NMSU Library--Border & Latin American Information

Internet
LA GUIA,Internet Resources for Latin America, http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia, May 2001 | Version 7.0 | Compiled and copyrighted by Molly Molloy | New Mexico State University Library | Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA | Molly E. Molloy, mmolloy@lib.nmsu.edu | Molly Molloy and New Mexico State University Library provide this guide for online use via our website. Please contact the compiler for permission to make multiple copies in any printed or published format. | This new version of LA GUIA is still under construction! I have made links back to some sections of the previous version when appropriate. See http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia/lag1999.html
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Jump to these Guide sections:

Introduction & General Internet Guides | Current Events Links | Latin American Directories | Subscription Databases--Latin America | Subscription Databases--General | Public Domain Databases--Latin America | Public Domain Databases--General | E-Books & Other Texts | Library Catalogs | Digital Library Projects | Organizations | News | List of Lists & Newsgroups | Latin American Networking | Miscellaneous Sites | Finding it on the Web | La Busqueda en Espan~ol|

Selected current events links!!
  • Latin American NewslettersReal-time newsfeed with major stories from the region.

  • La Jornada
  • Diario de Juarez
  • Almargen Diario
    Investigative journalism, media and literary criticism from Chihuahua
  • Frontera Norte Sur
    Monthly newsletter with daily updates from the US-Mexico border region
  • Reforma
  • News Headlines from all Latin American countries
    from the Latin American Studies Program, College of the Holy Cross
  • LANIC Newsroom
    Current Latin American news events via LANIC
  • Information Service Latin America [ISLA]
    Progressive Latin American news service
  • IPS--Interpress Service
    Progressive global news source. [full text access requires subscription]
  • Agencia EFE
    Worldwide Spanish-language news service
  • BBC World Service: Americas
  • Worldwires
    Link to international (not just Latin America)stories from several wire services
  • AP International News Updates
  • NewsHub
    Gathers news from many different sources with updates every 15 minutes
  • Strategic Forecasting--STRATFOR.com
    Global news service and analysis by country or region; click for Latin American focus
  • Today's Front Pages
    Images of newspaper front pages from around the world, by country, region; also archived pages of significant events
  • Independent Media Center
    Non-corporate global news coverage
  • Z-NET Latin America Watch
    Alternative news source
  • Links to Border and Latino Resources

    Introduction

    The links in this guide will provide access to many information resources for Latin American studies. I've included what I consider some of the best places to find unique and useful information, however, these sites are only starting points. Most academic, government and non-governmental organizations now provide information via the web and no directory or search engine can link to all the potential resources.

    One of the recent trends in making sense of the information on the web is to catalog resources so that it is possible to search by keyword and browse subjects in a database of sites that have been selected for quality. Here are a few recommendations:

    See Finding it on the Web/La Busqueda en Espan~ol for more tips on searching the web.



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    Major Web Directories for Latin America

  • Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC), http://www.lanic.utexas.edu
    The most comprehensive source for Latin America on the internet with well organized subject and country links. From the University of Texas at Austin.

  • Latin American Subject Resources, http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~rlwls/andes.html
    Directory includes access to bookstores, embassies, online publications, travel information and more. Compiled by Rita Wilson [rlwilson@utsa.edu]

  • TERRA.com, http://www.terra.com/espanol.htm
    TERRA is a major creator of portals for many Latin American countries, acquiring and adapting local content into a standard format. Examples:

  • Latin America Links, http://www.latinamericalinks.com/
    Aimed primarily at travelers with access to news, country reports, airline info, etc.

  • LatinWorld: A Latin World - Latin America on the Net, http://www.latinworld.com
    A commercial Latin American directory.

  • Base Indexada de Webs Españoles, http://biwe.cesat.es
    A commercial directory from Spain.

  • Search LANIC, Latin America & the World, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/world/search/
    Links to web directories and search engines in many countries.

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    Subscription Databases

    The following databases may require the user to pay a subscription fee for access. Some provide a demo database, or a trial subscription free-of-charge. Many academic libraries provide access to these databases.

    LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES DATABASES

    CHICANO Database, http://www.rlg.org/cit-cdb.html
    Produced by the University of California at Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library, Chicano Studies Collection, the Chicano Database provides access to scholarly research on Chicanos/Mexican Americans. Coverage begins in the 1960s, primarily, with selected references to earlier materials. Available online via the Research Libraries Group--RLG and on CD-ROM

    Handbook of Latin American Studies-HLAS, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/hlas/
    Although no subscription is required at this time, I'm listing HLAS in both sections since it is one of the most important Latin American bibliographic databases. HLAS is produced by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress and is provided FREE OF CHARGE to web users worldwide. Together with subscription resources such as HAPI, LADB, InfoLatinoamerica and others, it is one of the most important tools for scholarly research on Latin America. It provides abstracts and complete bibliographic information for published materials from and about Latin America on a wide range of topics in the humanities and social sciences and covers more than 60 years of scholarly literature in Latin American studies.

    Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI), via UCLA, http://hapi.gseis.ucla.edu
    HAPI provides access to the contents of over 400 social sciences and humanities periodicals from and about Latin America from 1970-present. HAPI is a source for authoritative, worldwide information about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the United States. From analyses of current political, economic, and social issues to unique coverage of Latin American arts and letters, HAPI Online contains complete bibliographic citations to articles, book reviews, documents, original literary works, and other materials. Produced by the UCLA Latin American Center, HAPI includes more than 210,000 citations, and grows at the rate of about 8,000 records a year. See the web page or email the HAPI office for more information [bvalk@ucla.edu].

    InfoLatina, http://www.infolatina.com.mx/
    InfoLatina provides current and archival access to the full text of a large array of Mexican publications, including newspapers, magazines, government documents, legislation and jurisprudence, etc. For some publications the archive goes back to the early 1980s. Trial subscriptions are available. For more information via email [ventas@infolatina.com.mx]

    INFO-LATINOAMERICA, via NISC, http://www.nisc.com
    Formerly the Info-South database from the University of Miami's North-South Center. Coverage of Latin American newspapers and journals. Most articles from 1996 on are available in full-text. Coverage tends toward mainstream news and business sources, although includes fulltext of Interpress Third World news service and new resources are added regularly. Coverage 1988--current. This link goes to the NISC homepage; from there, click on PRODUCTS for list of databases; also free trials available from the home page. See http://www.nisc.com/factsheets/qila.htm, for a factsheet on Info-Latinoamerica

    Latin America Data Base (LADB), via University of New Mexico, http://ladb.unm.edu
    LADB's professional journalists produce three weekly electronic news bulletins about Mexico (SourceMex), Central America and the Caribbean including Cuba (NotiCen) and South America (NotiSur). These are available on the web or by e-mail with a subscription. LADB has introduced a new monthly bulletin on Cuba (CubaSource) in May 2000, now offered on a free trial basis. LADB's searchable archive of over 24,000 articles since 1986 is updated weekly. This is a great, content-rich source for economic and political information on Latin America. See http://ladb.unm.edu/info/prices/ for prices and trial account information. Email: [info@ladb.unm.edu].

    See http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia/lag1999.html#data for more databases.


    GENERAL DATABASES WITH LATIN AMERICAN CONTENT

    America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts via ABC-CLIO, http://serials.abc-clio.com:81/
    Access to journals, dissertations and some monographs in history. North America (including Mexico) is covered in America: History & Life; South America is covered in Historical Abstracts.

    CIAONET: Columbia International Affairs Online, http://www.ciaonet.org
    Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is designed to be the most comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. Access to working papers, articles and online books published by Columbia University Press.

    Ethnic NewsWatch, http://www.softlineweb.com
    Ethnic Newswatch is a full-text database of News, Culture and History from 200 publications of the ethnic, minority and native press, including Hispanic, African-American, Native-American and many other publications from minority communities in the United States. Nearly 500,000 complete articles dating back to 1990. Archival material dating back to the mid 1980's. More than 7,500 new articles added each month. Searchable in both English and Spanish, with titles in both languages and more than 100,000 articles in Spanish, Ethnic NewsWatch provides in-depth coverage of a wide range of current and historical topics easily accessed using free text and fielded searching. See http://www.softlineweb.com/ethnic.htm for detail on Ethnic Newswatch. And for sales, customer support, contact information etc., see http://www.slinfo.com/

    FIRSTSEARCH, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/
    The Firstsearch system provides access to over 75 academic databases in many subject areas. Several databases provide fulltext articles, while others provide abstracts. User-friendly interface; available at most academic libraries in the United States. Some of the databases relevant to Latin American studies include:
    • Contemporary Women's Issues: access to articles, books and other information of interest to women's studies, global coverage
    • Dissertation Abstracts: abstracts to dissertations from US and other universities, 1865--present
    • EconLit: coverage of the scholarly literature in economics
    • GEOBASE: worldwide literature on geography, geology and ecology
    • MLA Bibliography: literature, literary criticism, linguistics, folklore, etc.
    • PAIS International: abstracts to journal articles, books government documents and other materials on public affairs worldwide
    • Wilson Select: fulltext articles from more than 800 magazines and academic journals
    • WORLDCAT: more than 40 million bibliographic records to materials in thousands of libraries

    NMSU Users: Follow this FIRSTSEARCH link.

    INFORME--Revistas en Espan~ol on INFOTRAC, http://www.galegroup.com/servlet/ItemDetailServlet?region=9&imprint=000&titleCode=INFO1&type=4&id=172023
    Available via the Gale Group of publishers, this database provides citations and fulltext for a selection of popular magazines in Spanish. Coverage from about 1996 to present. Covers many subject areas, but important for libraries serving Spanish-speaking communities. See the Informe Title List

    Interpress Service: IPS Global Gateway
    Progressive news service covering many world areas. Current stories and archives are available in several languages; full text access requires subscription. Link for subscription information is on the home page.

    J-STOR, http://www.jstor.org/
    A membership organization providing a fulltext archive of complete runs of over 117 major academic journals in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Some titles go back over 100 years in the database. Several Latin American studies titles will be added to J-STOR in the near future. [Email: jstor-info@umich.edu].

    Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe
    Fulltext access to thousands of news sources, including several dozen Spanish-language titles. Best segments for Latin American news are "North/South American News" and "Spanish Language News." You can restrict your search to these sets of publications.

    World News Connection, http://wnc.fedworld.gov
    Foreign news service provided by the US government through the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS); WNC provides English translations of news broadcasts worldwide; extensive Latin American coverage.



    Public Domain Databases

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    The resources listed here are generally available without cost to the end user. They provide access to organized bodies of data useful for Latin American research. These may provide fulltext articles, statistical information, or bibliographic citations. In some cases, the public access version of the database will provide a lower level of information (citations and abstracts only perhaps); the user has the option of paying more for fulltext, greater coverage, etc. Some of these databases are created and maintained by government agencies or other public entities (universities) and provided free on the internet.

    Latin American Databases

    Americas Program, Interhemispheric Resource Center, http://www.americaspolicy.org
    The US-Mexico border program of the Interhemispheric Resource Center, http://www.irc-online.org, formerly known as BIOS (Border Information and Outreach Service). The new site includes all back issues of Borderlines and other BIOS data as well as current coverage of border issues. This site has one of the most comprehensive directories of organizations working on trade, environment, human rights, indigenous peoples, migration, labor and other US-Mexico border issues.

    Biblioteca Virtual de Ciencias Sociales de América Latina y el Caribe (Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales, CLACSO),http://www.clacso.org/wwwclacso/espanol/html/biblioteca/fbiblioteca.html
    Free access to 4.000 social sciences full-text books, periodical articles, conference papers in spanish and portuguese, concerning Latin America and the Caribbean.

    Bilingual English-Spanish Library & Information Science Dictionary, http://eubd1.ugr.es/RIS/RISWEB.ISA
    Compiled by Tony Lozano, University of Granada, Spain, this database contains more than 60,000 bilingual entries for library science and information technology. More than just translations, many entries are fully explained. Also contains the IFLA glossary. Email contact: [alozano@ugr.es]

    Brazil: SciELO--Scientific Electronic Library Online, http://www.scielo.br
    Fulltext scholarly journals published in Brazil in many subject areas. Sponsored by FAPESP and BIREME. One purpose of the project is to use the internet to increase the visibility of scientific research in Brazil. Email contact: [scielo@bireme.br].

    Brazilian Government Document Digitization Project, http://wwwcrl.uchicago.edu/info/brazil/
    A project of the Latin American Microfilm Project (LAMP) at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), this site provides access to full text and images of reports from different government entities from 1821-1993. This is an example of digitization for preservation of rare historical materials.

    COLNODO Bases de Datos, http://bases.colnodo.org.co/consulta.html
    Access to several databases created by Colombian NGOs. Some topics include ecology, sustainable development, conflict resolution, women, etc. COLNODO provides internet access to many NGOs in Colombia.

    Costa Rica: Bibliographic Meta-Database, http://www.acceso.or.cr/metabase
    Combined bibliographic references of several NGO information centers in Costa Rica. A search provides bibliographic records and information on how to contact the information center to obtain a copy of the item. As of May 2001, the database contains over 200,000 bibliographic records with the participation of 38 information centers. Project supported by Fundacion Acceso

    Costa Rica: CEIBA, http://www.arias.or.cr/ceiba
    Database of more than 1200 Central American NGOs; a project of the Fundacion Arias, http://www.arias.or.cr/ para la paz y el progreso humano. Contact: info@arias.or.cr.

    Ethnologue: Languages of the World, http://www.ethnologue.com/
    Compiler: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Contact: www@sil.org. Includes excellent data on American indigenous languages. Ethnologue provides detailed information on 6,700 world languages. The electronic version of the LLA is searchable by country or language name and provides details on hundreds of languages including numbers of speakers, geographic distribution, levels of bilingualism among speakers, etc.

    Fourth World Documentation Project: Indigenous Peoples Information for the Online Community, http://www.cwis.org/fwdp.html
    A collection of documents from nations and organizations around the world relating to indigenous peoples organized by the Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS). The archive contains documents on Fourth World nations in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, Melanesia and the Pacific. It is a unique archive of primary source documents--treaties, tribal government information, etc. See http://www.cwis.org/americas.html for documents from North, South and Central America. The project page indicates that it has not been updated since 1997.

    Handbook of Latin American Studies-HLAS, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/hlas/
    HLAS is produced by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress and is provided FREE OF CHARGE to web users worldwide. Together with subscription resources such as HAPI, LADB, InfoLatinoamerica and others, it is one of the most important tools for scholarly research on Latin America. It provides abstracts and complete bibliographic information for published materials from and about Latin America on a wide range of topics in the humanities and social sciences and covers more than 60 years of scholarly literature in Latin American studies.

    Interamerican Human Rights Database, http://www.wcl.american.edu/pub/humright/digest/
    Produced by the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Washington College of Law, at the American University, the Inter-American Human Rights Database contains documents in English and Spanish adopted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights since its first session, in 1960.

