 The Collection
The Jewish Studies collection at McKeldin library is large
and growing. Aided by generous bequests from local Jewish
philanthropists, we have been able to purchase Israeli publications
as well as large numbers of old, rare, and out-of-print
materials from estates and other libraries. Indeed, the
University of Maryland Libraries are building a Judaica
collection that aims to become a major resource and repository
for the entire area. The collection includes materials in
Jewish history, Hebrew and Yiddish literature, the Bible,
Talmud, medieval philosophy,Jewish women, theater, Holocaust,
and modern Israel. In addition to scholarly books and periodicals
written in the English, German, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino,
Arabic, French, Italian, and Slavic languages, the collection
includes rare books, musical scores, video and audio recordings,
facsimile copies of historical documents, and manuscripts.
The library owns a full microfiche collection of "Hebrew
Books from the Harvard College Library" containing
5,000 titles (printed books) from the eighteenth through
the early twentieth centuries. Another important recent
acquisition is the S.L. and Eileen Shneiderman Collection
of Yiddish books.
The library's approval plan with Jerusalem Books supplies
current Israeli publications in all fields of Jewish Studies.
The library also collects Jewish music and film. Among
the rare recordings recently donated are a Soviet recording
of Jewish folk dances, produced for distribution at the
New York World’s Fair of 1939, and the famous Decca
recording of Al Jolson singing "Israel." Films
include rare silent films and Yiddish talkies.
The Judaica collection in McKeldin Library is fully equipped
with the latest electronic resources and provides access
to online catalogs and databases important for research.
These include the Judaic Classics Library and RAMBI (Reshimat
Ma'amarim Be’madaei Ha'Yahadut: Index of Articles
on Jewish Studies). McKeldin also has various Jewish encyclopedias
and reference works, scholarly journals in the various fields
of Jewish Studies, and access to electronic journals.
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