million digital objects, including film material, photos, paintings, sounds, maps, manuscripts, books, newspapers and archival papers. Europeana — the European digital library, museum, and archive — is funded by the European Commission and its member states. www.europeana.eu/portal/
LexisNexis Statistical Datasets
Fast and easy one-stop access to more than 5.3 billion data points from licensed and public-domain datasets, including local, state, and international governments and organizations. Allows for customization of data by selecting subjects or variables of interest; options allow you to view your data in side-by-side tables, charts, and even maps. web.lexis-nexis.com/statuniv/form/stat/s_dataSet.html
Multi Data Online
The Arab world's largest archive of Arabic periodicals is growing at the rate of 4,000 new records each month from more than 20 countries. It provides more than 25 GB of content gathered from the most important studies, opinions, and analyses published in 250 Arab newspapers and magazines. www.multidataonline.com
San Francisco Chronicle historical archive
Users can call up full-text articles from the San Francisco Chronicle from its first issue in 1865 through 1922. This new ProQuest offering is part of the Historical Newspapers database that also includes the New York Times (1851-2004), Wall Street Journal (1889-1990), Los Angeles Times (1881-86), and Washington Post (1877-1991). newscenter.berkeley.edu/goto/sfchronarchive
Instructional Support
Advance registration is not required, but an ID is required to enter Moffitt. For more information, call 643-9959 or visit www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/know_your_library.html.
Google Scholar: What Is It Good For?
Learn how the Library collaborates with Google Scholar to bring you scholarly articles and other materials for your research on any topic. We'll discuss what it is and how it works, and how you can use it to read, save, e-mail, and print online scholarly articles.
The three workshops scheduled for spring will be held on Monday, Feb. 9, from 2-3 p.m.; Wednesday, March 4, 1-2 p.m.; and Thursday, April 2, 10-11 a.m. All sessions will be held in 350C Moffitt.
Google Books
Learn how to use this massive online collection of digitized books and manuscripts from libraries worldwide. We'll discuss how the project works, its limitations, and alternative online book collections.
The two workshops scheduled for spring will be held Thursday, Feb. 5, from 2-3 p.m., and Wednesday, Feb. 18, from 1-2 p.m., both in 350C Moffitt.
Zotero
Zotero is a free bibliographic management tool that works inside Firefox, capturing information as you search. Among its most powerful features is the ability to save copies of Web pages, files, documents, and images and to virtually annotate them.
The three workshops scheduled for spring will be held Monday, Feb. 9, from 12:30-2 p.m.; Thursday, March 12, 9:30-11 a.m.; and Wednesday, April 15, 4-5:30 p.m, all in 350C Moffitt.
Exhibits
25 Years in Black and White: Negatives from the Fang Family San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive
Through Feb. 28, Bernice Layne Brown Gallery, Doe (Main) Library
The vast photographic archives of the San Francisco Examiner were donated to the Bancroft Library in 2006. Numbering more than 4 million items, the archives constitute an unparalleled visual record of the Bay Area through the 20th century. This exhibit in Doe Library is the first public display from the archive's treasures, focusing on historic events from 1935 through 1960.
The Roman-Dutch Legal Tradition
Through March 15, School of Law Library lobby
The Robbins Collection at the law library is currently presenting an exhibition of rare books on the Roman-Dutch legal tradition, an important stepping stone in the early-modern evolution of Western civil-law systems from medieval Roman-law scholarship.
Mark Twain at Play
Through March 31, Bancroft Library Gallery
Mark Twain's leisure pursuits, from amateur theatricals to yachting — and how his "play" influenced his "work" — are the subject of this exhibition, which brings together manuscripts and documents, notebooks, albums, vintage photographs, and other rare artifacts from the Mark Twain Papers archive of the Bancroft Library. The exhibition, curated by the editors of the Mark Twain Project, is the first to be mounted in the spacious new Bancroft Gallery.
Greenwood Common: Uncommonly Modern
Feb. 3-May 8, Environmental Design Library, Volkmann Reading Room, 210 Wurster
Greenwood Common is an enclave of eight distinct modernist houses, developed between 1951 and 1957 in the Berkeley hills by architect William Wurster. This small cluster of residences surrounding a shared open space combined a sense of the suburbs with the intimacy of a small town. As a result, Greenwood Common has become an icon of regional mid-century modernism and continues to thrive as a well-maintained and comfortable community site — all as it was originally intended.