    Human Rights Library - University of Minnesota, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/
    Searchable collection of hundreds of the most important international human rights treaties and other instruments; general comments, recommendations, decisions, and views of human rights treaty bodies; material on the work of other U.N. human rights bodies, including the Commission and its Sub-Commission; decisions and advisory opinions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; material from the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Asylum Branch of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, etc.

    International Monetary Fund(IMF) Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board(DSBB), http://dsbb.imf.org
    IMF members may subscribe to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) for the provision of their economic and financial data to the public in order to "enhance the availability of timely and comprehensive statistics and therefore contribute to the pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies..." The DSBB website access to agencies within each country that provide statistics and details about how to obtain data in many formats. For some countries, a direct link is provided to the statistical source in the country. Latin American coverage includes: Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru (as of May 1997). Email contact: ddsd@imf.org

    LADARK: Latin America Development Electronic Archive, http://www.jhu.edu/~soc/ladark.html
    Created by the Program in Comparative International Development in the Dept. of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University, LADARK contains datasets, working papers, bibliographies, course syllabi, and announcements useful to scholars researching Latin American development. For more information contact Christopher Chase-Dunn [chriscd@jhu.edu]

    Latin American Election Statistics: A Guide to Sources, http://dodgson.ucsd.edu/las/
    Created by Karen Lindvall-Larson (University of California--San Diego). Provides a chronology of elections since independence at the municipal state and federal levels in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. Includes lists of sources for all statistics and other information provided on the website. As of July 2002, full data for Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Panama are available. Updates are posted regularly. For more information consult: [klindval@ucsd.edu].

    Latin American Government Documents Project, http://lib1.library.cornell.edu/colldev/ladocshome.html
    An experimental project to organize, describe and link to Latin American official documents available on the internet. Includes national level statistical, executive, legislative, and judicial sources, and several categories of "subnational" documents. Created by David Block, Cornell University [db10@cornell.edu]

    Latin Americanist Research Resources Pilot Project, http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/arl/
    Access to tables of contents of several hundred journals from Mexico and Argentina. Allows academic researchers to identify and locate articles available via interlibrary loan from over 40 research libraries in the US. Joint project of the Association of Research Libraries and UT-LANIC. Email: [arl@lanic.utexas.edu]

    LATINDEX: Indice Latinoamericano de Publicaciones Cientificas Seriadas, http://www.latindex.unam.mx/
    Project of the UNAM libraries to provide a web-accessible database of important journals from many Latin American countries.

    LEER--Spanish Language Books from all over Latin America, http://www.leer.nisc.com
    Access to over one million book titles published in Spain and Latin America. Provides publisher and (in some cases) distributor information. Introduced in Spring 1999 as a free service from NISC. Users have free access to database, but must register. The site contains advertising for other NISC products.

    Library of Congress Country Studies/Area Handbooks, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
    A continuing series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army. This series presently contains studies of 71 countries. Use the BROWSE or SEARCH features to locate Latin American countries in the series.

    LIBRO--Library of Iberian Resources Online,http://libro.uca.edu
    Contains full text of recent, but out-of-print university press monographs, published in English, that discuss the peoples and nations of the Iberian peninsula. Beginning with the Hispanic Middle Ages, ca. 500 to 1500 it will eventually cover the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A joint project of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain and the University of Central Arkansas.

    MEXICO: Direccion General de Bibliotecas: Catalogos Globales, http://www.dgbiblio.unam.mx/catalg.html
    The libraries of the UNAM provide several unique databases of research material through their online system. Through this one page, the user has access to LIBRIUNAM, the holdings of the library; SERIUNAM: the Catálogo Hemerográfico Nacional; TESIUNAM: Catálogo de Tesis. CLASE: analyzes the contents of over 1000 social sciences and humanities journals; PERIODICA covers journals in science and technology. For more information on the these databases, contact, Octavio Alonso, Latin American Bibliography, DGB-UNAM, oalonso@servidor.unam.mx

    MEXICO: E-journal UNAM, http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/
    Electronic library providing fulltext access to selected academic journals published by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Some of the titles included: Atmosfera, Ciencias, Demos, Geofisica Internacional, Investigacion Bibliotecologica.

    MEXICO: INFOJus: Instituto de Investigaciones Juridicas (UNAM), http://info.juridicas.unam.mx
    Access to Mexican legislation, constitutional law, research directory, etc. See especially the Sistema de Informacion-UNAMJure, http://info4.juridicas.unam.mx/unamjure/ to search full text of laws.

    Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast/Consenso De Pronósticos Económicos, http://www.cob.asu.edu/seid/eoc/mexico/
    Published quarterly, the Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast provides forecasts and an analysis of the Mexico economy. The panel of forecasters is drawn from the leading experts in Mexico on the Mexican economy. Fulltext reports from 1995--present. Produced by the College of Business, Arizona State University. Contact [Tracy.Clark@asu.edu]

    National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, http://www.natlaw.com/index.htm
    Access to the InterAm Database for Mexican and Latin American laws, including many in translation. Also access to the Weekly Inter-American Trade and Investment Law Bulletin. Access to the database is via subscription. Info contact: [natlaw@natlaw.com]

    Political Database of the Americas, http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/
    Produced by the Georgetown University Center for Latin American Studies and the OAS, this site provides country summaries, constitutions, election data, and other fulltext documents by and about Latin American governments. Contact information via http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/contact.html.

