Delegation from CLIR Conducted a Site Visit at UW East Asia Library

News and Events
Group photo featuring the CLIR and UW-affiliated attendees.
Group photo featuring the CLIR and UW-affiliated attendees.

On Friday, October 30, 2015, the Univeristy of Washington East Asia Library (EAL) hosted the delegation of the Hidden Collections Program from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).

The CLIR delegation members at Friday’s visit included Nicole K. Ferraiolo, Program Officer for Scholarly Resources, Adam Leader-Smith, Program Associate, Amy Lucko, Director, Program Administration, and Christa Williford, Director of Research and Assessment.  They visited UW, after a site visit at UBC the previous day, to learn more about our project work, including the collaborative aspects of the project and its wider impacts, and as an opportunity for sharing and discussing best practices and ideas.

The all-afternoon meeting included opening remarks from Betsy Wilson, Vice Provost/Dean of University Libraries, and Professor Emeritus David Knechtges about the importance of the Chinese hidden special collections at UW, which were followed by a series of presentations from the Project PI Zhijia Shen, Director of EAL/Chinese Studies Librarian; Charlene Chou, Project Technical Manager and Head of EAL Technical Services; Stephanie Lamson and Kathryn Leonard of UW Libraries Preservation Services; and Emily Jantz, CLIR Project Cataloging Specialist/EAL Administrative Coordinator.

Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson, starts off the meeting with greetings and a discussion of the importance of the project.
Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson, started off the meeting with greetings and a discussion of the importance of the project.

Paul Constantine, Associate Dean of Distinctive Collections/Director of Special Collections and Karen Brooks, Manager of University Libraries Grant Services of Financial Services, spoke about the project financial situation and possible next steps after the completion of the project.  Anne Graham, Senior Computer Specialist/Project Manager, Digital Strategies Department of ITS, and Sheryl Stiefel, Director of Libraries Advancement, also participated in the discussion.  Several Ph.D. students and faculty members from the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures and the Information School were also in attendance, to share how the cataloging of these materials will positively impact their research.

A particular highlight of the visit was a display of some of the newly discovered treasures, including rare books dating from the early 17th through 20th centuries and a selection of rubbings.  Professor Boyue Yao, CLIR Project Librarian and Rare-book Librarian from Peking University Library, curated this display with much able assistance from Justin Johnson, Senior Conservator, and Kathryn Leonard of Preservation/Conservation.  Professor Yao presented about each of the individual pieces and their scholarly significance.

Professor Yao presented about each of the individual pieces and their scholarly significance.
Professor Yao presented about each of the individual pieces and their scholarly significance.

UW's hidden treasures include a selection of rare and interesting rubbings from steles, tomb monuments, etc. In this rubbing (莫高窟六字真言碑), surrounding the four-armed Guanyin in the center is a six-syllable mantra in six languages/scripts.
UW’s hidden treasures include a selection of rare and interesting rubbings from steles, tomb monuments, etc. In this rubbing (莫高窟六字真言碑), surrounding the four-armed Guanyin in the center is a six-syllable mantra in six languages/scripts.

It was a very successful event.  We thank all our colleagues who participated and helped make this important CLIR site visit a great success.

View more photos from the visit >>

Prepared by Emily Jantz & Zhijia Shen