libraries on the WWW:


Safety and Emergency plans for libraries

Management of Library Security (Association of Research Libraries) Although libraries are often considered oases of quiet and decorum by the general public, they have their share of security problems

Canadian Library Association
Index of Resources for Historians
Index maintained jointly by the Department of History of the University of Kansas and the Lehrstuhl für Ältere deutsche Literaturwissenschaft der Universität Regensburg. The index consists of a single large file (approximately 185 Kb) offering over 1700 connections arranged alphabetically by subject and name.
OCLC
Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs are OCLC's major goals. Founded in 1967, OCLC pioneered the computer revolution in libraries when it introduced a computer system that enabled libraries to rapidly and efficiently catalog books and order custom-printed catalog cards. Today, OCLC provides a spectrum of services to over 22,000 libraries and their users in 63 countries.
TELEMATICS FOR EUROPEAN LIBRARIES
Research and Development in the libraries sector of the Telematics Programme aims to facilitate access to the wealth of knowledge held in libraries throughout the European Union, while reducing disparities between national systems and practice. Topics covered include networking (OSI, WWW), cataloguing (OPACs), resource discovery, imaging, multimedia (CDi-ROM), distance learning, standards and copyright.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES ON GOPHER SERVERS:
listing 19 U.S. libraries;
PUBLIC LIBRARIES ON WWW SERVERS: You can browse through a list of 357 public libraries all over the world;
List of 262 PUBLIC LIBRARIES WITH TELNET SERVICES.
GABRIEL:
Gabriel, the World Wide Web server for the European National Libraries represented in the Conference of European National Librarians. For those who enjoy acronyms, Gabriel might be said to stand for GAteway and BRIdge to Europe's national Libraries. Gabriel will help to bring national libraries in Europe closer together by providing a single point of access for the retrieval of information about their functions, services and collections. The pilot Gabriel project was originally set up on behalf of CENL by the following libraries acting as partners: The British Library; Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto - Helsinki University Library; and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek - The National Library of the Netherlands. Working together, these libraries created a functional pilot service based on entries describing their own services and collections between March and September 1995. The pilot service was endorsed by the CENL annual meeting at Bern in Switzerland in September 1995 and launched on the Internet. The service is currently mounted and maintained in London by British Library Network Services and mirrored in Helsinki and The Hague.
LIBRARY & RELATED RESOURCES:
A very rich source of information on libraries. Offers links to numerous libraries, library servers, catalogues, library projects, reports and documentation, e-mail lists, museums, publishers and newspapers, scholarly societies... Add to your list of bookmarks.
New Jersey Book Arts At The John Cotton Dana Library
Classes in Printmaking Workshop/Bookarts, here at Rutgers, and Introduction to Artists Books at the New School in New York, both focus on the book as a self-referential form, as conceptually whole; each unique form and process can be a significant aspect of its meaning. Ideally, the student is willing to be inventive--so that innovative materials and processes can be explored.
