On September 20th, sixteen students, along with a number of faculty members and librarians, gathered in the Chang Seminar Room of RBML to attend a full-day workshop on codicology led by Dr. Kelly Tuttle, the Muslim World Manuscript (MWM) Project Cataloger at UPenn. The workshop was supported by the Center for the Study of Muslim […]
Toni Morrison and Africa
On August 5, 2019, a great tree fell in the forest of my imagination. Toni Morrison, the great African American writer and international humanist, had died. I could not ignore the sadness. I was personally moved to read, re-read, and to become more familiar with Morrison’s novels and non-fiction writing, including her books for children, […]
Medicine, Religion and Alchemy in South India (Siddha conference)
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a conference on Medicine, Religion and Alchemy in South India: Resources and Permutations of Siddha Traditions and Siddha Medicine that convened at Tübingen University, Germany, 25-27 July 2019. The conference brought together scholars from Austria, France, Germany, India, Poland, Switzerland, and the United States who met […]
Summer Processing of Hebraica and Judaica materials
During the summer, as things quiet down on campus, we often turn to large processing projects, providing further access to many of our otherwise unknown holdings. This summer has been no different in the Hebraica and Judaica collections. In past years, our talented students have cataloged about 2000 rare printed Hebrew books, which can now, […]
The Muslim World Manuscript Project: A great Pedagogical tool! What can manuscripts teach us?
The summer months at Columbia University allow more mental space and time to savor enjoyable conversations and delve into the numerous treasures that the Columbia University Libraries offers to the scholarly community. Last week, I sat down with Prof. A. Tunç Şen, (who just had a baby) and asked him a few questions about his […]
The Muslim World Manuscript Project
How do archives get activated? The Muslim World Manuscript Project at the Columbia University Libraries On the shore where Time casts up its stray wreckage, we gather corks and broken planks, whence much indeed may be argued and more guessed…. Anonymous One question that fascinates me is how the power of archives gets activated. […]
Ilia Zdanevich: The Tbilisi Years: An Exhibit at Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Through July 12, 2019
From guest blogger, and exhibition Curator, Thomas J. Kitson, PhD* Professor Valentina Izmirlieva (Slavic Department) and I approached Rob Davis (Librarian for Russian, Eurasian & East European Studies) and Tanya Chebotarev (Bakhmeteff Archive, RBML) early last year about the possibility of mounting an exhibition on Ilia Zdanevich (1894-1975). The Russian-Georgian Futurist poet ended up in […]
Dr. Ambedkar and Columbia University: A Legacy to Celebrate
Dr. Ambedkar and Columbia University: A Legacy to Celebrate Every morning, I look forward to glancing at Dr. Ambedkar’s bust, in the far East corner of the Lehman Social Sciences Library, on my way to work. My eyes first rest on the bright garlands (offerings of admirers) that often adorn the bust, hanging around the […]
Sorry, This Page Does Not Exist!: The Brazilian Presidential Transition (2018) Web Archive
The web lives in the present tense. But, as librarians understand all too well, scholarly research and knowledge production require sustainable long-term access and preservation of evidence that supports the deciphering and understanding of the world. The broken links we encounter throughout the web can signify the loss of important information, sometimes when it seems […]
Women and Gender Studies, Resources for International Research, and… Coffee! Find out more!
For the occasions of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th, I sat down with Sarah Witte, our Women & Gender Studies Librarian, and Yuusuf Caruso, our African Studies Librarian, and asked them about resources that the Columbia Libraries makes available to researchers interested in women and gender studies at the […]