Description
of Collections
Scope
The collections cover all geographical areas and most of the subjects addressed by the survey. The modern collections consist mainly of monographs and total c. 43,000 volumes, divided as follows: history and archaeology (30,000); religion (5,800); language and literature (4,000); social sciences (3,000); philosophy (500). Titles in the Special Collections Department, not including manuscripts, total c. 10,800. The modern collections include c. 100 serials and significant collections in microfilm and microfiche. Of particular interest are the 11 collections of rare books and manuscripts housed in the Special Collections Department: Bayer, Blau, Bourgeois, Crawfurd, Farmer, Hunter, McGrigor, James Robertson, Stevenson, Tischendorf and Waddell, for which there are separate entries.
History & development
The earliest collections date from the 18th century, although they contain material which is much older. The collections reflect the growth or contraction of research and teaching interests in the University over the last 200 years. Most collections are sufficient to support research.
User focus
The collections support research and teaching in the Faculties of Arts, Divinity and Social Sciences. The collections have benefitted in recent years from a growth of interest in comparative religion, Islam, the economies of Japan, China and the Far East, the politics of contemporary China and the Asian Pacific, the history of Chinese art, and Jewish history.
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Subjects and Material
Types
RegionsCentral Asia and the Caucasus, East Asia, Near & Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, South East Asia. CountriesAfghanistan, Algeria, China, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Vietnam. Languages of materialAkkadian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Bengali, Caucasian (Other), Chagatai, Chinese, Chuvash, Czech, English, French, Georgian, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Javanese, Kazakh, Korean, Kumyk, Kurdish, Malay, Manchu, Miscellaneous languages, Mongolian, Pali, Panjabi, Persian, Polish, Pushto, Russian, Sanskrit, Sumerian, Syriac, Tagalog, Tamil, Tatar, Telugu, Tibetan, Turkish, Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928), Ugaritic, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek, Yakut, Yiddish. SubjectsAgriculture, Anthropology, Archaeology, Arts, Communication and media, Development, Economics, Education, Environmental sciences, Geography, History, Human rights, Industries, International relations, Language, Law, Literature, Medicine, Music, Philosophy, Politics and government, Recreation, Religion, Science and technology, Sociology, Travel, Women. Material typesArchival materials (includes non-published & mixed material), Books, Computer files (includes CD-ROMs & other electronic material), Manuscripts, Maps (includes all types of cartographic material), Music (only includes printed & manuscript music), Newspapers (includes microfilm editions), Official publications, Serials, Theses, Visual materials (includes photographs, prints, drawings, videos & films). |
