May 2008 Archives

May 9, 2008

Ibn Khaldun

Until May 27, 2008
Exhibitions Corridor
Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven, Connecticut

An exhibition of books by and about the North African scholar Ibn Khaldun (Tunis 1332- Cairo 1406) in the Yale collections. Featuring modern and contemporary editions in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish.

Ibn Khaldun is free and open to the public.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 9, 2008 11:31 PM

May 10, 2008

Art Is Where You Find It

February-May 2008
Memorabilia Room, Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven, Connecticut

Art lovers don't often think of the library or archive as a place to study original works of art, but this exhibition showcases pencil sketches, watercolors, cartoons, caricatures, and ephemera from the records of the University or from the collections of personal or family papers in Manuscripts and Archives.

Continue reading "Art Is Where You Find It" »

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:06 AM

You Shall Tell Your Children

An online exhibition featuring examples of the Passover Haggadah in Yale University Library collections.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 9:37 PM

Yale Russian Chorus: 50 Years

The Yale Russian Chorus began in 1953 as a musical offshoot of the Yale Russian Club.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 9:59 PM

Yale and the Ancient Holy Land

This exhibition is an online version of an exhibition held at Sterling Memorial Library in winter 1998. Yale University has been involved in the archaeology and exploration of the Near East since the nineteenth century and has built a formidable collection of artifacts from that region. These include seals, oil lamps, figurines, clay tablets, journals, drawings, photographs and much more. A selection from Yale's vast holdings was put on display in the nave of Sterling Memorial Library in honor of the State of Israel's fiftieth anniversary.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:12 PM

Victorian Missionary Periodicals

The Victorian age saw the formation of large numbers of religiously inspired organizations and movements. The missionary movement was the first of these movements to develop its own press, which was the largest religious press until it was surpassed by the temperance press in the mid-nineteenth century. Most of the missionary press was the product of denominational missionary societies or of missionary societies serving a group of denominations. Each society published magazines reporting the progress and difficulties faced in the missionary fields for their contributors. They also published periodicals for a popular audience, and juvenile magazines. While the basic function of the missionary press was to generate support for the missionary work, the periodicals also provided geographical and cultural information for the readers.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:13 PM

Venice Haggadah of 1609: A Treasure for the Ages

The Venice Haggadah of 1609 is one of the most beautiful early printed Haggadot. The compositional conception of this edition differs from its precursors in the monumental layout of the page. The decorated frame consists of two columns crowned by a pediment, and a text illustration at the bottom of the page. Framing each lower illustration are the figures of Moses and Aaron on one page and David and Solomon on the other.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:14 PM

Treasures from the Sholem Asch Collection at Yale

This exhibition highlights just some of the material in the Sholem Asch Collection at Yale. Born in Poland and a resident of many countries- United States, France, Israel and England, among others-- Asch was one of the best known Yiddish authors of the first half of the twentieth century. A prolific writer of novels, plays and essays, he was the first Yiddish writer to be widely read in translation.

Asch had close ties to Yale, a fact not generally known. While in the United States, he lived for a time in Stamford, Connecticut, and did the research for his novels in the Yale Library.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:15 PM

Samples of Arabic and Persian Calligraphy

This online exhibition displays a number of fascinating samples of Arabic and Persian calligraphy from the collections of the Yale University Library.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:16 PM

Muslims' Contributions to Medieval Medicine & Pharmacology

An exhibition celebrating Muslim achievements in medieval medicine.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:17 PM

Moses Maimonides

This online exhibition commemorates the 800th anniversary of the death of Maimonides, 1138-1204.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:18 PM

Middle Eastern & Islamic Cuisine

This exhibition examines the rich history of Middle Eastern & Islamic Cuisine. Middle Eastern cooking as we know it today largely evolved from the cuisine of the glorious days of the Abbasid Caliphate, and even further back to the ancient Near-Eastern cultures of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians, and Mesopotamians. Of these, the Mesopotamian is the oldest and the first documented world cuisine, of which only three Babylonian cuneiform tablets are extant today.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:18 PM

Judaica: Yale Tercentennial Exhibition

This exhibition displays some of the wide range of Judaica collecting at the Yale University Library. In addition to the items from the Judaica Collection, material from the Map Collection, Arts of the Book, and the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library are also included.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:19 PM

