Web Searches and Data Bases in the Latin American Studies Classroom

Introduction: In this session, we will demonstrate a number of search strategies and specialized data bases that will be useful in the Latin American Studies classroom. Our basic premise is that there are many Latin American information "gems" on the Internet, but finding them in a timely manner can be a daunting task.

By the end of this session, you should have a better idea of the range of specialized Latin American material available on the Internet, as well as some expertise in searching for and through this material.

1. General Approaches to Searching for Latin American Web resources

The proliferation of information on the Web in general, and information in and about Latin America in particular, has made the task of finding what one is looking for increasingly difficult. Just a year or two ago, one could reasonably expect to find Latin American information relatively quickly by visiting one or two good directory sites or search engines. Today, a much more sophisticated strategy is needed: even the best directory services cannot hope to classify all that is out there, and search engines do a partial job at best.

To begin, we would like to stress the importance of setting out on your information gathering expeditions with a clear and explicit goal and strategy in mind. What can be more frustrating than jumping onto AltaVista, typing in mexico economy nafta, and getting 69,000 pages back! The more specific you can be in terms of defining about what you are looking for, the more likely you are to be successful.

Once you have defined what it is you are after, we suggest thinking about possible alternative search strategies based on a model like the following (The scheme is a variation from Molly Molloy's "Finding it on the Web" section of Internet Resources for Latin America):

A. Where

Does your idea lend itself to a geographical-based approach to searching? If you are looking for "place-bound" information, or material with a specific local or regional focus, then this might be the best approach. Find lists of country specific Web pages, or country-based search engines.

Examples:

• LANIC has Country-based Directory pages for 37 nations and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• Or go to a Country-based Portal, like Chévere! in Venezuela, or La Brújula in Chile (a complete list of country-based Portals is available on the LANIC Search Page).

B. Who

This strategy works well if you are searching for information by or about a specific organization--such as a university, a company, an NGO, or a political party--or a specific individual.

But it can also be useful if you know of an information-producing agency or company in the topical area you are interested in, as they are often the best direct source of the information itself, or of links to other sites in that area.

Examples:

• If you need current basic statistics on Health in Latin America, start your search at the site of the Pan American Health Organization.
• Need to send Email to someone in the Sociology department at the UBA? Go straight to the site of the Universidad de Buenos Aires.
• Looking for testimonies regarding human rights abuses in the Southern Cone? A good place to begin would be the Inter-American Human Rights Database.

C. What

If you are fortunate enought to have a clearly defined topic, but it is not "place-bound" nor does it have an organizational expression, then you will probably be best off starting at a good old-fashioned subject guide

Examples:

• LANIC has subject directory pages on nearly fifty topics, from the African Diaspora in Latin America to Travel.
• Molly Molloy's annotated guide, Internet Resources for Latin America, contains brief descriptions of hundreds of valuable resources.

D. How

As in, "How can I find what I'm looking for if AltaVista gives me 69,000 pages?". Or, just how do you use these search engines anyway?

There are two key things to keep in mind when using search engines. First, what is the coverage? No two search engines cover the same universe or set of Web pages. Some are larger, some are restricted to content in just one country, some search only the contents of a specific site, but they are all searching a specific set of pages, and conversely NOT searching all the rest of the pages on the Web. Second, no two search engines have the same set of commands and features. Time spent learning these is time well spent. For an overview of coverage and features for four of the most popular search engines, browse the table at Recommended Search Engines, by the UC Berkeley Library.

Rule of thumb: the greater the degree of specificity in search term, the better the likelihood you will find useful returns from a search engine.

Links to the major "global" search engines, like AltaVista, Google, and HotBot, the "meta-search" sites like Dogpile that will execute your query directly in numerous stand-alone search engines, as well as to the Latin American regional and country-based search engines, can be found on the LANIC Search page.

2. Specialized Latin American Data Bases and Archives

For the most part, information you might find at the sites listed above resides on HTML pages on the Web. If you are looking for more specialized content, be it for your own research or as part of a classroom assignment, you may need to turn to data bases or archives. The contents of these collections is typically not stored on static HTML page, and thus will not come up as a return from a search conducted on AltaVista or the Latin American search engines.

Unfortunately, locating these specialized collections can be a challenge. And if you are lucky enough to stumble upon a data base that seems like it might have what you are looking for, finding the exact information you need is often quite difficult as well.

Below is a sample of data bases and archives that contain either bibliographic or full text content in a number of thematic areas. Our intent is simply to give a glimpse of the range of possibilities available.

A. Organizational & Contacts

CEIBA Base de Datos de Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil, Fundación Arias
Devdir.org Directory of Development Organizations

B. News Archives

LADB Latin America Data Base, University of New Mexico

C. Bibliographic and Full Text

ARL Latinamericanist Research Resources Pilot Project
HLAS Handbook of Latin American Studies, Library of Congress
SciELO Scientific electronic library online, FAPESP/BIREME
LARR Latin American Research Review, LASA

D. Historical

ARL Presidential Messages ARL/LANIC
Fundación Histórica Tavera Guía de fuentes etnográficas
Latin America Historical Text Archive Don Mabry

E. Economic

IDB Basic Socio-Economic Data Report
IDB Latin America in Graphs
UNDP Human Development Report
LADB Econ Search

F. Social

UNESCO Education Database