Cornell University Library Staff Web

We were delighted to receive several strong proposals for the second year of the visual resources grants program.  I appended a list of funded projects, which will provide world-wide online access to some of Cornell's prominent collections. 

The grants program aims to support collaborative and creative use of resources through the creation of digital content of enduring value to the Cornell community and scholarship at large. The program, funded by the College of Arts of Sciences and coordinated by the Cornell University Library, was developed by the Arts & Sciences Visual Resources Advisory Group. The Advisory Group oversees the visual resources program in order to create a usable and sustainable digitization service that meets the A&S faculty's current and emerging needs. The Library's Digital Consulting and Production Services (DCAPS) plans and implements the grant-funded projects as well as supporting the digitization needs of the A&S faculty in support of teaching. I would like to acknowledge the great team work by Liz Muller, Fiona Patrick, and Danielle Mericle in working with faculty as the proposals were developed.  Also, several selectors and archivists collaborated actively in the preparation of the proposals.

This is an annual grants program -- we invite new submissions every spring. Please bring this program to the attention of faculty members who might be interested, and consider collaborating in submitting proposals. A description of the grants program and last year's award recipients can be found at:

https://confluence.cornell.edu/x/4NYPBw

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Grants Program for Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Projects Selected for Support in 2011

Annetta Alexandridis, Classics/Art History - Greek and Roman Coin Collection
Collaborators: Verity Platt, Classics
Cornell's coin collection is listed among the most important numismatic collections in the United States. Online availability of 1,500 coins from the ancient world with detailed descriptions will enable the integration of these coins in teaching and learning at Cornell and elsewhere. Because the coins are too valuable and risky, currently they can be used only for small-group classes. The potential is enormous.

David Bathrick, German Studies/Theater - Kluge Online,
Collaborators: Dr. Rainer Stollmann, University of Bremen(Germany), University of Bremen Library, Dr. Michael Jennings (Princeton University) We will significantly expand the existing Muller-Kluge online collection, which is one of the most visited collections hosted by the Library. The website consist of interviews between West German filmmaker Alexander Kluge and the East German playwright Heiner Muller < http://muller-kluge.library.cornell.edu/en/. The new site will will incorporate Kluge interviews with Hans Magnus Enzenberger and Oskar Negt. This initiative also involves a partnership and will enable Cornell to have access to Princeton's Kluge Research Collection.

Katsuya Hirano, History/Asian Studies - Japanese Woodblocks from the William Elliot Griffis Collection
Collaborators: Daniel McKee, Japanese Bibliographer, CUL These 17th century Japanese woodblock printed books represent Japan's initial attempts to understand the west and modernize itself. They are therefore of great importance in understanding the formation of modern Japan. These books, many of which are rare or even unique in US collections, have great appeal to historians, art historians, and scholars of cultural politics.

Tim Murray, Society for the Humanities/Comparative Literature & English - Experimental Television Center (ETC) The funding will enable the digitization and preservation of the Experimental Television Center (ETC) video collection, which is a prominent video art collection. This project will provide an invaluable resource to students and faculty studying the history of the contemporary media arts and will be used in History of Art and Visual Studies, Comparative Literature, Art, Music, American Studies, Latino Studies, Asian American Studies, and Theatre, Film and Dance.

Karen Pinkus, Italian and Comparative Literature - Divine Comedy Image Archive, Fiske Dante Collection
Collaborators: Marilyn Migiel, Italian Literature, William Kennedy, Comparative Literature, Patrick Stevens, Curator, Fiske Dante Collection The Divine Comedy, the chief epic poem in Italian literature, may be described as compulsory study for any student specializing in Italian literature. Italian Studies programs will be the initial beneficiaries of the DCIA, but interdisciplinary approaches such as art history, visual studies and the history of the book will also find the DCIA a significant resource. The Divine Comedy Image Archive will offer scholars a large and diverse repository of images accessible for research and publication and will be accompanied with English/Italian descriptions and transcriptions.

Steve Pond, Music - Hip Hop Collection
Collaborators: Katherine Reagan, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts; Bonna Boettcher, Music Library Founded in 2007, Cornell's hip hop collection is the largest archive on early hip hop culture in the United States. Faculty from the Departments/Programs of History, English, Africana Studies and Music have all incorporated elements of the archive into their research or teaching. This initial project will digitize flyers and preserve original recordings to set the stage for a future larger national grant with other partners aimed and enhancing access to and preserving the early history of hip hop culture.

The Arts and Sciences Visual Resources Advisory Group includes Annetta Alexandridis (History of Art), Judith Eleanor Bernstock (History of Art/Visual Studies), Bonna Boettcher (Library/Music), Frederic Gleach (Anthropology), Lauren Monroe (Near Eastern Studies), Verity Platt (Classics).

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Oya Y. Rieger, Ph.D.
Associate University Librarian
Digital Scholarship Services