    SICE: Sistema de Informacion al Comercio Exterior, http://www.sice.oas.org/
    Foreign Trade Information System of the Organization of American States (OAS). Contains articles, data, official treaties and trade agreements, Free Trade Area of the Americas process, etc. Excellent source for documentation on all aspects of trade in the Americas. For more information contact [sice@sice.oas.org]

    Ya! Basta! Zapatista Website, http://www.ezln.org
    Comprehensive database of documents relating to the uprising of the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional in Chiapas, Mexico. Contains every communique issued by the EZLN since January 1994; many are translated into English and other languages.


    GENERAL DATABASES

    Access to Articles

    Access to Books & Other Texts

    The resources in this section include a mixture of subscription and free access. There are many great sources for classic texts and other works that are no longer under copyright. There are also a growing number of subscription services for academic e-books. A few selected sites are listed below.


    Selected Library Catalogs

    Searching great library collections via the web can be exciting and frustrating since most books are not available online. Most academic libraries in the US provide interlibrary loan and document delivery to assist researchers in obtaining materials not available locally. The wide availability of library online catalogs and other bibliographic databases makes it possible to identify millions of unique publications and other materials. Many libraries are embarking on projects to digitize unique collections that can (or will be) accessed via the internet. The following are a few places that provide links to hundreds of library collections.

    Latin American Libraries, Archives & Reference Resources via UT-LANIC, http://lanic.utexas.edu/subject/libraries.html
    Links to hundreds of libraries in Latin American countries and specialized collections worldwide.
    Repositories of Primary Sources: Latin America & the Caribbean, http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/mexico.html
    A selection of links from the University of Idaho to archival collections in the region.

    Selected Latin American Collections in U.S. Libraries

    Digital Library Projects





    Organizations

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    Information cannot really exist in isolation from the the individual, organization or other entity that creates it. In the realm of online/web information, it is especially important to consider the SOURCE of the information you find. Can you determine the source? What can you find out about the source from the webpage or online document? These caveats are especially important when using information from organizational web sites.

    Most organizations -- government, businesses, non-profits, etc. -- now have pages on the World Wide Web. What follows is a small selection of organizational websites that provide useful information from and about different Latin American countries, or issues relating to Latin American studies. Organization Directories provide links to hundreds of groups in different categories: international, academic, governmental, and non-governmental.

    Organizations use the internet in many different ways. Some organizational pages are no more than a "brochure" describing the group, its mission, contact information, etc. Other groups use their web pages to provide a great deal of information to their members and others. Many groups will provide web pages, email conferences for members, and other services through the net. Since many groups exist to promote certain policies or political/social activities, an organizational web page can be an excellent source of information on issues of interest to the group. When using organizational web pages as research sources, the user needs to critically evaluate the information, taking into account the bias of the information providers. Always look for the groups' address (cyber & terrestrial), statement of purpose and contact information on the web page.

    See http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia/lag1999.html#orgs for more organizations.




    Organization Directories

    Association for Progressive Communications
    "A global network of networks whose mission is to empower and support organisations, social movements and individuals through the use of information and communication technologies..." APC members provide internet access for hundreds of progressive NGOs worldwide. APC was one of the earliest network providers in Latin America. See the following links as examples; the complete directory contains many more:


    IDEAList, http://www.idealist.org/
    A directory of more than 20,000 non-governmental organizations in 140 countries. Searchable by type of activity or area or locality. Also has links to many resources for NGOs worldwide: communications, fundraising, etc.

    Non-governmental organizations via LANIC, http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/ngos/
    List of NGO directories for the region and for each country.

    International Organizations via UT-LANIC, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/world/international and Latin American Regional Resources, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/
    Extensive lists of organizations with global and/or regional focus.

    Latin American Embassies & Consulates, http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~rlwls/embajadas.html
    An excellent directory to U.S. embassies and consulates in Latin America, Latin American embassies in the U.S. and other Latin American embassies in the world. Compiled by Rita Wilson. Email: rlwilson@utsa.edu]

    Latin American Studies via UT-LANIC, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu:80/la/region/las-org/
    Links to academic Latin American studies centers in the US, Europe and Latin America.

    MEXICO: Precisa, http://www.precisa.gob.mx
    Official portal for Mexican government information on the web. Includes links to political parties, legislative, executive and judicial branches, all state government pages, cabinet secretariats, etc. Also includes "special topic" pages on ecology, education, health, children, etc.



