toward building a Latinx digital public plaza           

This Bridge Called Cyberspace: The Archive (TBCC: The Archive) is a free, searchable online collection of Chican@x publications. Since 2007, I have operated TBCC: The Archive as a project born of love and hope for a CyberAztlán where I can find kindred Chicana feminists interested in building digital communities of color.

The site defaults to searching all publications, but clicking on a specific title on the left displays the available issues of that specific publication. Below SOY is selected. 

Clicking on an issue displays the issue’s table of contents and PDF files as shown below. Each article is a separate PDF file to reduce file size for lower downloading speeds.  

WHY THIS BRIDGE?

In the 1990s as a Ph.D. student in Comparative Literature, I looked for connections through my dissertation entitled, Chicana Feminist Voices: in search of Chicana Lesbian Voices from Aztlán to Cyberspace. As a tenured professor, I completed BS in computer science and began an MBA in digital marketing and management so I could directly contribute by showcasing Chicanas’ publications on This Bridge Called Cyberspace: The Archive.

This Bridge Called Cyberspace: The Archive began in 2007 as my senior project for the Bachelors in computer science. Initially it was created as an online bookshelf for Chicana/Latina Studies (C/LS), the journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS). the professional organization for self-identified Chicana, Latina, Native American / Indígena mujeres and gender non-conforming academics, students, and activists that I have belonged to since 1986. Over time, the C/LS journal contracted with JSTOR, a traditional paid academic database. TBCC: The Archive has grown to include other small publishers of Chicana writing. It provides free access to PDF files made available thanks to agreements with publishers to use their intellectual property.

I did not promote or upgrade the site enough when I was juggling my faculty responsibilities. Thanks to losing my job (covid-sucks), the site will undergo a design and database restructuring to improve the resource. By learning to create apps, I hope to attract more visitors to the site. I have been given the gift of time and hope.

This Bridge Called Cyberspace (TBCC): The Archive aspires to be a digital hub for sharing resources and building a digital community. Most of the traffic to the site comes from the links maintained by the JOURNAL and LA VOZ on their own websites. Having a direct link from the publishers to my archival website is very important. The relationship is more than digital. I hope my work brings more attention Chicanas and the non-profits that advances access to their ideas. Please share http://thisbridge.net as widely as you are able.  Thank you.