Islamic Books and Bookbinding

Muslims learned the art of papermaking in the eighth century through their contacts with the Chinese, following their expansion into Central Asia. By the 11th-12th centuries, this technique reached Europe by way of Muslim Spain. Prior to the introduction of paper, Muslims used parchment (made from goatskin) and papyrus (indigenous to Egypt which they conquered in 641) for writing. Papermaking contributed to the flourishing of Islamic civilization in the middle ages, by providing readily accessible writing materials, and to the proliferation of the Islamic book and the craft of bookbinding.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:20 PM

Illuminated Islamic Manuscripts

Islamic manuscripts uniquely mirror the civilization that produced them. The entire gamut of learning can be seen in these pages, from grammar, literature, and poetry to theology, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. The Islamic manuscripts shows not only the beauty and variety of Islamic calligraphy, illuminatiions and painting, but also the extreme care various artisans took in penmanship, binding, and papermaking. These colorful illuminations and miniatures transcend time and place, providing a window into pre-twentieth-centry Islamic culture.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:20 PM

A Great Assemblage: An Exhibit of Judaica in honor of the opening of the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale

This exhibition is a joint effort of the many divisions of the Yale University Library that contain Judaica. Yale has a proud tradition of collecting Hebraica and Judaica that goes back to its earliest days and continues into the present.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:22 PM

From Psalm Book to Hymnal: Selections from the Lowell Mason Collection

The Psalm books and hymnals in this online exhibition are selections from the Lowell Mason Collection of Hymnology. The Divinity Library portion of the Mason Collection contains works dating from 1660 to 1961.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:22 PM

David E. Apter Collection

This online exhibition represents the photographic work of David E. Apter, the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Comparative Political and Social Development Emeritus at Yale. The photographs were taken to complement field research on African nationalism and the transition to independence from 1952 to 1960. They represent ordinary life during the last and final years of colonialism when expectations for a bright political future were running high, and the political and social complexities of life in a post-colonial world has not yet struck home.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 10:22 PM

Diversity at Yale University Library

The Yale University Library Diversity Council was formed in August 2005 to enhance the diversity and cultural competence of Library staff so that the workplace continues to evolve into an even more inclusive and congenial environment. This type of atmosphere is conducive to job satisfaction and will in turn lead to even more effective service to our diverse patrons.

The Diversity Council is taking a leading role in developing and implementing initiatives that promote diversity within our staff community.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 11:20 PM

Croatia: Themes, Authors, Books

Documenting Croatia's important role as a crossroads between North and South, East and Wes, this exhibition spans five centuries (15th – 20th) and brings together a wealth of materials in a variety of formats (maps, manuscript and printed books, photographs) and disciplines (history and geography, linguistics and literature, religion, travel, astronomy, chemistry, medicine, neurophysiology, etc.), from a number of Yale repositories, including the Arts Library, The Beinecke Library of Rare Book and manuscript, the Maps Collection, the Medical Historical Library, and the Slavic and East European Collections.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 11:23 PM

Coins & Medals of Imperial Russia

This exhibition describes 600 coins of the Russian Empire housed in the Yale Numismatic Collection. The collecting of coins at Yale goes back at least to the early 19th century. The collection was once housed in the Trumbull Gallery, but by 1860 it was in the University Library where its arrangement was undertaken in the middle years of the century. Today the total number is closer to 100,000, making Yale's by far the largest university collection in the United States.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 11:24 PM >

Centennial of the Boxer Rebellion in China

This exhibition showcases photographs and documents from the collections of the Yale Divinity School Library that illustrate the impact of the Boxer Rebellion on the missionary movement in China.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 11:25 PM

Casimir Zagourski African Postcard Collection

This extraordinary collection consists of 200 postcards made from photographs taken by Casimir Zagourski in Africa between 1924 and 1941, which formed a part of his overal project, "L'Afrique Qui Disparait" (Disappearing Africa). The photos are set in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as the Belgian Congo), Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Chad, Kenya, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Congo-Brazzaville. The postcards depict a variety of aspects of everyday life in these different settings, including, for example, housing styles and traditional grave sites.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 11:26 PM