THE HOLDEN ARBORETUM, Classes in Rare Books
The Holden Arboretum offers two series of two hour classes utilizing the rare book collection. The first of these is the Book Series which is aimed at all booklovers and is geared towards giving a basic introduction to the history and development of books and an understanding of their component parts. The second is the Collection Highlight Series which gives the participants an opportunity to examine books from the Warren H. Corning Collection of Horticultural Classics as they learn about the history of the works. Booklovers, collectors, and potential users of rare books will be provided with a basic background in the terminology and concepts used to discuss the makeup, structure, and composition of the printed book. Among the subjects covered are the growth of the printed book from the manuscript form and the concept of formats. Other subjects include title pages, colophons, printer's marks, and watermarks using examples from the rare book collection. This class or equivalent knowledge is a prerequiste for admission to the Further Studies in the Book and Introduction to Bibliography classes. Other classes offered: Further Studies in the Book, Introduction to Bibliography, and Introduction to Processes of Botanical Illustration (The processes of wood block illustration, wood engraving, etching, engraving, stipple engraving, aquatint and lithography are discussed as well as how to identify them. Examples are used from the Warren H. Corning Collection of Horticultural Classics), Types of Botanical and Horticultural Literature, Early European Herbals, English Herbals and Medical Botanies, Rare Books on Trees, Rare Gardening and Horticultural Manuals, The Works of Carl Linnaeus. All classes are given in the rare book room at the back of the Warren H. Corning Library in the Warren H. Corning Library and Visitor's Center of The Holden Arboretum, 9500 Sperry Road, Kirtland, Ohio 44094. Note taking is restricted to pencils which will be provided. The cost of the current classes is $12 for members and $15 for non-members of The Holden Arboretum and includes admission to the grounds. (Botanical Images, Book History and Conservation on the Web for much more information and a rich source of botanical illustrations. Column by Stanley Johnston, Curator of Rare Books at The Holden Arboretum)
EARLY AMERICAN FICTION
The University of Virginia Library proposes a two-year project for 1996-1998 to create electronic texts of rare books and to compare the usage and costs of electronic texts and of original paper texts of rare books. The project will focus on e-texts of a well-defined and comprehensive collection of early American fiction derived from the two standard bibliographies of American fiction. Specific outcomes expected from the project are:

The 119 members of the Association of Research Libraries house over a million rare books. From the ancient library in Alexandria, Egypt, to the present time, preserving unique and rare books has been taken as a principle raison d'étre of research libraries. But this objective is a costly part of the libraries' mission. At the University of Virginia in recent years it has cost eight times as much on average to acquire a rare book as an ordinary trade book. Because of security and preservation needs, maintenance of rare books is three times as expensive as of the other book collections. Security also means that physical access to rare books is necessarily restricted. As a result, last year the ratio of rare books used to total volumes in the rare books collection was 3%, while the ratio in the general collections was 23% and in the undergraduate library 118%. On average, 3% of the rare books collection was used, while each undergraduate library book was used more than once. And from the standpoint of the patron, usage of original rare books requires visiting geographical locations to use physical objects, just as 2,000 years ago in the great library of Alexandria.
The World Wide Web offers the possibility of greatly expanded access to computer versions of rare books. The computer versions offer the added value that every word in the rare books is indexed and searchable. It is possible in an online collection of early American fiction to find in seconds every instance of the word "freedom" for a study of fictional concepts of freedom, while in the original rare books such a search might take years. And while computer images of rare book pages alone can only serve as pointers to the rich actuality of the original physical artifacts, the combination of searchable text and high-resolution color page images provides a detailed and flexible view of the material to teacher and scholar alike.
The UVa Early American Fiction project presents the opportunity to study scholarly use of original rare books and of their computer simulacra, and to determine the extent to which electronic texts of rare books can serve scholars. The library expects to create an online collection, to focus on use by faculty and student scholars, and to obtain objective data supporting reliable comparisons of usage of e-texts with usage of original rare books.

UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO BOOKARTS:
The Bookmaster Network. Electronic resource for locating information on artists' books and bookartists: BOOKBLOCK.
BOOK ARTS, Arizona State University, School of Art:
Coursework in Fine Printing & Bookmaking is classified under the printmaking area, where it complements the other fine art courses often included in the 'book arts'; papermaking, lithography, intaglio, screenprinting, relief, and monoprinting. Undergraduate students may earn a BFA degree in the printmaking area with an emphasis in the book arts. Graduate students may earn an MFA degree in printmaking with an emphasis in any or all of the book arts. Fine Printing & Bookmaking classes are open to students from all disciplines, within and outside of the visual arts. Art students in printmaking, photography, graphic design, and occasionally from painting and drawing, ceramics, or fibers bring different aesthetics and visual senses; non-art majors from English, creative writing, history, the scholarly publishing program, philosophy, and communication have all brought their own perspectives to enrich the class. A mix of undergraduate and graduate students is usual and also serves to broaden the experience for everyone.
CUSHING LIBRARY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY:
The Cushing Memorial Library is the rare book, manuscript, research collection, and archive repository of Texas A&M University. Currently located within the Sterling C. Evans Library, the collections will soon occupy the Cushing Memorial Library, the University's orginal library, which is now under renovation. Collecting interests and strengths include military history, Texas local history, 19th century British literature, nautical archaeology, science fiction, American illustrators, range and livestock literature, and the history of Texas A&M University and its system parts, which include Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas Engineering Extension Service, Texas Transportation Institute, etc.
