ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 38 Humanities Grant to R are Book Library Will Support Six-Year Bibliographic P roject John C arter Brown Library o f B R O W N U N I­ V E R S IT Y , one of the world s largest collections of books and maps relating to the first three cen­ turies of American history, has received a major research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)to produce a chronological guide to writings on the Americas published in Europe before 1801. The $232,000 award, the second largest grant received by Brown University in recent years for a project in the humanities, will be supplemented by an in-kind university contribution o f some $59,000 and an additional $66,000 provided by the Readex Microprint Corporation o f New York, which will publish and market the eight-volume bibliography when it is completed. The Readex firm has been assisting the library since 1968 to assemble materials for the project in preliminary form. Expected to include 45,000 separate listings of books or other printed materials, the proposed chronological guide is designed, said John Carter Brown Librarian Thomas R. Adams, to help an­ swer a complex of questions that faces scholars at­ tempting to study the early development of the American continents: that is, what did Europeans know about the New World, when did they know it, how did they learn it, and what effect did the new information have on them? Since the expansion of knowledge in Western Europe is inextricably linked to the spread of printing, it is vital, