Damon Jaggars Appointed New Associate University Librarian for Collections and Services at Columbia [6/19/08] The Columbia University Libraries has appointed Damon Jaggars as the new Associate University Librarian for Collections and Services effective September 1, 2008. Jaggars previously served as Associate Director for User Services in the Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. press release...

Columbia Libraries Receives Support to Create Finding Aid for Unique Collection of Puppets and Masks [6/12/08] With support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) of Columbia University will make accessible the nearly 450 puppets and 138 masks from the former Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum at Columbia, which are now housed at the RBML. press release...

Columbia University Libraries Receives Support for John Jay Papers Project [6/10/08] Columbia University Libraries recently received a one-year $150,000 grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission for continued support to produce a series of unpublished papers of John Jay, America's first Chief Justice, architect of the Treaty of Paris, and an author of The Federalist. press release...

Columbia University's East Asian Library Receives Starr Foundation Support [5/15/08] Columbia University’s C. V. Starr East Asian Library today announced a three-year gift of $300,000 from The Starr Foundation to support essential services. press release...

Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Acquires Hugh Ferriss Print [5/8/08] Columbia University’s Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library has acquired an apparently unrecorded lithograph of a New York landmark, Jefferson Market Courthouse at Dusk, by architectural renderer Hugh Ferriss. press release...

Columbia University Libraries Contributes to Digital Library Federation's Aquifier Initiative [5/1/08] Columbia University Libraries recently made The Papers of John Jay, one of its unique historical digital collections, available to the Digital Library Federation’s Aquifer database, American Social History Online. The Libraries will contribute additional collections over the next few months including the Lehman Special Correspondence Series, the Greene & Greene Architectural Drawings and Photos, Notable New Yorkers, Joseph Urban Stage Design, and a series of historical monographs related to New York City. press release...

Oral History Research Office Hosts Summer Institute Program, "Oral History, Advocacy, and the Law" [5/1/08] The Columbia University Oral History Research Office (OHRO) is sponsoring its annual two-week international Summer Institute on Oral History from July 8 to July 20, 2008. The theme of the 2008 Institute is “Oral History, Advocacy and the Law,” and will feature faculty and fellows from around the world. press release...

Columbia University's Rare Book & Manuscript Library Acquires Archives of Samuel Roth, Publisher and Writer [4/29/08] Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library has acquired a large collection of annotated books, court documents, business records, copyright statements, unpublished typescripts, and letters from the estate of Samuel Roth (1893–1974), the writer, publisher, and entrepreneur. press release...

Archives of Human Rights First to Come to Columbia University [4/18/08] On February 20th, 2008, a formal agreement was signed by James Neal, Columbia's Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, and Maureen Byrnes, Executive Director of Human Rights First, under which the archives of HRF are to be deposited at Columbia University Libraries’ Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research (CHRDR). The Center will act as the depository institution for these archives, consisting of a comprehensive collection of documents representing 30 years of the organization’s founding, activity, and growth. press release...

Columbia University Libraries Announces the Availability of Lehman Digital Archive [4/17/08] Columbia University Libraries is pleased to announce the online publication of the complete Special Correspondence Series of the Herbert H. Lehman Papers collection. This online database includes some 32,890 complete documents (over 43,000 scanned page images) presented in a simple but powerful Web interface that facilitates browsing, searching and navigation. It is available to the public for educational and research purposes at: www.columbia.edu/library/lehmanonline press release...

Columbia University Libraries to Sponsor a Work-in-Progress Screening of a Documentary about the Events at Columbia in April 1968, "A Time to Stir" [4/17/08] The Friends of the Columbia Libraries is pleased to sponsor a work-in-progress screening of the documentary A Time to Stir, a film about the student protests at Columbia University in the spring of 1968. Director Paul Cronin will discuss the making of the film and will respond to questions from the audience. The event will take place on Wednesday, April 23 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the 3rd floor Lecture Hall of Columbia’s Journalism Building. The event is free and open to the public. press release...

Columbia University Libraries and YIVO Announce Joint Preservation Initiative for Historic Yiddish Newspapers [4/8/08] Columbia University Libraries and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research announced today a joint initiative to preserve unique and historically significant South American Yiddish newspapers and make them accessible to scholars, researchers, and students. press release...

New Oral History Master of Arts Program at Columbia University [4/3/08] The Columbia University Oral History Research Office and the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) are proud to announce New York State approval of a new degree program, “The Master of Arts in Oral History,” located in ISERP.  The program will begin in the fall of 2008 and will be the first of its kind in the nation. Mary Marshall Clark, director of the Oral History Research Office, and Peter Bearman, director of ISERP and the Lazarsfeld  Center for Social Sciences, will co-direct the program. press release...

Columbia University Libraries Hosts 6th Annual Reference Symposium [3/27/08] The Columbia University Libraries Reference Coordinating Committee hosted the symposium, “Beyond the Desk” on March 14, in the Columbia Business School’s Uris Hall. This was the 6th “Reference in the 21^st Century” symposium that Columbia Libraries has hosted since 2001. This year, Columbia again invited representatives of large private academic research libraries in the Northeast to share ideas, plans, and concerns about reference services. press release...

Columbia Announces 2008 Bancroft Prize Winners [3/14/08] The authors of three acclaimed books, one a comprehensive study of the tobacco industry, one a reassessment of the Populist movement, and one a study of the role of frontier violence in eighteenth-century America, will be awarded the Bancroft Prize for 2008, Columbia University announced today.The winners are Allan M. Brandt for The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America (New York: Basic Books), Charles Postel for The Populist Vision (New York: Oxford University Press), and Peter Silver for Our Savage Neighbors: How Indian War Transformed Early America (New York: W. W. Norton & Company). press release...

Erica Jong's Fear of Flying Revisited at March 28th Conference [3/7/08] The Friends of Columbia Libraries is pleased to co-host a conference on Friday, March 28, 2008. The event, “Fear of Flying: Can a Feminist Classic Be a Classic?” will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Social Hall at Union Theological Seminary, located at 3041 Broadway at 121st Street, and is free and open to the public. press release...

AG Foundation Grant Funds Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts [3/4/08] Agnes Gund, one of New York’s most generous patrons of the arts, has given the Columbia University Oral History Research Office a grant to record an oral history of women in the visual arts. The project will be named “The Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts” in honor of the recently deceased celebrated painter and printmaker. press release...

Columbia University Partners with Microsoft to Digitize Books [1/29/08] Columbia University and Microsoft Corp. are collaborating on an initiative to digitize a large number of books from Columbia University Libraries and make them available to Internet users. With the support of the Open Content Alliance (OCA), publicly available print materials in Columbia Libraries will be scanned, digitized, and indexed to make them readily accessible through Live Search Books. press release...

Mellon Foundation Grant Supports Web Resources Project [1/17/08] The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $156,000 to Columbia University and the University of Maryland to support the development of coherent, holistic models for incorporating web content into research library collections. press release...

Friends of the Columbia Libraries to Host Evening of Conversation with Author Erica Jong [11/15/07] The Friends of the Columbia Libraries will sponsor an evening of conversation with Erica Jong, noted novelist, poet, essayist, and best-selling author. Author and special guest Jay Parini will lead the conversation. The event will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 28, at The Kellogg Center, Room 1501 of the International Affairs Building on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus. press release...