    Selected Organizations

    American Association for the Advancement of Science, Latin American & Caribbean Program, http://www.aaas.org/international/lac/index.shtml
    The AAAS-LAC program works to enhance the public understanding of and appreciation for science and technology (S&T) as a force to promote human welfare in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Contact: Marina Ratchford [mratchfo@aaas.org]

    Casa Amiga, http://www.casa-amiga.org/
    The only rape and domestic violence crisis center in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Provides shelter, legal and psychological assistance to victims of violence. Includes statistics on crimes against women, relevant laws, news stories, etc. Contact: Esther Chavez-Cano [echavez0@infosel.net.mx]

    CLACSO-Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales, http://www.clacso.org
    CLACSO is an international, non-governmental federation of 153 research institutions in the social sciences from 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries. It was founded in 1967 to foster and develop comparative and collaborative research amongst its member institutions. Twenty regional working groups, Junior and Senior Fellowship Contests, Social Observatory of Latin America, Publications.

    Commission for Environmental Cooperation--NAFTA, http://cec.org
    Tri-national organization created by the North American Free Trade Agreement to address environmental issues relating to trade in the hemisphere. The CEC information system provides fulltext documents, books, treaties, in Spanish, English and French. Excellent site for primary source materials on environmental issues in the western hemisphere.

    DERECHOS--Human Rights, http://www.derechos.org/
    Provides news and legal information on human rights in Latin America. Includes access to independent human rights reports and newsletters and links to many Latin American organizations.

    ECLAC/CEPAL: Economic Commission for Latin America, http://www.eclac.cl/
    This site provides access to Latin American economic and social statistics, publications, etc.

    Frente Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, http://spin.com.mx/~floresu/FZLN/
    The homepage for the Zapatista political organization in Mexico is a good example of how popular groups use the web to promote their cause(s). This is a good source for current and archival news on the military and civil struggle in Chiapas.

    Fundacion ACCESO, http://www.acceso.org
    Acceso is a private non-profit organization for promotion of sustainable development, human rights/civil liberties, women's programs, employment and income generation in Central American countries. Web site provides links to other NGOs in Central America.

    FUNREDES--Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo/Networks & Development
    Dedicated to the dissemination of New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) in developing countries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Email: contact@funredes.org

    INFOAMERICAS, http://infoamericas.com
    A private company providing market research, competitive intelligence and strategic consulting services throughout Latin America through offices in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Miami. Of special interest to academic researchers are studies in the Online Library and the Tendencias: Latin American Market Report. Free subscription available online and via email.

    Inter-American Development Bank-IADB, http://www.iadb.org
    The Public Information Center of the Inter-American Development Bank makes available a variety of information on IADB publications and projects, including a directory of personnel, news releases, project documents, frequently asked questions, etc. Information in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French.

    Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC), http://www.zianet.com/irc1/
    IRC provides information and analysis on issues of social and economic justice throughout the world and especially in the western hemisphere. The website provides many online publications and databases relating to foreign policy, environment and many other issues. The Border Information and Outreach Service (BIOS) directories provide contact information for hundreds of NGOs and government groups working in the border region.

    ISTEC: Iberoamerican Science and Technology Education Consortium, http://www.istec.org/
    A consortium based at the University of New Mexico for the sharing of SCI/TECH information betweeen US and Latin American universities. See especially the Liblink Library Initiatives, http://www.istec.org/initiatives/liblink.html and ISTEC Digital Libraries, http://www.istec.org/liblink/digital-libraries.html

    National Security Archive, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
    An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This website is excellent in that it provides fulltext primary research documents online. Latin American topics include:

    Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), http://www.paho.org/
    The World Health Organization's regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean. The PAHO WWW site contains data files on publications, news and press releases, human resource development information and pointers to many other health resources on the net. For more info email [publinfo@paho.org]


    Paulo Freire Institute/Instituto Paulo Freire, http://www.paulofreire.org
    International organization dedicated to research in the field of education, culture and communication.

    SALALM: Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials, http://www.salalm.org
    SALALM member libraries and individuals have promoted the acquisition of materials in all formats from and about Latin America for more than 45 years. The page provides links to major Latin American library collections, booksellers in the region, and other useful information.

    South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC)/Abya Yala Net, http://saiic.nativeweb.org/
    Sources on indigenous peoples of Mexico, Central and South America. Includes peoples, organizations, periodicals, etc.

    United States-Mexico Conflict Resolution Center, New Mexico State University, http://crc.nmsu.edu
    Provides education, training and services in the area of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for entities engaged in private commercial trade between the U.S. and México. Contact: Nancy Oretskin at [crc@crc.nmsu.edu]

    Washington Office on Latin America, http://www.wola.org/
    WOLA is an independent organization that promotes human rights, democracy, and social and economic justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. The website includes a large selection of research reports and other publications. Contact: [wola@wola.org]

    World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org/
    The World Bank provides a wide array of information on Latin American countries: data, research reports, news, etc. Within the World Bank site, is an excellent NGO gateway. The World Bank Resources contains fulltext of many project reports, statistics, newsletters, journals and other publications. See also the World Bank, IMF Joint Library Network (JOLIS), http://jolis.worldbankimflib.org/external.htm for access to more information.





    News Sources

    [posada print]

    This section includes my favorite news directories and links to a few specific publications. This list does not begin to be comprehensive. It is possible now to read online daily newspapers from nearly all Latin American countries. Searchable news archives are much harder to find and are generally part of subscription services such as Lexis Nexis.

