Browse Archive Collections

Mapping Mediterranean Lands (MEDMAPS) showcases sixteen important early maps and related information from the collections of American centers for international research in the Mediterranean region. As part of the Digital Library for International Research, under the aegis of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, this three-year project completed a comprehensive survey of maps in the collections of American research centers in the Mediterranean area and created web-accessible bibliographic records. In addition, this site includes information about unique maps and illustrated plates in atlases and other publications relating to archaeological excavation and exploration.

This collection of books in the Khmer language represents a selection of books from the National Library of Cambodia . They were originally published from 1950 to 1973, between the final years of the colonial French Protectorate (1863-1953) and the takeover of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979). The 50 digital books were produced under the direction of Dr. Pascal Bourdeaux by a project organized by the Center for Khmer Studies (Siem Reap, Cambodia) in 2006-2007. This project was supported by a grant from the US Department of Education's Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access (TICFIA) program to DLIR partners. To learn more about this and other TICFIA projects sponsored by DLIR partners, consult the Local Archives and Libraries web site.

The Furniture and Decorative Arts of Sri Lanka (FDASL) is a documentary project that produced an inventory of furniture and other decorative arts that were created in Sri Lanka and are currently owned by Sri Lanka's cultural institutions and private collections. It is sponsored by the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies.

The collection includes approximately 1,000 images of 400 unique items that were photographed by the project's principal researcher, Ayesha Abdur-Rahman, from 2006 to 2009.

The Middle East Research Journals (MERJ) project, funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (2002-2006), provided digital access to five complete journals held at American Overseas Research Centers in the Middle East in the CAORC consortium. Additional materials created for this project are bibliographic records for 1,900 journals held at seven centers in the Middle East, a searchable index of three research journals, preservation microfilm for five research journals.

The private library Beit El Bennani, owned and operated by Mohamed Bennani, partnered with Centre d’Etudes Maghrèbines á Tunis (CEMAT) to organize and digitize the Mustapha Bouchoucha photograph collection. The collection, held at the Beit El Bennani, contains 8155 images that depict people, events, views and objects primarily relating to Tunisia. Photographs of people include images of Tunisian political and cultural figures as well as people involved in the daily activities of life.

The collection was digitized by the CEMAT for the Local Archives and Libraries at Overseas Research Centers project (LALORC) organized by the American Institute of Yemeni Studies and the Council of the American Overseas Research Centers with funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s TICFIA program.

The American Board pamphlet collection was incorporated into the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) Istanbul Library in January 2011. It contains roughly 1000 brochures, booklets, leaflets, flyers, and off-prints that date from the mid-1800s to the present, with close to one-third from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Approximately 85% of the materials focus on the operations, institutions, or affiliate organizations of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) that were located in Turkey and the Balkans.

This collection contains Oirat religious, historical and literary documents scanned from collections in Khovd and Bayan Ulgii Provinces in Mongolia. These texts are written in Clear Script Oirat, Tibetan and Classical Mongolian Script. The materials range from large, ‘oversize’ sutras to small, pocket sized sutras designed for Buddhist Lamas to carry. The original materials are hand-made copies of originals created prior to the advent of photoduplicating machines, in a ritual that was performed up until the Socialist period [1920-1990]. These ritual practices were abolished during the Socialist period and subsequent duplicating technology has made these rituals for the most part obsolete. The materials were scanned in cooperation with the American Center for Mongolian Studies and Tod Nomyn Gerel Center with a grant from the Department of Education TICFIA program.

In 1935, the Near East Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) undertook preparation of a memorial book to commemorate and honor those who had served the Board in Turkey, the Middle East, and the Balkans from the early 1800s through the early twentieth century. The American Research Institute in Turkey, the current caretaker of the American Board’s archival collection, these resources to its digital library (2012), to make them more readily and widely available to the scholarly community and general public. This collection is a series of more than 1,800 index cards that provide basic information about each individual, such as birth and death dates, educational and employment history, and dates and places of work assignments, along with accompanying photographs for some cards.

The American Board periodical collection was incorporated into the ARIT Istanbul (ARIT-I) Library in January 2011, when ARIT received the library of the Western Turkey Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), one of the chief Protestant missionary agencies in the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The core of this collection includes a number of rare serials issued locally by the Board and its affiliates, as well as other American organizations.

This digital presentation of photographic slides shows a representative sample of women as depicted in early Sri Lankan sculpture and painting. It is the outcome of a research study sponsored by the International Center for Ethnic Studies and funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation (NORAD) during January 1986 to May 1987. Additional support was provided by the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Archaeology; the Director General and Directors of the Cultural Triangle Project; the Director of the National Museum; and the Chief incumbents of the numerous temples and devalayas, who granted permission to photograph art objects under their custody.

The International Center for Ethnic Studies retains full copyright of all slides, digital reproductions, and other materials produced by this project. These items may not be copied or reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written consent of the International Center for Ethnic Studies (www.ices.lk) and of the researchers, Harsha Seneviratna and Sirima Kiribamune. Photography is provided by Mr. I.S. Madanayake.