NEH-Funded Brittle Books Microfilming: Cumulative Statistics of Harvard s Contributions Harvard University's Contribution to the NEH Brittle Books Microfilming Program, FY1990-FY2006 Preservation of Library Collections in American History, Italian History, and Pre- Soviet Russian Law, FY90-92 As a result of Harvard's first major microfilming project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Preservation and Access, a total of 23,186 volumes from three Harvard collections were preserved on archival microfilm and were made more widely accessible to scholars through the upgrading and entry of 14,843 bibliographic records into the national databases. The project involved the following collections: American business and social history Materials of demonstrated research value to scholars of intellectual, social, cultural, and business history were preserved from four subject areas within the retrospective research collection of the Baker Library: business organization and management, industrial management, finance, and marketing. A total of 3,879 titles in 6,633 volumes were preserved over the three-year period. These comprised 223 serial titles in 2,810 volumes, and 3,656 monograph and pamphlet titles in 3,823 volumes. Italian history, Risorgimento A total of 5,902 titles in 6,075 volumes from the Harvard College Library documenting the moral, political, diplomatic, and military movement in Italy known as the Risorgimento were preserved during the three-year project. These 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 1
materials are important to the studies of history, political science, philosophy, and literature. Pre-Soviet Russian law A total of 5,062 titles in 10,478 volumes from the Harvard Law School Library, of importance to the study of pre-soviet Russian law, were preserved. The wider availability of these pre-revolutionary Russian legal materials will have a significant impact on Russian studies nationally and internationally. Preservation of Library Collections in Italian History, Slavic History, and History of American Education and Business, FY93-95 In its second project funded by the NEH, Harvard preserved materials in five subject areas of importance to humanities research. When the project reached completion in July, 1995, a total of 34,286 volumes were reformatted on microfilm and 23,609 bibliographic records were added to the national bibliographic databases. In addition to microfilming, 15,050 volumes were repaired and rehoused so that they can continue to be used in their original format for as long as possible. The project involved the following collections: Italian history, the Risorgimento, phase II This project completed the work begun in the University Library's first NEHfunded project, by microfilming an additional 8,683 pamphlets published between 1814 and 1950. Russian and Soviet history and culture A total of 9,700 monograph and serial volumes (4,266 titles) pertaining to religion, language and linguistics, folklore, ancillary historical disciplines, and the publications of learned societies, all published between 1800 and 1950, were reformatted on microfilm. Slavic history, Pre-Soviet law, phase II This project completed the work begun in 1989 to preserve the Pre-Soviet Russian Law collection at the Harvard Law School. In this phase, 393 monograph volumes (311 titles) pertaining to Russian international law, foreign law, and comparative legal study, and published between 1800 and 1917, were microfilmed. American historical textbooks A total of 5,713 monograph volumes (4,955 titles) published between 1800 and 1950, including readers, spellers, grammars, and other textbooks used to teach language arts and literature, were microfilmed. American business and social history, phase II This project extended the preservation of Baker Library collections (begun in Harvard's first NEH preservation project) to additional topics including business biography and history, business ethics, labor, and labor organization. In addition, work on an archival collection of Securities and Exchange Commission 10K reports that began with funding from Title IIC was completed. A total of 7,723 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 2
monograph and serial volumes (5,704 titles) published between 1870 and 1929 were microfilmed. Preservation of Library Collections in the History of American Education and Business, Slavic History and Culture, and Western European Local History, FY96-97 In its third NEH-funded preservation microfilming project, the Harvard University Library continued to preserve historical textbooks at Gutman Library, Harvard Graduate School of Education, American business and social history collections at Baker Library, Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and Russian-language materials in the Harvard College Library. In addition, it expanded the scope of its efforts to include non-cyrillic Slavic-language collections and Western European local history collections, both of which are among the holdings of the Harvard College Library. A total of 19,308 volumes (11,933 titles) were microfilmed for the following collections: American business and social history, phase III Preservation work was completed in the subject areas of agriculture, food processing, and the petroleum and automotive industries. A total of 3,449 volumes (1,189 titles) were microfilmed in the final phase of this project. American