VIRGINIA RARE BOOK SCHOOL:
A treat for collectors, students, and dealers in antiquarian books. Offers courses on topics concerning rare books, manuscripts and special collections.
THE BRITISH LIBRARY:
visit the TREASURES in the digitisation project. On-line manuscripts from the B.L. are linked to our MANUSCRIPTS page.
WORKSHOP TECHNOLOGY OF THE MEDIEVAL BOOK:
The Thompson Conservation Library Laboratory has been in operation since 1976, specializing in the restoration of medieval and renaissance books, art on paper and more. The lab conducts condition surveys, performs scientific analysis, and provides a reference service, based on a 4,000 volume research library.
YALE LIBRARY INTERNET RESOURCES.
A great site with many usefull links!
STERLING MEMORIAL LIBRARY:
Arts of the Book Collection. ( Housed in one of the finest of Sterling's main floor rooms is an archive of materials associated with the art and history of the book and attendant graphic arts, the Arts of the Book Collection. Its holdings focus on calligraphy, letter design and typography, printing, illustration, paper, binding, and printed ephemera. The room houses a number of special collections as well, including the printing library of former University printer and scholar, Carl P. Rollins, the archives of Fritz Kredel, a master of printing and engraving, a collection of works by Fritz Eichenberg, a wood engraver, and such notable small press materials as the library of the Overbrook Press. The collection also serves as a forum for a lively and vigorous educational and cultural program of lectures, seminars and exhibits. It is also the centerpiece for a variety of other related collections, including Sterling's Bookplate Collection.)
CLEMENTS LIBRARY:
The William L. Clements Library, located on the central campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, contains original source materials for the study of American history and culture from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Its mission is to collect and preserve source materials, to make them available for research, and to create an environment that supports and encourages scholarly investigation of the USA's past.
LEEDS DATABASE of MANUSCRIPTS ENGLISH VERSE:
detailed information about the individual items of English verse in the 17th and 18th century; over 2500 records.
School of PRINTING MANAGEMENT and SCIENCES, R.I.T..
The School of Printing Management and Sciences offers you a career in a $129 billion-per-year graphic communications industry that recruits its management professionals at RIT. The advances of computer technology and the growing "information age" have created new demands for leaders who understand both graphic communications processes and the rapidly changing technology. Newspaper corporations. magazine empires, paper manufacturers, book publishers and specialzed printing companies are just a few of our graduates' employers. RIT is known as the premier printing management school in the world. It has assisted newspapers such as USA Today and The New York Times in creating newspapers with full color, and is the forefront in teaching students how to scan and combine photographs on a computer. SPMS merged desktop publishing technology and high-end electronic color systems. Students have expanded their horizons in the latest publishing technologies including digital printing and multi-media publishing. The school has supplied the industry with men and women who are making decisions for the business environment of the 90's (and beyond).
KING LIBRARY PRESS:
Seminars graphic design. ( The King Library Press, founded in 1956, is devoted to the tradition of fine printing and produces books and broadsides. Typesetting, printing, and binding are all done at the Press and there are opportunities for apprentices. The Press is located in the King Library North on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington.)
SHARP WEB:
Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing. You can subscribe the Sharp-L , the Electronic Conference of Book Historians, from this site.
SWISS NATIONAL LIBRARY
BSUVA,
The Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, information on the society, membership, list of winners of the Book-Collecting Contest through the years, Studies in Bibliography and a link to WEB SITES OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTEREST.
LIBRARY EXHIBITS ON THE WEB,
(University of Houston Libraries). Online exhibits created by libraries and archives. Lots of images very worthwhile waiting to load..Some 75 links to on-line exhibitions.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY,
Rare Books and Manuscripts Section ( The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) exercises leadership in the local, nation, and international special collections communities in an effort to represent and promote the interests of librarians, curators, and other specialists concerned with the acquisition, organization, security, preservation, administration, and use of special collections, including rare printed books, manuscripts, archives, graphics, music, and ephemera.)
