Photocopies of Bosnian materials sought

[E. Wayles Browne]

INITIATIVES TO HELP FIGHT AGAINST THE ASSAULT ON
BOSNIA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE

A group of librarians and academics in the U.S. and Canada has
begun an effort to help recover some of the contents of Bosnian
libraries, archives and other cultural institutions that have
been targeted for destruction by nationalist extremists in
the current war.

We are working to assemble a database, which will gather together
INFORMATION ON THE CURRENT LOCATIONS of microfilms, photographs,
photocopies and other documentation that preserves images of items
the originals of which were destroyed when libraries, archives and
manuscript collections in Sarajevo, Mostar and other locations in
Bosnia-Herzegovina were shelled and burned by nationalist extremists.

Collections that have been totally or partially destroyed include the
National and University Library and the Oriental Institute in Sarajevo,
the Museum of Herzegovina and the Archives of Herzegovina in Mostar, as
well as many other, smaller repositories of the country's multicultural
heritage.

With the aid of this data, we hope that our colleagues in Bosnia
will be able to assemble "virtual collections" consisting of
copies of the copies of the lost originals. Our aim in this effort
is to collect information that will help in the reconstruction of
Bosnia's libraries and cultural institutions and in the recovery
of its endangered heritage -- and to help defeat the intentions of
those who have been trying to destroy that heritage.

We have been proceeding with the approval and advice of our colleagues
at the Oriental Institute in Sarajevo and the National and University
Library. Now we need your help. Anyone who has specific information
on the current whereabouts of microfilms or other copies of rare or
unique material from Bosnia (manuscripts, documents, rare books, older
journals and newspapers, pamphlets and other ephemera), is urged to
contact us so we can record that information.

If you have access to the World Wide Web, please look for our home page:
        URL:http://www.acs.supernet.net/manu/ingather.htm

In addition to the details concerning our project, our home page also
has information about other initiatives to assist libraries and cultural
reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

You can also contact:  Andras Riedlmayer, Fine Arts Library, Harvard
University, Cambridge MA 02138 USA; e-mail: riedlmay at fas.harvard.edu

THE BOSNIAN MANUSCRIPT INGATHERING PROJECT
Amila Buturovic (York University)
Andras Riedlmayer (Harvard University)
Irvin C. Schick (Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Harvard University)
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Forwarded to SEELANGS, with Andras Riedlmayer's permission, by:

Wayles Browne, Assoc. Prof. of Linguistics
Morrill Hall, Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853, U.S.A.
tel. 607-255-0712 (o), 607-273-3009 (h)
e-mail ewb2 at cornell.edu (1989 to 1993 was: jn5j at cornella.bitnet //
jn5j at cornella.cit.cornell.edu)