Area Studies Library Organizations and Multi-Disciplinary Collection and Research: The Latin American Experience

Abstract

National and international library organizations are important in the academic community because they provide a venue for discussing new methods and ideas that improve the ability of their members to func-tion in their jobs. They also support practical projects that cannot be done at the local level but require the coordination and activities of several libraries or organizations. This paper describes three projects of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), an area studies library or-ganization that resulted in benefits important to Latin American library collections in the United States. In particular, this paper discusses the role and importance of professional organizations in the success of the Latin American Cooperative Acquisitions Program (LACAP), the Latin American Microform Project (LAMP), and the Hispanic American Periodical Index (HAPI).