Description
The collection is maintained by the Jewish Studies Acquisitions Coordinator.
The Jewish Studies Collection supports teaching and research in Jewish Studies. There has never been a Judaica collection as an independent unit. Relevant materials have been acquired by individual librarians on the basis of needs expressed by their faculty and student constituency. As a result there is a significant, if not unified, collection of Judaica materials, consisting of 30,000 volumes, that are located mostly in the Bookstacks, but also in the Reference Library, Undergraduate Library, and various departmental libraries, especially the History and Modern Languages Libraries.
To view the Virtual Library, go to: <http://www.library.uiuc.edu/hix/jewstud/>
Version Date: April, 2005
Statements
I. Collection Description
Purpose:
To support teaching and research in Jewish Studies. There is an undergraduate program in Jewish Culture and Society, and while there are no graduate programs in Jewish Studies, much advanced graduate and faculty research is being conducted in various aspects of Jewish Studies in such departments as Art, Comparative Literature, Cinema Studies, English, History, Linguistics, Religious Studies, Sociology, Economics, and Political Science. Given the broad, interdisciplinary nature of Jewish Studies and limited funding, the collection development effort involves the coordination of collection building with Jewish Studies faculty members and selectors in various disciplines.
History of Collection:
There has never been a Judaica collection as an independent unit. Relevant materials have been acquired by individual librarians on the basis of needs expressed by their faculty and student constituency. As a result there is a significant, if not unified, collection of Judaica materials.
Estimate of Holdings:
30,000 volumes.
State, Regional and National Importance:
Unknown.
Unit Responsible for Collecting:
Jewish Studies Acquisitions Coordinator. Several departmental librarians also select relevant materials according to their disciplinary responsibilities.
Location of Materials:
Most are in the Bookstacks, but also in the Reference Library, Undergraduate Library, and various departmental libraries, especially the History and Modern Languages Libraries.
Citations of Works Describing the Collection:
Blonheim, D. S. Books of Jewish Interest in the Library of the University of Illinois. Urbana, IL., University of Illinois, 1913. (University of Illinois Bulletin, XI, no. 3, September 15, 1913).
Choldin, Marianna Tax. “Yiddish Literature in English: A Preliminary Bibliography.” March, 1975 (Unpub.)
Mitchell, Steven. “A Survey of the University of Illinois Library’s Holdings in Judaica and Hebraica: A Report.” 1981 (Unpub.)
Sewell, Robert G. “Collecting Judaica in Large Research Libraries.” Paper presented at ALA Convention, Dallas, Texas, June 1984.
_____. “Planning for a New Jewish Studies Acquisitions Program: A Case Study in Collection Development.” 1982 (Unpub.), 19 p.
II. General Collection Guidelines
Languages:
English, Western European languages, including Yiddish. Hebrew language publications are collected by the Asian Library and works in Slavic and East European languages are purchased by the Slavic and East European Library.
Chronological Guidelines:
No restrictions.
Geographical Guidelines:
Emphasis on United States, Europe, and Middle East, but all areas possible for inclusion. Latin American Collection Development purchases Judaica for Latin America.
Treatment of Subject:
Primarily scholarly but also popular treatments; juvenilia and curriculum materials are collected on a selective basis on the Jewish studies fund. Given the limited funding for Jewish Studies, much of the Judaica acquisitions are made by departmental librarians rather than the Jewish Studies Acquisitions Coordinator. The primary use of the fund is to purchase interdisciplinary monographs and journals, special topics of Jewish interest such as Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and Zionism, and to supplement purchases made by departmental librarians, especially those in the Education and Social Science, English, History and Philosophy, and Modern Languages and Linguistics Libraries.
Types of Materials:
Standard statement. Special interests in reference materials such as library catalogs, and bibliographies as well as interdisciplinary journals.
Date of Publication:
Standard statement.
Place of Publication:
No restrictions, but primarily the United States, Europe, and Israel.
III. Collection Responsibility by Subject Subdivisions with Qualifications, Levels of Collecting Intensity, and Assignments
Below is a table that lists specific subject subdivisions within the collection. Each row in the table lists a specific subject subdivision, followed by three columns noting: Collection Strength, Primary Assignments and Secondary Assignments. The Existing Collecting Strength column notes how well the existing collection covers that topic on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being very strong. The Primary Assignments column lists departmental libraries that have the greatest collection intensity of subject materials, respectively. In the case of 2 or more libraries listed, the collection intensity is comparable. The Secondary Assignments column list departmental libraries where additional materials may be found.
| Jewish Studies Collection | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT SUBDIVISIONS | EXISTING STRENGTH | PRIMARY ASSIGNMENTS | SECONDARY ASSIGNMENTS |
| JEWISH REFERENCE WORKS AND INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES | 2 | Jewish Studies | Religion/Reference |
| JEWISH LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES — Hebrew: | |||
| Vernacular texts | 1 | South And West Asia | |
| Western language translations and secondary studies | 2 | Jewish Studies | Jewish Studies / Linguistics / Undergraduate |
| JEWISH LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES — Yiddish: | |||
| Vernacular texts | 1 | Jewish Studies | German/Slavic |
| Translations into, and secondary studies in other Western languages | 2 | Comparative Literature / Jewish Studies / Linguistics / Undergraduate | |
| Jewish American and British literature | 2 | English | Jewish Studies |
| Other Jewish languages and literatures | 1 | Comparative Literature / Jewish Studies / Linguistics | |
| JEWISH HISTORY AND THOUGHT: | |||
| General coverage including biblical studies | 3 | History / Religion | Jewish Studies |
| Special topics such as holocaust studies and Zionism | 2 | Jewish Studies | History / Religion |
| JEWISH SOCIETY AND POLITICS: | |||
| General coverage | 3 | Political Science / Sociology / Education | Jewish Studies |
| Special topics such as Anti-Semitism | 3 | Jewish Studies | Sociology |
Version Date: November 2005