Arabic Music

This online exhibition focuses particularly on 20th-century composers and artists, including Umm Kulthum, the most famous singer in the Arab world in that period. Her performing career lasted for over 50 years, from about 1910 until a final illness in Cairo in 1973. For almost 40 years, her monthly Thursday night concerts were broadcast live on Egyptian radio. As a result, her audience consisted of millions, reaching far beyond the concert-going public of Cairo to households all over the Middle East.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 10, 2008 11:28 PM

May 11, 2008

HINARI

The Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) provides free or very low cost online access to the major journals in biomedical and related social sciences to local, not-for-profit institutions in developing countries. Yale University Library is a full partner in the project.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 11, 2008 11:15 PM

OARE

Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), an international public-private consortium coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Yale University, and leading science and technology publishers, enables developing countries to gain access to one of the world's largest collections of environmental science research.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 11, 2008 11:19 PM

May 12, 2008

Trial Subscription to "Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences"

The Library has a trial subscription to the online Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences until June 1.

Comments and questions are welcome and can be sent to Stefan Kramer.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 12, 2008 4:39 PM

May 13, 2008

Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopadie (DBE) Available Online

One of the most important German biographical sources, the Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopadie (DBE) [Dictionary of German Biography], is now available online to the Yale community.

The DBE provides information on roughly 65,000 individuals from the 9th century to the present, who contributed to the cultural heritage of the German-speaking areas of the world. The database contains the full entries of the second, revised and enlarged print edition of the DBE which began publication in 2005. Over 1,250 longer articles were written and signed by recognized experts and a reference to further reading is provided at the end of each entry.

DBE Online also provides biographical information on individuals who are mentioned in the text of an entry in the print edition but who do not have their own article.

You can access the Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopadie at http://gso.gbv.de/DB=2.176/LNG=DU/ (German) and at http://gso.gbv.de/DB=2.176/LNG=EN/ (English)

Posted by Yale University Library on May 13, 2008 3:02 PM

May 20, 2008

The Passover Haggadah: Modern Art in Dialogue with an Ancient Text

The Passover Haggadah: Modern Art in Dialogue with an Ancient Text
Until June 27, 2008
Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven, Connecticut

The Passover Haggadah is a composite text made up of biblical, rabbinic and liturgical passages and ancient folk songs. Scholars believe that the earliest versions were assembled sometime in the first century of the Common Era, during the late Second Temple Period in Palestine. The Haggadah was--and still is--read on Passover eve during the Seder, a ceremony commemorating the Israelites’ delivery from Egyptian bondage.

Continue reading "The Passover Haggadah: Modern Art in Dialogue with an Ancient Text" »

Posted by Yale University Library on May 20, 2008 9:18 AM

Digital Collections Search

The new cross-collection search web site retrieves results from over 300,000 images in selected Yale University Library Digital Collections.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 20, 2008 9:20 AM

Primary Sources at Yale

Primary sources can be found in all of Yale’s twenty-two libraries as well as at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Yale Art Gallery. Use the new Primary Sources at Yale web site to discover and use primary sources in all subjects.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 20, 2008 9:30 AM

A World of Letters

A World of Letters: Yale University Press, 1908-2008
May-July 2008
Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven, Connecticut

This new exhibition celebrates the centennial of Yale University Press, founded in 1908 to advance learning through the publication of books that contribute to an understanding of human affairs in arts or sciences. Items on display include Yale University Press catalogues, memorabilia, historical documents, and examples of just some of the eight thousand books printed by the press over the last one hundred years.

The exhibition is also the first to installed in the newly reconceived exhibition space under the arches of Sterling Memorial Library.

A World of Letters: Yale University Press, 1908-2008 is free and open to the public.

For more information on Yale University Press, visit their web site.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 20, 2008 4:33 PM

Library Launches Yale Daily News Historical Archive

For release May 6, 2008

New Haven, Conn.--Important periods in the history of Yale will now be more accessible to scholars and students through the Yale University Library’s Yale Daily News Historical Archive.

The Yale Daily News (YDN) is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States, and has been covering student life at Yale and in New Haven for 130 years. The Library has now digitized key periods from the YDN including January 1878 to June 1879, the first year of the YDN’s publication; the period covering the two World Wars; the era of civil unrest, coeducation, and the Black Panther trials from 1967 to 1970; and the early years of President A. Bartlett Giamatti’s administration from 1978 to 1981. The Library is working with a number of partners to digitize the entire run of the YDN from 1878 to 2000, and content from January 2001 to the present is already available online at the YDN web site.