    See http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia/lag1999.html#news for more news sources.

    Online News Directories

    LANIC News Links
    News links from UT-LANIC provides comprehensive coverage of news sources by country. Separate pages cover:
    Newspapers, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/news/
    Journals & Magazines, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/epub/
    Radio & Television, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/radiotv/
    Journalism, http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/journalism/

    Latin American Library, Tulane University, Electronic Periodicals on Latin America & the Caribbean
    Access to an extensive list of electronic publications and news services. Some resources are by subscription and access is restricted to Tulane users. Contact: Paul Bary [pbary@mailhost.tcs. tulane.edu]
    URL:http://www.tulane.edu/~latinlib/revistas.html

    Latin American Newsgroups via IGC
    A list of conferences on Latin American topics; some lists go back to 1990 or earlier. Access to the newsgroup contents requires subscription or membership in an affiliate organization.

    Online Publications from & about Latin America
    Excellent set of links to online newspapers, wire services and many other kinds of publications. Includes a detailed directory of Mexican Newspapers by State. Compiled by Rita Wilson at UT-San Antonio [rlwilson@utsa.edu]
    URLs: http://www.lib.utsa.edu/Instruction/helpsheets/pubs.html
    http://www.lib.utsa.edu/Instruction/helpsheets/mexstates2.html

    AJR NEWSLINK
    From American Journalism Review, an excellent directory to media sources (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV) worldwide.
    URL: http://ajr.newslink.org



    Selected Publications

    BorderLines, http://www.us-mex.org/borderlines/
    A monthly publication produced by the Interhemispheric Resource Center provides news on issues in the US-Mexico border region.

    Frontera Norte Sur, http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera
    Monthly news digest with daily updates covering the US-Mexico border. Includes border crossing statistics, health, environment, immigration reports and more. Archives available back to 1996. Center for Latin American Studies, New Mexico State University. For more info contact [frontera@nmsu.edu]

    Human Development Report, http://www.undp.org/hdro/
    Major report on the state of the worlds' peoples, produced annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Program. This website provides full text access to the current (released June 29, 2000) report and an archive of previous reports.

    Information Services on Latin America (ISLA), http://www.igc.org/isla
    Well-known for many years to Latin American researchers for its Latin American news publications, the ISLA website provides online current events and in-depth coverage of special events each month. Produced by the DataCenter, http://www.igc.org/datacenter/ a non-profit, progressive research organization in Oakland, CA.

    Latin American Newsletters, http://www.latinnews.com
    Provides sample issues and some full text articles from "Latin American Regional Reports," "Latin America Weekly Report," and other specialized newsletters. Also contains subscription information and a live newsfeed with important regional stories. More information via email [subs@latinnews.com]

    Migration News/Migration Dialogue, http://migration.ucdavis.edu
    A monthly summary of immigration developments covering many world regions, including Latin America and the US-Mexican border. Produced by the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of California--Davis , the journal is distributed via email and is archived back to 1994.

    NACLA REPORT--North American Congress on Latin America, http://www.nacla.org/
    Progressive research on politics, environment, labor, development, etc. Website includes back issues and contents back to 1987. Email: nacla@nacla.org]

    Planeta.com: Global Journal of Practical Ecotourism, http://www.planeta.com/ http://www.planeta.com/
    More than a publication, this is the most extensive collection of ecotravel and tourism resources on the web. Compiled by Ron Mader [editor@planeta.com], the Planeta website contains a wealth of original articles, including ecology and tourism resource guides. The site focuses on Latin America and sponsors the Latin America Media Project and the Directory of Spanish Language Schools.





    More Resources on Latin American Networking

    See the following sites for links to Latin American internet services providers (ISPs) and Network Information Centers (NICs), as well as selected articles on Latin American networking:




    Finding it on the Web/La Busqueda en Espan~ol

    [posada print]

    In addition to using subject guides, indexes and web search engines, the Internet researcher can follow a few "rules of thumb" or criteria in the search for information. I am much indebted to my colleagues, Donald Barclay and Susan Beck for their collaboration in the development of these ideas. See for example:
    http://library.nmsu.edu/projects/tutorial/www.approaches.html

    Geographic criteria--Where in the world...? Use regional directories such as LANIC or the WWW Virtual Library to "go" to the region, country, state or city of interest. For example, if you want to find a list of universities, companies or newspapers in Peru, you can begin with a visit to a Peruvian website such as the Red Cientifica Peruana.

    Organizational criteria--Who in the world...? Look for the name of a company, a government agency, or a non-governmental organization that specializes in the topic of interest. To find information on health in the Americas, for example, you can consult the Pan-American Health Organization site. For current information on human rights, you may consult Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International. For technical support or information on new products from Apple Computer, you may look at Apple Computer, Latin America.

    Subject criteria--What is it about? Take a look at one of the subject guides. These are generally organized in a hierarchy from general to specific. YAHOO provides a very popular subject guide and it is now available in Spanish: Yahoo en Espan~ol, http://espanol.yahoo.com/.