MISSOURI CENTER FOR THE BOOK:
The Missouri Center for the Book was established in 1993 "to bring the words and ideas of books into the thoughts and lives of Missourians." It is the first statewide organization that promotes the importance of books and reading to Missouri residents, celebrates the state's literary heritage, and recognizes the contributions of Missouri's authors, book illustrators, booksellers, publishers, librarians, and others involved in the literary arts. The Missouri Center is an affiliate of the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which was established by law in 1977 to strengthen and celebrate the vital role of books, reading, and libraries in the cultural life of the nation. A recent projects is the Missouri Community of the Book Demonstration Database This searchable database will contain information on more than 500 contemporary authors as well as many deceased authors who were born in or had strong ties to Missouri. The database also will contain information on Missouri bookstores, publishers, ne wspapers, libraries, and literary groups. It is scheduled for completion in 1996.
MINNESOTA CENTER FOR THE BOOK:
organizes activities which promote books, reading and literate culture. (The Minnesota Center for the Book is the state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The national Center was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and reading. The Minnesota Center reflects the goals of its national parent, tailoring these goals to the distinctive needs and assets of Minnesota's "community of the book.")
COLORADO CENTER FOR THE BOOK:
The Colorado Center for the Book is a non profit organization that has existed in Colorado since 1987. Affiliated with the Library of Congress Center for the Book, the center is one of a network of thirty state Centers for the Book. Established by law in 1977 under the leadership of Librarian of Congress, Daniel Boorstin, the national center was created to stimulate public interest in reading, books and libraries. The Colorado Center built on that mission by focusing on a "book community" that includes but is broader than libraries. The Colorado Center is one of the few that operates independent of a state library and has three paid staff people.
ALASKA CENTER FOR THE BOOK:
founded in 1991 to stimulate public interest in literacy, through the spoken and written word, as central to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us....
IDAHO CENTER FOR THE BOOK:
The Idaho Center for the Book was established to encourage and promote an interest in reading, writing, making, disseminating, and collecting books. The ICB also seeks to preserve and publicize the bibliophilic heritage of the Gem State. ICB publishes a semi-annual newsletter, as well as books and videos relating to Idaho and book history, Book Arts, and related book topics. It sponsors (with the assistance of the Idaho Commission on the Arts) "Booker's Dozen", a biennial statewide travelling exhibition of fourteen artists and eccentric books by Idahoans. In 1996, the ICB and the Idaho Council of Teachers of English are jointly producing "Idaho by the Book", a tetraflexagon literary map of the state. Keep visiting this site for there are frequent updates and new articles
THE KARPELES MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY MUSEUMS:
Seven free museums and seven major free exhibits throughout the United States. The Karpeles Manuscript Library is the world's largest private holding of some of the world's greatest and most important original manuscripts and documents with holdings of over one million pages. The Library provides special educational programs and lectures for schools at all levels. Manuscripts : Einstein : Luther : Bill of Rights : Confederate Constitution : Armada : Custer : Darwin : Thesaurus : Webster¹s Dictionary : Bible: Columbus : Literature. Music (Beethoven-Mozart-Handel). Science (Galelio- Newton). Religion. Indian. History (Lincoln-Washington-Kennedy). Many others.
BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE D'ABBEVILLE:
images of binding Chronique de Pierre le Prestre. 15th century.
THE AGE OF CHARLES V, 1338-1380:
1,000 illuminations from the Department of Manuscripts, Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD EARLY PRINTED BOOKS PROJECT,
Foreign Books Outside The Bodleian. With links to related projects and a Resources section (with links to web related resources that might be usefull to the project team and others interested in early printed books and special collections).
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION:
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, and its 57,000 members represent all types of libraries. There is a Log-On @ at the Libraryday link inwhich interesting sites are collected to look at the Information Superhighway.
The Rare Book and Manuscript Section, American Library Association. Site covering activities and other matters relating to the work of the Section.
BOOK ARTS PROGRAM:
College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. Informal classes in letterpress printing offered in the early 1970's were developed by Harry Reese from 1978 to the present to form the basis of the current program. Studio classes in printing and book arts have been offered regularly since then as electives in the College of Creative Studies (CCS) Art program. In the Fall of 1989 "Book Arts" became the third "emphasis" within the CCS Art program. It is the only program of its kind in the University of California system. CCS art students may now study for a degree with an emphasis in either painting, sculpture, or book arts.
webCATS
A collection of links to hundreds of online public-access catalogs worldwide, maintained by Peter Scott and Doug Macdonald of the University of Saskatchewan Library. No matter how esoteric your interests are, webCATS will help you find bibliographic references to the books, documents, or manuals you need.