historical textbooks, phase II In this phase of this project, 3,572 volumes (3,406 titles) in the subjects of ancient history, American history, European history, and geography have been filmed. Titles containing extensive color illustrations such as maps and charts have been set aside for reformatting on color microfilm. They will be cataloged and prepared for microfilming in a separate workflow during the summer. Slavic history and culture This project preserved 5,829 volumes (3,682 titles) published from 1950 to 1965. This included continuations of serial titles that were microfilmed in the previous project. Slavic bibliographers in the Harvard College Library and scholars are particularly anxious to microfilm these additional volumes as post-world War II Soviet publications are characterized by particularly poor-quality paper that is already brittle. In addition, 58 non-cyrillic Slavic-language volumes (41 titles) were also microfilmed. Western European local history A total of 6,458 volumes (3,656 titles) in Italian, French, Spanish, and German local history have been microfilmed. In preparing to process German local history materials, selection guidelines and procedures were coordinated with the Bavarian State Library to complement their preservation microfilming efforts. 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 3
Preservation of Library Collections at Harvard University in the History of Science in America, FY98-99 With its fourth award from NEH the Harvard University Library has continued contributing to the national preservation microfilming of brittle books and serials. This grant completed work in the American Historical Textbooks collection at Gutman Library, Harvard Graduate School of Education that began in the second NEH grant. Three new collections were also included: History of Medicine in America at the Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, History of Anthropology in the Americas, the Tozzer Library, and History of Astronomy in America, the Wolbach Library of the Harvard College Observatory. A total of 9,571 volumes (5,212 titles) were microfilmed with this grant. History of Medicine in America This project microfilmed 3,740 volumes (2,320 titles) in the areas of public health, preventive medicine, infectious diseases and mental health published between 1800 and 1950. History of Anthropology in the Americas A total of 2,989 volumes (717 titles) pertaining to North America, Central America and South America published from 1800 to 1950 were preserved in this project. History of Astronomy in America The publications of astronomical institutions as well as related monographs published from 1800 to 1950 were the target areas of this project. A total of 640 volumes (199 titles) were microfilmed. American Historical Textbooks, phase III Phase III of this project completes the work that was begun in this area with the second grant from NEH. The focus of this phase was textbooks used to teach science and mathematics published between 1800 and 1940. This project filmed 2,202 volumes (1,976 titles). History of Science: Preserving Collections for the Study of Culture and Society, FY00-01 In its fifth NEH-funded preservation microfilming project, Harvard University Library has continued its preservation efforts in these collections: History of Anthropology in the Americas, the Tozzer Library, History of Medicine, the Frances A. Countway Library and History of Astronomy, the John G. Wolbach Library, Harvard College Observatory. Two additional collections were also added, History of Science, Widener Library and Botanical Exploration and Travel, Arnold Arboretum and the Gray Herbarium (two of the Botany Libraries). A total of 7,619 volumes (3,744 titles) which were published between 1800 and 1950 were microfilmed. 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 4
History of Anthropology in the Americas, phase II The 1992 volumes (296 titles) in this project included the research areas of North, Central and South American anthropology, archaeology and ethnography. History of Medicine, phase II In the subject areas of public health, preventive medicine, infectious diseases and mental health 2334 volumes (1781 titles) have been microfilmed. History of Astronomy, phase II The targeted collection in this project continued to be the publications of astronomical institutions and the related monographs. A total of 1227 volumes (172 titles) were microfilmed. History of Science From the core history of science collections in Widener Library, including botany, medicine, astronomy, anthropology, chemistry, mathematics and technology 1312 volumes (1022 titles) have been preserved. Botanical Exploration and Travel In this project the materials recording the travels and explorations of the New World naturalists, as well as the resulting floristic documentation were the primary focus. In these subject areas 754 volumes (473 titles) were microfilmed. History of Science: Preserving the Link Between Science and the Humanities, FY02-04 In its sixth NEH-funded preservation microfilming project, Harvard University Library continued its preservation efforts in these collections: History of Medicine, at the Frances A. Countway Library, Harvard Medical School; and History of Astronomy, at the John G. Wolbach Library, Harvard College Observatory. Two additional collections were added: History of Zoological Exploration, at