LACLI
LACLI (Latin American, Caribbean, U.S. Latinx, and Iberian Online Free E-Resources) is a project that compiles free electronic resources related to Latin America, Caribbean, Latinx, and Iberian Studies into a single list. Developed beginning in 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, this resource continues to grow as students, scholars, and librarians nominate additional resources.
LACLI is a project of the Latin America North East Libraries (LANE) network, a group of library professionals representing academic and research libraries in the region. LANE is associated with the international organization Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM). As of 2022, the Biblioteca Daniel Cosío Villegas (Mexico) and the Fundação Getulio Vargas CPDOC (Brazil) are collaborating institutions for LACLI.
Currently compiled in a Google spreadsheet, the list is filterable by topic, country, and time period. One of the advantages of this platform is that it is familiar and accessible across multiple countries and languages. It also allows each entry to be tagged with subjects in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. A challenge is that the growing size of the spreadsheet (over 1000 entries) can make it increasingly difficult to navigate. Another consideration is maintaining the spreadsheet; LACLI is largely supported by the volunteer efforts of LANE members and affiliates. Future plans include converting the spreadsheet into a more easily searchable database.
Contributed by Jennifer Schaefer