The Edward Clark Collection
The Edward Clark Collection (Napier University Library, Merchiston Campus, 10, Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT) is a collection ofThe collection includes works from Amongst the more notable works in the collection are copies of William Morris's Kelmscott Chaucer, the Doves Bible and the great Oxford Lectern Bible designed by Bruce Rogers. It represents an invaluable resource for scholars of the book and printing history. A project is currently underway to catalogue the collection to ensure a wide access to it's holdings. The web pages allow access to the catalogue. Consisting of approximately 4,500 items, The Edward Clark Collection illustrates the development of printing and book production from the fifteenth century to the present day. The Collection contains many fine examples of book illustration and decoration, typefaces and bindings. The Collection has its origins in the will of an Edinburgh printer, Edward Clark, Chairman and Managing Director of R.& R. Clark Ltd of Edinburgh.
Special Collection Medicine
Archives and Special Collections, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.
THE COLLECTIONS:
BROCK UNIVERSITY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
James A. Gibson Library. Brock University's Special Collections and Archives. Housed here are materials unique to the Niagara Region. In addition to books and other items published by Niagara area residents, visitors may consult rare, scarce and valuable items in the collections, such as, limited editions, signed copies and early local imprints. The University Archives contain historical material related to the beginning and subsequent development of Brock University. The Special Collections Librarian selects and manages the materials herein with an eye toward conservation and preservation of these valuable resources..
Special Collections Un. Of Virginia
The Special Collections Department of the University of Virginia Library is pleased to make available "A Buyer's Market: a Selection of Recent Acquisitions in Special Collections" This exhibit consists of rare books, manuscripts, and University archives materials acquired in the past year, covering a number of fields including American history, American literature, British literature, sporting materials, natural history, printing and fine press, and Jorge Luis Borges.
Highlights include:
Repositories of Primary Sources
University of Idaho, Special Colections. A listing of over 1200 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar. All links have been tested for correctness and appropriateness
Special Collections in the Library of Congress
A Selective Guide: The Library's special collections include those thematically related groups of materials maintained as separate units in one or more of the Library's divisions. Since the nineteenth century special collections have played an important role in the Library's development, beginning with Thomas Jefferson's library, purchased by Congress in 1815 and now housed in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
In 1980, the Library published a guide called Special Collections in the Library of Congress: A Selective Guide, complied by Annette Melville, to introduce readers to nearly three-hundred of the Library's special collections (this guide is currently out of print). Since that time many new collections have further enriched the special holdings of the Library. The collection descriptions that were taken from this guide retain the numbering from that text.
Like the Library's collections as a whole, its special collections reflect the tremendously broad scope of its collecting program, as well as the particular significance of its collections for any student of culture and history.
CENTER FOR THE BOOK
University of Iowa Center for the Book, is an interdisciplinary program for the study and practice of the traditional and non-traditional arts of the book as well as the study of the book as a cultural artifact. The combination of specialists and facilities here at The University of Iowa constitutes an exceptional environment for learning and for the exchange of knowledge about the book as an aesthetic, historical, and cultural construct. As an interdepartmental program, the Center consists of a group of faculty and specialists who teach classes, train apprentices, conduct research, and practice the associated crafts of the book. Through their commitment to excellence in artistry and scholarship, they have each gained favorable recognition in the international book arts community. Faculty in history, classics, communication studies, English, and other academic areas are also available who teach courses and work with the academic curriculum relating to the historical and cultural areas of book studies.
BOOKS IN PRINT, (or Recently in Print), at the Iowan Center for the book (The Windhover Press, The Offset Workshop, and Center for the Book Editions).