the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology; and History of Economic Botany, at the Economic Botany Library of Oakes Ames. A total of 7,434 volumes (5,335 titles) published between 1800 and 1950 were microfilmed. History of Medicine, phase III In the subject areas of medical jurisprudence, military and naval medicine, hygiene, tropical medicine, therapeutics, and toxicology, a total of 2,633 volumes (2,308 titles) were microfilmed. History of Astronomy, phase III This project continued to target the primarily serial publications of astronomical institutions. A total of 3,056 volumes (2,699 titles) were microfilmed. History of Zoological Exploration This project focused on the Mayr Library's travel collection which documents zoological exploration and on its collection of biographical materials on 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 5
zoologists and natural historians. A total of 2,028 volumes (1,451 titles) were microfilmed. History of Economic Botany This project chiefly preserved monographs covering various aspects of humankind's use of plants, including medical uses. A total of 1,056 volumes (1,003 titles) were microfilmed. Scientific Discovery and Its Human Context: Preserving the Historical Record, FY 05-06 In its seventh NEH-funded preservation microfilming project, Harvard University Library continued to preserve brittle volumes relating to the history of science. Scientific biographies in the Harvard College Library s Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library and medical biographies in the Francis A. Countway Library, Harvard Medical School were microfilmed. Countway Library s Special Collections materials about infectious diseases were also preserved. In the subject area of the history of astronomy, preservation efforts continued at the John G. Wolbach Library, Harvard College Observatory, with complementary astronomy collections microfilmed from the Harvard College Library s Godfrey Lowell Cabot Science Library and Widener Memorial Library. Volumes in the history of forestry collection at the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library were also preserved. In total, 4,165 volumes (3,510 titles) were microfilmed. History of Medicine, phase IV This project focused chiefly on the subject area of therapeutics from Countway Library s General Collections and on materials about infectious diseases from the collection of Countway Library s Center for the History of Medicine, including many nineteenth-century pamphlets on epidemics and contagious diseases. In total, 1,315 volumes (1,496 titles) were microfilmed. History of Astronomy, phase IV Building on the preservation of serial publications in past projects, this project turned its attention to monographs, especially those documenting the history of astronomy, biographies of astronomers, and the publications of women in the field. Selected collections from Wolbach, Widener, and Cabot libraries were included for preservation. In total, 1,545 volumes (1,223 titles) were microfilmed. In addition, fully searchable digital reproductions of 68 volumes (61 titles) were made available worldwide via Harvard s online Page Delivery Service. Scientific Biography Adding to biographical materials preserved from various scientific fields during other projects, this initiative focused on two collections: a collection of general scientific biographical works held by the Harvard College Library, and a collection of both individual and collective medical biographical materials selected from the Countway Library. In total, 966 volumes (750 titles) were microfilmed. 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 6
History of Forestry Complementing past preservation projects at Harvard s Botany Libraries, this project focused on serial publications, especially those from Europe, documenting the history of forestry. In total, 339 volumes (41 titles) were microfilmed. Harvard's Contributions to the NEH Brittle Books Program 1st grant (FY 90-92) Volumes Titles Frames Baker 6,633 3,879 1,126,069 Risorgimento 6,075 5,902 451,232 Law 10,478 5,062 2,773,944 2nd grant (FY 93-95) Volumes Titles Frames Law 393 311 10K 2,074 1 311,045 Baker 7,723 5,704 1,094,894 Gutman 5,713 4,955 778,861 Risorgimento 8,683 8,683 235,608 Widener 9,700 4,266 1,866,440 3rd grant (FY 96-97) Volumes Titles Frames Baker 3,449 1,189 322,714 Gutman 3,572 3,406 620,950 Local history 6,458 3,656 1,267,581 Widener 5,829 3,682 1,435,769 4th grant (FY 98-99) Volumes Titles Frames Gutman 2,202 1,976 372,691 Tozzer 2,989 717 621,155 Wolbach 640 199 106,176 Countway 3,740 2,320 583,810 5th grant (FY 00-01) Volumes Titles Frames Widener 1,312 1,022 228,680 Botany 754 473 116,621 Countway 2,334 1,781 422,713 Wolbach 1,227 172 266,949 Tozzer 1,992 296 471,628 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 7
Harvard's Contributions to the NEH Brittle Books Program (cont.) 6th grant (FY 02-04) Volumes Titles Frames Countway 3,056 2,699 634,884 Wolbach 1,294 182 299,033 Mayr 2,028 1,451 364,569 Economic Botany 1,056 1,003 179,376 7th grant (FY 05-06) Volumes Titles Frames Arnold Arboretum / Horticulture Library 339 41 79,531 Cabot 256 214 40,177 Countway 1,895 1,920 417,807 Widener 1,052 891 190,084 Wolbach 623 444 105,457 TOTALS 105,569 68,497 17,786,448 Available from http://preserve.harvard.edu http://preserve.harvard.edu/pubs/nehstats.pdf Last updated: September, 2006 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 8