Continue reading "Library Launches Yale Daily News Historical Archive" »

Posted by Yale University Library on May 20, 2008 6:35 PM

May 21, 2008

Library Summer Hours

The University Library moved to its summer schedule on May 13, 2008. For detailed information on opening and closing times for all libraries, visit: www.library.yale.edu/hours.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 21, 2008 9:42 AM

May 22, 2008

New Netcast: The Passover Haggadah

In this netcast, Nanette Stahl, Curator of the Judaica Collection and curator of "The Passover Haggadah: Modern Art in Dialogue with an Ancient Text," an exhibition in Sterling Memorial Library, discusses highlights from the show and the history of this important Jewish text.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 22, 2008 3:03 PM >

May 23, 2008

Students and Archivists to Celebrate Collaborative Project

Students from New Haven’s Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School and archivists from Yale University Library will celebrate their collaboration on the Family and Community Archives Project (FCAP) with an event on Wednesday, May 28 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Sterling Memorial Library’s lecture hall (128 Wall Street). The media is welcome to attend.

In response to the Society of American Archivists call for action in developing a more diverse archival workforce, twenty-one Yale University Library archivists conceived the Family and Community Archives Project to introduce New Haven high school students to the archival profession and the work of professional archivists. Over nine weeks, 113 juniors and their teachers in “United States History II” learned how to find and care for photographs, documents, and artifacts and learned how to do research using primary sources.

Continue reading "Students and Archivists to Celebrate Collaborative Project" »

Posted by Yale University Library on May 23, 2008 9:06 AM

May 26, 2008

Treasures from the Music Library

Treasures from the Special Collections of the Music Library
and the American Musical Theatre Collection

May-June 2008
Gilmore Music Library, Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven

A sampling of music manuscripts and editions, photographs, and realia aimed to please many tastes in music.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 26, 2008 10:02 AM

May 27, 2008

Class of 1958 Exhibition

Memorabilia Room, Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven

An exhibition in Sterling Memorial Library's Memorabilia Room celebrating the class of 1958 and their 50th reunion year. Materials on display include the many published works produced by members of the class over the past five decades.

The exhibition is free and open to the public during regular library hours.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 27, 2008 9:23 AM

Lewis Walpole Library Fellowships

The Lewis Walpole Library is delighted to announce the recipients of Fellowships for the 2008-2009 academic year. A complete list of Fellows follows in the extended entry.

The Library offers visiting fellowships, normally for four weeks, as well as travel grants of lesser duration, to scholars engaged in post-doctoral or equivalent research and to doctoral candidates at the dissertation stage. Fellows in residence also have access to additional materials at Yale. Summer fellowships for graduate students at Yale are also offered.

The Lewis Walpole Library is a research library for eighteenth-century studies and the prime source for the study of Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill. Its collections include significant holdings of eighteenth-century British books, manuscripts, prints, drawings and paintings, as well as important examples of the decorative arts.

Continue reading "Lewis Walpole Library Fellowships" »

Posted by Yale University Library on May 27, 2008 10:56 AM

May 28, 2008

Family and Community Archives Project

Family and Community Archives Project
May 28-July 2008
Exhibits Corridor, Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street, New Haven

This exhibition of materials assembled by students from New Haven's Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School tells the stories of their families and neighborhoods. It was created through the Family and Community Archives Project, an initiative conceived by twenty-one Yale University Library archivists to introduce New Haven high school students to the archival profession and the work of professional archivists. Over nine weeks, 113 juniors and their teachers in “United States History II” learned how to find and care for photographs, documents, and artifacts, and learned how to do research using primary sources.

The exhibition is free and open to the public and runs until the end of July, 2008

Posted by Yale University Library on May 28, 2008 4:18 PM

May 29, 2008

New Netcast: A Guided Tour of Sterling Memorial Library

David McCullough, Yale class of 1955 and twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, narrates this fascinating guided tour of Sterling Memorial Library. You can access it here.

Posted by Yale University Library on May 29, 2008 2:25 PM