M.F.A. IN THE BOOK ARTS PROGRAM:
The Master of Fine Arts in the Book Arts program is in its tenth year. The program is located in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; a verdant, traditional campus located on the banks of the mighty Black Warrior River. Up to eight new students are accepted per year for the two-year, 48-credit hour program which emphasizes the art and craft of making books by hand. The book is treated as a complete entity, from the first editorial inspiration, choice of typeface, book design, choice of art work to accompany the significant text, paper, bookbinding structure and decorative binding possibilities, with all decisions based upon a careful reading and rereading of the text. The students need to be highly motivated, and come from various undergraduate backgrounds and work experiences.
MARGARET CLAPP LIBRARY,
Special Collections, Wellesley College, Wellesley Massachusetts. ( The Book Arts Collection is devoted to the history and art of the book. The research component of the collection consists of over 3,500 volumes documenting all aspects of book production -- papermaking, printing, illustration, binding, bibliography, and publishing. In addition, there are over 4,000 volumes of specimens, ranging from the great typographers such as Aldus, Baskerville and Bodoni up to the twentieth century renaissance of modern fine printing. Here, for example, one can find works from the Kelmscott Press side by side with works by contemporary book artists, such as Claire Van Vliet, including limited editions, innovative binding structures, handmade papers, and one-of-a-kind books.)
FEUCHTWANGER MEMORIAL LIBRARY,
Department of Special Collections, University of Southern California. Library donated to the University by Marta, Lion Feuchtwanger's widow. Over 30.000 volumes. Some 8,000 of the rarest books are housed on the USC campus, while 20,000 volumes remain on long-term loan at the Feuchtwanger's former residence, Villa Aurora, in Pacific Pallisades.
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
UBC Library, Special Collections and University Archives. Outstanding collection of published materials, including rare books and Canadiana; an extensive manuscript collection documenting the historic development of British Columbia; important collection of photographs and cartographic materials. Links to related websites.
LIBRARY ONLINE CATALOGUES WITH WEBBED INTERFACES:
These pages list catalogs with "webbed" interfaces. The original concept was to use a database program to create and manage lists of electronic texts, much like a library's online public access catalog. This list is intended to demonstrate how library catalogs can be made available through WWW clients.
LIBCAT
online library catalogues. ( The online catalog is the most important and most powerful tool that libraries have to organize and present information to their users. Its strength lies in its relationship to a series of standards developed over time to meet the needs of both users and library staff. Each cataloging system is informed by an over-arching world-of-information-view that places catalog items in appropriate categories. Today users are offered what appears to be an enriched catalog replete with ancillary databases, cd-rom access, and various gateways to other information sources. To the user it's "just the catalog" even though it may in reality be a seamless web of programs using various types of hardware. Some libraries add simple text files containing tips on how to use the catalog, library guides, calendars of events; others offer commercial and in-house bibliographies and databases. Increasingly Internet libraries use Gopher or World Wide Web to make local and remote files, collections, and databases available. Automated mailing systems have not been used much thus far, but offer yet another way to inform users of new materials in the collection, changes in library policies and procedures, and up-coming special events. The uses of the online catalog are limited only by our vision and willingness to experiment. The databases listed in this guide demonstrate one method of adding value to the online catalog, but the catalog itself can contain a wider range of material than is usually included. For example, the Minnesota Historical Society has catalog entries for articles about Minnesota not just from in-house publications but also from local and regional publications that aren't indexed elsewhere. The Society also includes extensive notes in the online catalog about artifacts in its collection.)
HILL MONASTIC MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
Bush Center, Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN. Since its founding in 1965, the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library (HMML) has sent teams of researchers and technicians to film more than 25 million pages from nearly 90,000 volumes in libraries and archives throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Today, HMML represents one of the largest and most comprehensive archives of medieval and Renaissance sources in the world. The collection includes substantial holdings from Germany and Austria (including the National Library in Vienna), Spain, Portugal, England, Malta, Ethiopia and smaller collections from other countries. Virtually every subject of knowledge--theology, philosophy, law (canon and civil), music, art, science and medicine, the mechanical arts and the liberal arts--is reflected in this vast collection. More than a repository of manuscripts, the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library is one of the best research libraries in medieval studies in the country. Scholars from all over the world visit the Library, for short or extended periods, while others contact the Library by mail to request copies of microfilmed holdings. Efforts are underway to increase accessibility to the HMML collection through CD-ROM and other electronic means.
