Antiquities | Judaica | Codex

Lost 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible found on dusty Cairo synagogue shelf

While attempting to document Egyptian synagogues, an Israeli historian stumbles upon a massive, well-preserved 616-page codex that was written in 1028 

By AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN 24 February 2020, 3:58 pm

In July 2017, Israeli historian Yoram Meital stumbled upon a handwritten 1028 CE biblical codex that was lying abandoned on a dusty shelf in a Cairo synagogue. Wrapped in simple white paper of the sort one finds on tables in cheap eateries, at 616 pages, the Zechariah Ben ‘Anan Manuscript is one of the era’s most complete and preserved examples of the “Writings,” the third and concluding section of the Hebrew Bible. It had been lost to scholars for almost 40 years.

Discovered by Meital in the Karaite Moussa Der’i Synagogue, the Zechariah Ben ‘Anan Manuscript (ZBAM) was previously documented in various publications by modern biblical scholars, from a 1905 Jewish Quarterly Review article by leading expert Richard Gottheil through to microfilms of the manuscript done by a team of Israelis from the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts in June 1981.

The scholars left notes within the texts, and even published their findings. Then, as the Jewish community increasingly lost its members, the priceless manuscript, too, disappeared.

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The Internet Archive Is Making Wikipedia More Reliable [WIRED]

Wayback Machine | Wikipedia | Fact-checking

The Internet Archive Is Making Wikipedia More Reliable

by Klint Finley 11.013.2019

 

 

PHOTOGRAPH: ALEXANDER SPATARI/GETTY IMAGES

 

 

 

 

 

Wikipedia is the arbiter of truth on the internet. It's what settles arguments at bars. It supplies answers for the information snippets you see on your Google or Bing search results. It's the first stop for nearly everyone doing online research.

The reason people rely on Wikipedia, despite its imperfections, is that every claim is supposed to have citations. Any sentence that isn't backed up with a credible source risks being slapped with the dreaded "citation needed" label. Anyone can check out those citations to learn more about a subject, or verify that those sources actually say what a particular Wikipedia entry claims they do—that is, if you can find those sources.

It's easy enough when the sources are online. But many Wikipedia articles rely on good old-fashioned books. The entry on Martin Luther King Jr., for example, cites 66 different books. Until recently, if you wanted to verify that those books say what the article says they say, or if you just wanted to read the cited material, you'd need to track down a copy of the book.

 Now, thanks to a new initiative by the Internet Archive, you can click the name of the book and see a two-page preview of the cited work, so long as the citation specifies a page number. You can also borrow a digital copy of the book, so long as no else has checked it out, for two weeks—much the same way you'd borrow a book from your local library. (Some groups of authors and publishers have challenged the archive's practice of allowing users to borrow unauthorized scanned books. The Internet Archive says it seeks to widen access to books in “balanced and respectful ways.”)

So far the Internet Archive has turned 130,000 references in Wikipedia entries in various languages into direct links to 50,000 books that the organization has scanned and made available to the public. The organization eventually hopes to allow users to view and borrow every book cited by Wikipedia, with the ultimate goal being to digitize every book ever published.

“Our goal is to be a library that’s useful and reachable by more people,” says Mark Graham, director of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine service.

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Open and Shut?: Interview with Kathleen Shearer, Executive Directo...

Open and Shut?: Interview with Kathleen Shearer, Executive Directo...: In October 1999 a group of people met in New Mexico to discuss ways in which the growing number of “eprint archives” could co-operate.   ...

Institutional repository | Scholarly Communication | Faculty authors | Student research

Yeshiva Academic Institutional Repository [YAIR]: A spotlight on our collections

By Libraryblog On January 15, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Cover for latest issue of Women in Science 2018-2019. YU Office of Admission credit is given on back cover of the issue. This publication is used to promote Stern College for Women and its various programs and achievements in over 7 fields, including Biology, Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, Physics, and Psychology.

In May of 2018, Yeshiva University Libraries launched YAIR, the official institutional repository, of Yeshiva University. The plan had been in the pipeline for several years. With the adoption of a new strategic plan, plans were quickly put into place. At the helm was Head of Library Web and Digital Services Hao Zeng, who chose a cost-effective, open source platform, D-Space, to host scholarly output of both faculty and students. Stephanie Gross, Scholarly Communication Librarian, took on the outreach and processing of material to be posted. Teamwork has been essential and has included collaboration with staff from Archives as well as Metadata Services.

The collection began primarily as an open-access showcase for both faculty publications and student theses and dissertations. The idea behind making all work open access is to allow scholars and researchers across the globe to read intellectual and creative output by Yeshiva University’s community without charge. As the project has progressed, other repository collections have been created. For instance, back issues of student publications have been scanned, annotated and posted. Some have been out-of-print (and out-of-view) for over decades. This summer, these publications were added: The Azrieli Papers, Gesher, Nahalah, Chronos, The YU Clarion, Derech HaTeva, Kol Hamevaser, The Orthodox Forum, Science and Ethics, The Exchange (SSSB), Horeb, Kol, Kol Hamevaser, Perspectives in Psychology, Prism,  Ten Da’at and Yeshiva University Undergraduate Research Abstracts. Consultations with faculty advisors and department chairs have provided positive feedback. Just recently, faculty members from the Sephardic Studies faculty as well as the Belz School of Music expressed interest in contributing articles and book chapters to the repository.

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