125 Years of Discovery: The Federal Depository Library Program at Cal
March 1-Aug. 31, Bernice Layne Brown Gallery, Doe Library
This exhibit — and its online component — will showcase some of the historic, interesting, strange, and thought-provoking government publications Berkeley's libraries have received in their 125 years as a Federal Depository Library.
Events
Humberto Garza book talk and signing
Jan. 29, 6-7:30 p.m., Ethnic Studies Library, 30 Stephens
Humberto Garza has written extensively on Joaquin Murrieta and his legend. His books Joaquin Murrieta: A Quest for Justice and Demystifying the Murrieta Legend tell the true story of the early California outlaw. This event celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Department of Ethnic Studies.
Personal and Global: Feminism, Sexual Liberation, and Contemporary Struggles
Thursday, Feb. 5, 6:30-8 p.m., Free Speech Movement Café, Moffitt Library
What do the issues raised by the feminist movement in the 1970s mean for gender struggles today? This discussion, co-sponsored by Beatrice Bain Research Group, will bring together three generations of scholars and activists from different backgrounds and perspectives: from North America in the 1960s and anti-colonial Marxism in the 1970s to transnational contemporary perspectives. For more information, contact fsm-info@lists.berkeley.edu
CODEX International Book Fair
Feb. 9-11, Pauley Ballroom, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union
An event of major significance to book lovers that's been called a "world's fair" of the book as art and artifact. More than 110 artists from around the globe will be exhibiting cutting-edge book design and fine printing. The Bancroft Library is a sponsor of this event. Admission is $15 for a three-day ticket, $10 for one day. Admission for students (with ID) is $5. www.codexfoundation.org/bookfair.html
American Cultures: From Concept to Classroom, 1989-2009
Panel discussion: April 16, 5-7 p.m., Free Speech Movement Café
Exhibit runs through June 30, Moffitt Library
The American Cultures (AC) program at Berkeley has become a national model, offering students access to cutting-edge research as it relates to the most pressing questions of cultural and social diversity. The April 16 panel discussion will feature Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, University Librarian Tom Leonard, AC Center Academic Coordinator Victoria Robinson, and other faculty and campus dignitaries. 642-0228
Lunch Poems
A noontime poetry-reading series, under the direction of Professor of English Robert Hass. All readings are from 12:10-12:50 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month, in Morrison Library in Doe Library; admission is free.
Tomaž Šalamun
Feb. 5
One of the great postwar Central European poets, Slovenian Tomaž Šalamun has published more than 30 books. Publisher's Weekly praises his "postmodern mix of giddy and global [and] the earthy retrospect he takes from his homeland."
Gary Snyder
March 5
The world-renowned poet, essayist, and en-vi-ron-mentalist has published 16 books of poetry and prose; in 1974 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Turtle Island. He is currently a professor at UC Davis.
A Korean Wave
April 2
A generation of remarkably strong women poets has emerged in Korea in the last decade. For a week in April five of them will be visiting Berkeley, reading and talking to Korean-American poets and the women poets of the Bay Area. This is a rare chance to hear some of the most important and exciting voices in Asia: Jeongrye Choi, Young Mi Choi, Hyesoon Kim, Ra Hee-duk, and Chung-hee Moon. They will read in English and Korean.
Student Reading
May 7
One of the year's liveliest events, the student reading includes national prize-winners as well as students nominated by Berkeley's creative-writing faculty, Lunch Poems volunteers, and representatives from student publications.
Story Hour
A monthly prose-reading series, hosted by Vikram Chandra and Melanie Abrams. All readings are from 5-6 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, in 190 Doe Library (across from Morrison Library); admission is free.
Judith Freeman
Feb. 12
Judith Free-man's The Long Embrace (2007), about novelist Raymond Chand-ler and his wife, was described as "part biography, part detective story, part love story, and part séance" by novelist Janet Fitch, while her novel Red Water was named one of the Los Angeles Times' 100 Best Books of 2002.
ZZ Packer
March 12
ZZ Packer's acclaimed 2003 collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere features eight stories with subjects that range from Girl Scouts to expatriates in Japan. Named one of Granta's "Best of Young American Novelists," Packer has received a Commonwealth Club Fiction Award, Wallace Stegner and Guggenheim fellowships, and a Whiting Award.
Vendela Vida
April 9
Vendela Vida is the author of the novels Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and And Now You Can Go, both of which were New York Times Notable Books. She is co-editor of The Believer magazine and editor of The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers. She is also a founding board member of San Francisco's 826 Valencia, a nonprofit youth-writing lab.