    Search Engines--Seek and find. The automatic web search engines are getting better by the day at providing a way to search through millions of web pages. Nevertheless, they are still somewhat limited in their capacity to provide context for the information and to deliver only the most relevant information to the researcher. Search engines are really good at returning "mass quantities" of URLs on almost any search topic. It is then up to the user to take into account the free and unedited character of the great majority of the information available on the web. The user must take responsibility for crtically evaluating the information retrieved in a search. For an excellent review of many search engines, search strategy, subject lists and more consult Internet Scout Project, at http://http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/index.html. Also, my colleague Susan Beck has created an excellent tutorial, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, or why it's a good idea to evaluate web information, http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html.

    Another EXCELLENT site for learning how to choose and operate the various search engines is How to Choose the Search Tools you Need, http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ToolsTables.html, created by the library of the University of California--Berkeley. Rates each tool, provides search tips and links.

    Finally, to "overgeneralize," we can arrange Internet subject guides and search engines on a continuum from the most INclusive (the greatest number of sites included without any evaluative criteria) to the most EXclusive(fewer sites but with more critical evaluation for quality and reliability of information). Here are just a few examples (and there are many more in each category!):

    Spanish Language Search Engines

    This is just a short list of sources for search engines in Spanish




    La Busqueda

    Ademas de usar guias, indices y motores de busqueda, el investigador puede seguir algunas "reglas" o criterios en la busqueda de informacion en el Internet. [Debo mucho a mis colegas, Donald Barclay y Susan Beck para su colaboracion en el desarrollo de estas ideas. Ver, por ejemplo http://library.nmsu.edu/projects/tutorial/www.approaches.html.

    El criterio geografico--Donde estara'...? Use los directorios regionales como los de LANIC o lo de la WWW Biblioteca Virtual para "ir" primeramente al pais, estado, provincia o ciudad de interes. Por ejemplo, si desea encontrar una lista de universidades o companias o periodicos en Peru, puede comenzar con una pagina web del Peru, como la Red Cientifica Peruana.

    El criterio de organizacion--Quien lo hara'...? Busque el nombre de una compania, un departamento gubernamental o una ONG que especializa en el tema de interes. Para encontrar informacion de la salud en las Americas, por ejemplo, puede consultar la pagina de la Organizacion Panamericana de la Salud. Para informacion actualizada sobre derechos humanos, puede consultar la pagina de Human Rights Watch o Amnesty International. Para apoyo tecnico o informacion de nuevos productos de Apple Computer, consulte la pagina de Apple Computer, Latin America.

    El criterio tematico--De que trata? Revise uno de varios guias tematicas del Internet. Generalmente estan organizados en una jerarquia de lo mas amplia a lo mas especifica de materias. YAHOO ofrece una guia muy popular y esta disponible ahora en Espan~ol: Yahoo en Espan~ol, http://espanol.yahoo.com/

    Motores de busqueda--Buscar/encontrar. Los buscadores automaticos ahora estan mejorando rapidamente y ofrece una manera de buscar millones de paginas web. Sin embargo estan todavia muy limitada en su capacidad de proveer informacion contextual y de entregar solamente la informacion mas relevante al investigador. Los motores de busqueda facilitan la recuperacion de una gran cantidad de URLs (paginas web) sobre cualquier tema, pero el usuario debe tomar en cuenta el caracter "libre" o "inedito" de la gran mayoria de la informacion disponible en la red. Hay que tomar responsabilidad de evaluar criticamente todo lo encontrado. Para un excelente resumen de muchos buscadores y la estrategia de la busqueda en Internet, consulte Internet Scout Project, at http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/index.html. Mi colega, Susan Beck ha elaborado una pagina especial para ensen~ar la tecnica de evaluacion de paginas web: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, or why it's a good idea to evaluate web pages, http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html.

    Otro sitio excelente para conocer como escoger y usar los motores de busqueda es How to Choose the Search Tools you Need, http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ToolsTables.html de la biblioteca de la Universidad de California-Berkeley.

    Para "generalizar" demasiado, podemos decir que se pueden colocar los guias y buscadores en una linea continua de lo mas INclusivo (la cantidad mas grande de sitios incluidos sin evaluacion) a lo mas EXclusivo (menor cantidad de sitios pero con mas aplicacion de criterios evaluativos sobre calidad de informacion). Ejemplos (y hay muchos mas ejemplos en cada categoria!):

    Motores de Busqueda en Espan~ol

    Aqui es una lista (corta) de fuentes de buscadores en Espan~ol.




    Introduction & General Internet Guides | Current Events Links | Latin American Directories | Subscription Databases--Latin America | Subscription Databases--General | Public Domain Databases--Latin America | Public Domain Databases--General | E-Books & Other Texts | Library Catalogs | Digital Library Projects | Organizations | News | List of Lists & Newsgroups | Latin American Networking | Miscellaneous Sites | Finding it on the Web | La Busqueda en Espan~ol| Return to the TOP


    Please send comments, questions, information on new resources or changes to Molly Molloy, mmolloy@lib.nmsu.edu