Preserving Our Treasures: Digitization Projects YIVO Library Digitization Projects
The History of YIVO Founded in Vilna in 1925 Mission to serve as the first academic center for East European Jewry Established unique Library and Archives as a result of systematic acquisition policy and efforts of volunteer zamlers (collectors)
The YIVO Library Over 385,000 volumes 13,000 titles of periodical editions Historical YIVO Vilna and Mattityahu Strashun Collections The most comprehensive collection of publications in Yiddish language Rare Books Collection Bund Collection Yizkor Books Collection Art Books Collection Milwitzky Collection of Ladino Books
YIVO Library Digitization Projects Yiddish Children’s Books Project in cooperation with International Children’s Digital Library and the Center for Jewish History, available at : http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ www.cjh.org Online digital copies are linked to the YIVO catalog records.
Sample view of the YIVO children’s book on www.childrenslibrary.org
Sample view of the YIVO children’s books on the Center for Jewish History’s website
YIVO academic publications Entire sets of YIVO major scholarly journals, such as Yidishe shprakh and YIVO Bleter were digitized with the help of Society for Hebrew Books (Chaim Rosenberg, Director) and posted on: www.hebrewbooks.org www. Yivolibrarybooks.org Total of the YIVO editions published by YIVO in Vilna in New York and by other YIVO branches around the world amounts to over 500 titles. All YIVO publications (before 1965) were microfilmed. Our goal is a complete digitization of existing microfilms with YIVO publications, as well as of all YIVO editions published after 1965.
Yidishe shprakh, v. 1, no. 1 , New York, January-February 1941
YIVO Library Rabbinical books from the Strashun Collection The Strashun Library is a major historical collection of Rabbinical literature that previously belonged to Mattityahu Strashun 91817-1885), intellectual, book collector and philanthropist based in Vilna Currently includes over 17,000 volumes Rabbinical books have been digitized in cooperation with www.HebrewBooks.com (free of cost), total over 8,000 titles.
The Strashun Library book on www.YIVOLibrarybooks.org Sample
South American Yiddish Periodicals Supported by the Claims Conference grant Collection of over 350 unique titles in Yiddish, Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Russian This project is currently in progress. Stage 1, digitization of microfilms (total: over 200 microfilm reels.) Microfilms are currently being digitized by the Society for Hebrew Books in New York, the YIVO major partner on digitization projects. However, only 50 percents of this collection exists in microfilm form, the rest will require both microfilming and digitization.
Future projects Strategy Our goal is to contribute to digitization of all publications in Yiddish language (books and periodicals) Extending and further development of YIVOLibraryBooks website and separate general YIVO Library website We are open to collaborative projects