science

Latin American Bibliography

Latin American Bibliography is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Latin American Bibliography rather than just read about it. In short: The Latin American Bibliography refers to the set of databases and information services on academic journals from Latin America and the Caribbean created by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in the decade of the seventies. Nowadays, the Latin-American Bibliography is composed by the following databases: CLASE (Latin-American Citations in Social Sciences and Humanities); PERIODICA (Index of Latin-Am…

Key takeaways

Latin American Bibliography belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Latin American Bibliography to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Latin American Bibliography from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Latin American Bibliography refers to the set of databases and information services on academic journals from Latin America and the Caribbean created by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in the decade of the seventies. Nowadays, the Latin-American Bibliography is composed by the following databases: CLASE (Latin-American Citations in Social Sciences and Humanities); PERIODICA (Index of Latin-American Journals in Science); Latindex (Regional Co-operative Information System for Scholarly Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal). These databases were created by a group of information professionals, who identified the need to register, preserve and give access to the Latin-American knowledge published in the main academic journals of the region. Within UNAM, the fostering institution of these information products was the Science and Humanities Information Center (CICH) created in 1971. For the size of its collection of Latin-American journals, for the quantity of compiled records and for the duration and consistency of the project, the Latin-American Bibliography produced in the UNAM constitutes one of the most valuable resources for scholars and experts specializing in Latin-American affairs.

Products Three databases are available through the web site of UNAM’s General Directorate for Libraries General Directorate for Libraries: CLASE (Latin-American Citations in Social Sciences and Humanities). Bibliographical database, with more than 280,000 records, of which nearly 14,000 provide abstracts and links to the full text of the documents. It includes more than 1,400 journals specializing in Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, from more than 20 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Documents not available in full text can be retrieved through the Document Supply Service of the Latin-American Serials Collection (Hemeroteca Latinoamericana) of the DGB. PERIODICA (Index of Latin-American Journals in Science). Bibliographical database with more than 315,000 records, of which near 60,000 provide abstracts and links to the full text of the documents. The database indexes more than 1,500 journals specializing in Science and Technology, from more than 20 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Documents not available in full text can be retrieved through the Document Supply Service of the Latin-American Serials Collection (Hemeroteca Latinoamericana) of the DGB. Latindex (Regional Co-operative Information System for Scholarly Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal). This initiative provides relevant information and data of the scholarly journals edited in the Iberoamerican region. Three databases are produced through the collaborative work of the member institutions: Directory,: with more than 17,000 records; Catalogue, with more than 3,500 selected journals that fulfill international quality criteria and an Index of Electronic Journals, offering nearly 3,000 links to available resources in full text. Currently, the Department of Latin-American Bibliography contributes to the production of two other Latin-American information products, Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts and SciELO Mexico. Over the time, other databases were produced by the Department of Latin-American Bibliography during its more than 30 years of existence, namely: BLAT (Latin-American Bibliography I and II), with information compiled from international sources, mainly documents from Latin-American origin (produced by Latin American authors and institutions) or those in which their object of study was related to the region. The database ceased in 1997. Another one was MEXINV, as a subset of CLASE, offered bibliographical records of documents relative only to Mexico. This database ceased in the decade of the nineties.

Institution Currently, the databases described above are produced by the Department of Latin-American Bibliography, part of the Assistant Office for Information Services of the General Directorate for Libraries (DGB) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The original databases (BLAT, CLASE, PERIODICA, MEXINV and Latindex) were created by the Science and Humanities Information Center (CICH). Since the incorporation of the CICH to UNAM’s General Directorate for Libraries in 1997, this institution acts as Responsible Editor.

References Alonso-Gamboa, Jose-Octavio (1993). "Servicios, productos, docencia e investigación en información: La experiencia del Centro de Información Científica y Humanística de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México". Ciencias de la Información. 24 (4): 201–208. hdl:10760/39675. Alonso Gamboa, José Octavio (1998). "Acceso a revistas latinoamericanas en Internet: opción a través de las bases de datos Clase y Periódica". Ciência da Informação. 27 (1): 90–95. doi:10.1590/S0100-19651998000100012. Gamboa, Alonso; Octavio, José; Espinosa, Reyna; Rafael, Felipe (2005). "Compilación de datos bibliométricos regionales usando las bases de datos CLASE y PERIÓDICA". Revista Interamericana de Bibliotecología. 28 (1): 63–78. hdl:10760/9072. Russell, Jane M.; Madera-Jaramillo, María J.; Hernández-García, Yoscelina; Ainsworth, Shirley (2008). "Mexican collaboration networks in the international and regional arenas" (PDF). In Kretschmer, Hildrun; Havemann, Frank (eds.). Proceedings of WIS 2008. ISBN 978-3-934682-45-0. OCLC 1184254930. S2CID 130698691.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Latin American Bibliography

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Latin American Bibliography claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Latin American Bibliography before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Latin American Bibliography ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Latin American Bibliography

In research: Latin American Bibliography appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Latin American Bibliography in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Latin American Bibliography is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bibliographic databases and indexes, Caribbean studies, Latin American studies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Latin American Bibliography outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Latin American Bibliography in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Latin American Bibliography means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Latin American Bibliography out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Latin American Bibliography in simple terms?

Why does Latin American Bibliography matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Latin American Bibliography?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Latin American Bibliography.