Cornell University Library
In 1865, the Cornell University Library began as a modest collection of 18,000 volumes stored inside Morrill Hall. Andrew Dickson White served as the university's first president while Daniel Willard Fiske became its inaugural librarian. Both men later willed their entire personal estates to Cornell University after they passed away. Under Fiske's leadership, the library introduced radical changes for that era. Students could browse books directly and check them out without restriction from faculty. By 1885, electric lights illuminated the reading rooms allowing operations for twelve hours daily. Most American university libraries at that time remained open only a few hours per week just enough for professors to retrieve materials.
The library system operates as an academic division with the University Librarian reporting directly to the provost. Sixteen physical and virtual libraries exist across the main campus in Ithaca, New York alone. A storage annex handles overflow items while separate branches serve Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and New York City. The John M. Olin Library serves social sciences and humanities research needs. Harold D. Uris Library holds extensive humanities and social science collections. Albert R. Mann Library specializes in agriculture life sciences and human ecology. Carl M. Kroch Library houses rare manuscripts alongside massive Asia collections. The system manages over eight million printed volumes plus more than one million ebooks by 2014 standards.
One of only five copies of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address resides within these walls dated 1863. This specific copy stands unique because it remains privately owned yet accompanied by both a letter from Lincoln transmitting the manuscript and its original envelope addressed and franked by him. Cuneiform tablets sit alongside medieval books and witchcraft trial records spanning centuries. Thousands of pamphlets produced during the French Revolution fill shelves outside Paris. Jefferson and Lafayette correspondence exists here alongside first editions of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species published in 1859. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from 1813 and Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan from 1651 also appear among holdings. The collection dates back to the university's founding year while receiving White's personal 30,000-volume gift in 1891.
Paul Ginsparg created arXiv.org e-print archive at Los Alamos National Laboratory before Cornell provided stewardship and partial funding. Physicists and mathematicians now communicate through this viable form announcing new research daily. Project Euclid joins commercial journals with low-cost independent publications in mathematics and statistics. The initiative aims enabling affordable scholarly communication via Internet connections beyond mere archival purposes. Primary goals include facilitating journal searches and interoperability between different publishers worldwide. Digital Collections feature online historical documents including Database of African-American Poetry and Samuel May Anti-Slavery Collection. Witchcraft Collection and Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection round out featured digital archives available to researchers globally.
Timothy Murray founded Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art in 2002 as a research repository for emerging media practices. Named after Sociology Professor Rose Goldsen who died earlier, it sits within Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. Multimedia artworks reflect transformation from analog formats to disc-based systems then networked web applications over decades. Works range from the 1960s up to present day featuring artists like Gary Hill and Janet Cardiff. Renew Media Fellowships funded by Rockefeller Foundation since 2003 generate annual competitions for interactive dynamic media. Wen Pulin Archive contains 360 hours of videotape documenting Chinese contemporary art from 1985 to 2002. Experimental Television Center Archives hold more than 3,000 artistic video tapes and DVDs spanning 1969 through 2011.
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Common questions
When did the Cornell University Library begin and how many volumes did it hold initially?
The Cornell University Library began in 1865 as a modest collection of 18,000 volumes stored inside Morrill Hall. Andrew Dickson White served as the university's first president while Daniel Willard Fiske became its inaugural librarian.
Where are the physical libraries located within the Cornell University Library system?
Sixteen physical and virtual libraries exist across the main campus in Ithaca, New York alone. Separate branches serve Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and New York City while a storage annex handles overflow items.
What rare historical documents does the Cornell University Library hold regarding Abraham Lincoln?
One of only five copies of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address resides within these walls dated 1863. This specific copy remains privately owned yet accompanied by both a letter from Lincoln transmitting the manuscript and its original envelope addressed and franked by him.
Who created arXiv.org before Cornell provided stewardship to the e-print archive?
Paul Ginsparg created arXiv.org e-print archive at Los Alamos National Laboratory before Cornell provided stewardship and partial funding. Physicists and mathematicians now communicate through this viable form announcing new research daily.
When did Timothy Murray found the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art at Cornell University Library?
Timothy Murray founded Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art in 2002 as a research repository for emerging media practices. The archive sits within Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections and features works ranging from the 1960s up to present day.