GUIDE TO SELECTED SPECIAL COLLECTIONS OF PRINTED BOOKS AND OTHER MATERIALS IN THE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
an Oxford Companion style reference work presenting capsule summaries regarding holdings relevant to more than 250 topics.
COTSEN CHILDRENS LIBRARY
Curator Andrea Immel. Links to other sites relating to children's books. With pictures from the collection. ( Princeton University has received a gift of an extensive and very distinguished collection of children's books and related items, together with a pledge of $8 million to create facilities for them within Firestone Library and to endow related scholarly and outreach activities. The collection, known as the Cotsen Children's Collection, is the gift of Lloyd E. Cotsen, a member of the Class of 1950, and a charter trustee of the University. Cotsen is chairman and CEO of Neutrogena Corporation of Los Angeles. He began his career with the company in 1957 and developed the marketing strategy that has made the amber-colored, translucent bar of Neutrogena soap a successful product. The gift provides funds for a leading-edge research library with exhibit areas, utilizing interactive techniques and new technology to make the Cotsen Children's Library accessible to both scholars and groups of visiting children. The Cotsen Library will have its own curator, who will oversee a wide range of activities, including visits by outside scholars, annual colloquia on children's literature, research publications, and publication of a multi-volume catalog. Highlights of the Cotsen holdings include a unique privately printed first edition of Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit, inscribed as a Christmas present to Potter's cousin. The oldest items date from the 15th century: These include a Latin primer from 1486 consisting of hexameter couplets and moral one- liners representing the practical advice of a father to his son -- "read books," "shun whores," etc. -- and a Latin translation of the ancient Hindu fables of "Bidpai" printed in 1489.)
RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS SECTION
American Library Association. This is a list of book related links, both to bookschool information and general links. Very usefull page.
THE BANCROFT LIBRARY
one of the largest and most heavily used libraries of manuscripts, rare books, and special collections in the United States. As the primary center of special collections within the library system at Berkeley, Bancroft supports major research and reference activities and plays a leading role in the development of research collections. The GLADIS library catalogs can be accessed from their homepage. The library's RARE BOOKS COLLECTION was founded in 1954. It is responsible for collecting, preserving, and making accessible old, rare, fragile, and sensitive materials over the entire range of the Library of Congress classification scheme. Images from the Bancroft Library Pictorial Collection can be viewed at CALIFORNIA CORNERSTONES. In the PHOTOGRAPHY LINKS section of our website you can find links to the Bancroft Library Pictorial Collections and the Hearst Mining Collection of Views by C.E.Watkins.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA
The Rare Books Department has a very large collection, mostly contemporary, books and pamphlets on the French revolution. There is also a section Bibliography and Typography that contains old presses (Caxton) and modern private presses.
SCOTT B.DENLINGER
Catalog Librarian for the German Library Project, located at the German Society in Pennsylvania. Scott is a member of the Western European Specialists Section and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Ass. of College and Research Libraries.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY
website with links to Electronic Resources and Exhibits (The Special Collections Department, located in Alderman Library, administers for the University Library system over 10.1 million manuscripts, 2.4 million items in the University archives, and 237,300 rare books, as well as ca. 3,500 maps, over 4,000 broadsides, more than 125,000 photographs and small prints, over 8,000 reels of microfilm, nearly 8,000 microfiche, and substantial holdings of audio recordings, motion picture films, and ephemera.) , National and International Special Collections, the Electronic Text Center (the University of Virginia combines an on-line archive of thousands of SGML-encoded electronic texts (some of which are publicly available) with a library-based Center housing hardware and software suitable for the creation and analysis of text. Through ongoing training sessions and support of individual teaching and research projects, the Center is building a diverse and expanding user community locally, and providing a potential model for similar enterprises at other institutions.) , and Special Collections Resources on the Internet.
