Research Resources
There are a plenitude of resources available for student and faculty research at Florida International University interested in the study of Latin America or the Caribbean. The following are some of these resources:
Latin American and Caribbean Information Center (LACIC)
Faculty and student research at LACC is supported by the Latin American and Caribbean Information Center (LACIC). Housed in the FIU library, LACIC features a collection of materials and resources for Latin American studies and serves as a gateway for library resources and services. +More Info
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC)
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) provides students and faculty with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. dLOC comprises collections that speak to the similarities and differences in histories, cultures, languages and governmental systems. Types of collections include but are not limited to: newspapers, archives of Caribbean leaders and governments, official documents, documentation and numeric data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, historic and contemporary maps, oral and popular histories, travel accounts, literature and poetry, musical expressions, and artifacts.
The Diaz-Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection
The Diaz-Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Collection at FIU's Green Library, is the world's best Cuban music collection. The entire collection has approximately 100,000 items that span the history of popular Cuban and other Latin Music. Valued at nearly 1 million, the collection features 25,000 LPS; 14,500 78 rpms; 4,500 cassettes containing radio interviews with composers and musicians; 4,000 pieces of sheet music; 3,000 books; and thousands of CDs, photographs, videocassettes and paper files. Among the collection's rarest items are recordings made in pre-revolutionary Cuba. This collection is a donation by Cristobal Diaz Ayala, author of the definitive book on Cuban music and producer of recent CD boxed set 100 Cuban Songs of the Millennium.
FIU Law Library
The Mario Diaz Cruz Law Library is a unique collection of legal resources, acquired by the FIU Law Library from prominent Cuban attorney Mario Diaz Cruz, Sr. The FIU Law Library Digital Initiatives Center provides online, full-text searchable, open-access to the collection. The FIU Law Library acquired the library of the well-known Cuban lawyer Mario Diaz Cruz, who practiced law in Havana from 1915 to 1958. This collection represents what an exceptional law firm library in Cuba must have contained during the first half of the 20th Century. There are also legal materials from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico, as well as from the United States. For some titles, we have one copy that is annotated and another that is in the original form. This part of the collection is unique in the world.
The Caribbean Collection is a special collection of Caribbean Jurisprudence from Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana (Guyana), Saint Lucia, Saint Christopher and Anguilla, Barbados, Grenada, Bermuda, Nevis, the Leeward Islands, Saint Vincent, British Honduras (Belize), the Bahamas, and Jamaica, mainly former British Commonwealth colonies and territories and from Venezuela (1900-1928) and Guatemala (1893-1944). These collections are full-text searchable and open-access, and feature Cuban Law, Civil Codes, and Caribbean Law Collections
The Cuban Law Collection at Florida International University Law Library, provides access to historical legal materials, laws and legislation of Cuba before 1961. Among the other titles recently published and of particular relevance is the 1916 edition of the Civil Code of Cuba annotated by Angel C. Betancourt. This code is from the Mario Diaz Cruz Library, a collection of legal works from a lawyer who practiced law in Havana during the first half of the XIX century. The code is extensively annotated with references to judicial decisions from the Supreme Court of Justice of Cuba or Spain, doctrine and enacted laws that subsequently modified articles of the code. Other titles from this collection are: Ley de Aguas (1906), Prontuario de Mercedes de Rodrigo de Bernardo Estrada (1857), Comentarios a la Ley del Divorcio con Disolución del Vínculo Matrimonial de 29 de Julio de 1918. Click here to access these resources.
FIU Special Collections
Ahlander Collection (Visual Arts Archives)
Donated by the FIU Art Museum, the Ahlander collection consists of brochures and information on artists from Latin America and the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. +More Info
The Papers of Alberto Bolet
The Bolet Archives covers the professional and personal life of Cuban born conductor Alberto Bolet. The records cover his tenure and work with numerous symphonies including the Cape Town and Durban Symphonies in South Africa, the Long Beach Symphony and the Kern Philharmonic Orchestra. Included are personal correspondence, publicity and family photographs and notes relating to his concerts. +More Info
Association of Caribbean Women Writers’ and Scholars
The ACWWS is an international organization whose archives are housed in the University Archives. The association’s aim is to disseminate and promote the literature and orature of Caribbean women and to provide a forum for the advancement of the critical study and teaching of the works of Caribbean women writers and scholars. +More Info
Collection of Cuban photographer Rogelio Caparros
Photographs of Cuba during the Revolution. Photographs of Nicaragua and Panama. Negatives, contact prints and large photoprints. +More Info
Cuban Archives
The Cuban Exile Archives and History Project, collected documents relating to the exile experience. This collection includes runs of Cuban periodicals like Bohemia, Carteles and El Camagueyano, publications from the Cuban American National Foundation, and photographs of exiles. Also included are correspondence between project director Dr. Miguel Bretos and other exiles, and publications of the Project. +More Info
The FIU Cuban Living History Project
Miguel Gonzalez-Pando conducted a series of one-on- one interviews with prominent Cuban exiles; these became the foundation of The Cuban Living History Project. The interviews were later edited for three video publications, Y Los Quiero Conocer (And I Want to Meet Them), Calle Ocho: Cuban Exiles Look at Themselves, and Ni Patria Ni Amo (Neither Motherland not Master). This took as its subject the exile opposition to the Castro government and used interviews from leaders of the exile community. Just prior to his death, permission was given to use many of his interviews for the production The Children of Pedro Pan, (1999) produced by WPBT, Channel 2. Miguel’s assistant, Mr. Raimundo Rey has transferred the collection of over 400 tapes, in differing formats to VHS format. This collection is catalogued and made available for public use in the Special Collections Department. In additionto the tapes, Special Collections also received copies of the books, plays, documentaries, and newspaper commentaries written by Miguel Gonzalez-Pando. +More Info
Cuban Pamphlets
Pamphlets, which deal predominantly with the Cuban Exile experience. They, for the most part, are the work of small exile groups and are a particularly unique collection for researchers who may be unable to locate so many on these items outside of the collection. +More Info
Guantanamo Bay Collection
New collection in process. +More Info
Abril Lamarque Collection
Collection of photographs,articles and information documenting the life of the Cuban-Born Cartoonist Abril Lamarque. +More Info
Marrero Manuscripts Collection
Levi Marrero the premier Cuban historian deposited his research collection to FIU. In addition to bound volumes of the documents, he used to write his history we received his papers and publication materials. This collection will need to be sorted prior to cataloging. +More Info
Levi Marrero Archives
Cuban historian Levi Marrero author of a multi-volume History of Cuba donated a large manuscript collection of the documents used to write his history. In addition he donated other research materials, items selected for inclusion in his books and correspondence. This archive represents his personal papers donated to FIU. +More Info
Miami Film Festival
The film festival founded in 1984 and now under the administrative auspices of FIU has made a rich cultural contribution to the City of Miami. These records cover the history and programming of the festival from its foundation to its incorporation with FIU. +More Info
Nardin Collection
Pre-Colombian Artifacts from Colombia +More Info
William Rios Collection
Documents relating to the political parties of Puerto Rico with emphasis on the political activities during the 1970’s - 1980’s. +More Info
Sheila Thomson Collection
Collection of music CDs, original artwork, photographs and books all relating to Brazil and its culture. +More Info