New Systemwide Electronic Resources: Spring & Summer 2021

CDL is pleased to announce a group of new resources that have recently been acquired by the UC libraries for systemwide use by UC students and faculty.  The selection of these resources was a collaborative effort involving all ten campuses, overseen by the Joint Steering Committee for Shared Collections (JSC) and endorsed by the Shared Content Leadership Group (SCLG).   

How did we decide to purchase these resources?

Earlier this year, JSC developed principles to guide current year purchases and surveyed library staff from the campuses about which scholarly resources they would like to recommend for systemwide acquisition.  Key principles included:

• support for remote instruction in light of COVID uncertainties, 
• advancing the diversity of voices represented in our collections, and 
• prioritizing one-time purchases over ongoing commitments for maximum flexibility in future collecting.  

JSC ranked the campus responses, and CDL solicited proposals from the relevant vendors.  The proposals were evaluated by CDL staff and JSC, and final recommendations were presented to SCLG for approval. 

How are we paying for these resources?

• All but one of these resources were licensed with no costs borne by the campuses, thanks to a pooled fund established to support the needs of the UC collective and to improve systemwide access to important scholarly work, which was supplemented by a generous allocation of FY20/21 funds by the University Provost.  
• CDL was also pleased to fund some acquisitions, and contribute to others, from its own one-time content budget.  
• One of the resources was generously funded by UC Riverside.  

What resources have been purchased?

Here is a brief description of each resource (purchased using the pooled fund noted above unless otherwise indicated):

African-American Newspapers, Series 1 (1827-1998) and Series 2 (1835-1956):  A collection of more than 350 newspapers which provide a one-of-a-kind record of African American history, culture and daily life.  Covers life in the Antebellum South, growth of the Black church, the Jim Crow Era, the Great Migration, Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights movement, political and economic empowerment and more.  The acquisition of this resource was fully funded by CDL.

China Doctoral Dissertation & Masters’ Theses:  This database offers an unparalleled look into the academic research of China’s most prestigious institutions. CDMD is the most comprehensive, highest quality database of dissertations and theses from China, representing nearly 500 PhD-granting institutions and over 775 masters-granting institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Agriculture, among others.  The theses and dissertations are available in Chinese, with an interface in English.  The purchase of this database was generously funded in its entirety by UC Riverside.  (Purchase still in process)

Latin American Anarchist and Labour Periodicals Online:  This collection contains the periodicals that have been accumulated by the Austrian anarchist, historian and collector Max Nettlau (1865-1944), together with a number of later additions, held at the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. The collection provides  rich documentation of the formative anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist episode (1890-1920) in the history of Latin American labor movements.

IET complete journal archive, 1872-2012: The IET Journals span all areas of engineering and technology – covering the disciplines of electrical, electronics, computing, control, biomedical and communications technologies. We have purchased access to the complete journal archive for all UC campuses plus the Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Labs.

MIT Press ebooks 2021 Collection:  Includes approximately 150 titles that will be published in 2021, covering the following subject areas: art and architecture, biomedical sciences, business and finance, computer science, cognitive science, design, education, environment, game studies, humanities, information science, linguistics, neuroscience, new media, philosophy, and social sciences.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia:  African History:  A dynamic digital encyclopedia, peer-reviewed and continuously updated by  leading scholars and researchers.  An important reference work that supports all levels of scholarship and learning.  (Purchase still in process)

Oxford Scholarship Online:  The full 2021 collection of ebooks from Oxford University Press.   The collection covers 27 subject areas and is projected to contain 1,400 titles. (Purchase still in process)

Political History of Japan Database:  Digital archives of primary source materials, with a special focus on post-war Japanese political and economic history. Includes the personal papers, speeches, unpublished government documents, diaries, and meeting notes of numerous historical figures in Japanese history.    (Purchase still in process)

Project Muse ebook collection:  A collection of ebooks from university presses and other scholarly publishers.  The purchase includes access to the complete 2021 collection, plus a supplement to the 2019 collection previously acquired. As titles are available, they will be activated in Alma.

SAGE Research Methods:  CDL was pleased to be able to use its one-time funds to purchase another five years of updates to the SAGE Research Methods library, containing more than 1000 books, reference works, and journal articles by leading academics from across the social sciences.  Aligning this purchase with the renewal of our SAGE journals license has also helped to control the cost of the journals package.     

University of California Press 2021 ebook Collection:  The complete collection of ebooks for 2021.  UC Press publishes titles in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.  The titles are accessed via the DeGruyter platform.

文史资料, Collection of Chinese Literature and History database (Zhongguo wen shi zi liao ji cui):  A rare collection of primary source materials, specifically written and oral histories from Chinese citizens on literary topics and historical events collected by the People’s Consultative Conferences.  Available for the first time in digital format. 

Yale Art and Architecture ePortal:  An eBook resource that features important works of scholarship in the history of art, architecture, decorative arts, photography, and design, from publishers and museums. Purchase provides five years of access.