CATHEDRAL LIBRARIES CATALOGUE
books printed before 1701 in the libraries of the Anglican Cathedrals of England and Wales. ( The Cathedral Libraries Catalogue has been a long time in the making. In an article published in The Library (5, ii, 1947, pp. 1--13), Miss M.S.G. Hands, the Catalogue's creator, decribes the project's origins in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Catalogue under Strickland Gibson in the thirties. In October 1943 the Bibliographical Society and the Pilgrim Trust were asked to support the creation of a Cathedral Libraries Catalogue. The Bibliographical Society's sponsorship of the project has been vital throughout, through the enthusiasm firstly of Sir Frank Francis during his time as the Society's Hon. Secretary and then of his successor, Mr R.J. Roberts. The Pilgrim Trust provided finance for the project and in March 1944 Miss Hands started work at Worcester Cathedral where she worked until August of that year, cataloguing 3230 books printed before 1701. It was originally intended that all entries should be made in duplicate so that a copy could be left for each cathedral. This proved to be too time-consuming, though as late as 1956 Miss Hands was still trying to devise a way of providing such a record. The Society can now make good this debt through publication of the Catalogue, something which was only tentatively considered at the beginning of the project. Miss Hands estimated that there were approximately 20,000 -- 25,000 books to be catalogued and that the work could be completed in six years. In fact, this estimate must be doubled (at least) --- this first volume contains about the same number of entries simply for the English books and the number of individual copies is far in excess of this. Consequently, when the grant from the Pilgrim Trust finally ran out after twelve years in 1956, Miss Hands had catalogued the early printed books of twenty-eight cathedrals. Several of the remaining libraries were known to be very large and the Society was for many years perplexed as to what steps it should take to see the catalogue completed.)
AJL
The Association of Jewish Libraries
THE IMPRINT SOCIETY OF READING
Archives and Manuscripts, Records of British publishing and printing, Historical farm records, Records of contemprary writing , Modern political papers, Business records, Other historical and literary collections, University archives and records , Beckett Collection, Samuel Beckett (1906-1992), Irish/French writer Children's Collection, Cole Library, early medicine and zoology , Cotton Bee Collection, bees and apiculture Elkin Mathews Collection, Charles Elkin Mathews (1894-1921), publisher Finzi Book Room, literature collection of the composer Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) Finzi Music Collection, music collection of the composer Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) Gibbings Collection, Robert Gibbings (1889-1958), author and wood-engraver Great Exhibition of 1851, H Baron Collection, lithographed music, Hawkins Collection, early geology and palaeontology, Knight-Stendhal Collection, Stendhal, French novelist, Matthews-Shelley Collection, P B Shelley, poet, Overstone Library, nineteenth-century private library; humanities and social sciences, especially economics Parish collections, Abingdon, Buckland, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Printing Collection, R.U. Reserve, material relating to or by members of the University of Reading , Stenton Library, history, especially English medieval history, Turner Collection, French Revolution, Tyler-Liebig Collection, Justus Liebig (1803-1873), German chemist, Wain Collection, John Wain (1925-1994), English writer, Archive of the Keepsake Press.
BIBLIOTHECA SCHOENBERGENSIS
An Exhibition from the Collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg. For three decades, Lawrence Schoenberg has been collecting in an area reserved for the few: illustrated manuscripts from the medieval and early modern periods. This is not a niche for the timid or the occasional collector. The market for these manuscripts is highly competitive and extraordinarily demanding, requiring a kind of knowledge and discernment singular in the trade. Manuscripts from this period regularly attract an international clientele of elite institutions and serious collectors. Mr. Schoenberg's collection represents a studied appreciation of the artifacts and their history, as well as a careful evaluation of the market for them. What is most striking about the collection is its breadth. Stretching from the eleventh to the eighteenth century, it includes monastic, university, and lay texts. There are manuscripts not only in Latin and western European vernaculars, but also in Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic. Texts in the collection deal with everything from prayer and liturgy to mathematics and horse breeding. Its codices contain spectacular illuminations as well as utilitarian illustrations. For the scholar, Mr. Schoenberg's collection is a rich banquet at which to dine. Here one can study the contrasts between public and private devotion, the evolution of the school curriculum, the practices of history, and some chapters in a yet-to-be written history of science and technology. The connoisseur can take special delight in notable provenances (Phillips, Ruskin, Libri, and Abbey); exquisite miniatures; an elegant portolan atlas; an early illustrated medical miscellany; and a fine sampling of Books of Hours. In short, the collection offers a grand tour of the traditions of illumination and illustration as they evolved in the codex manuscript.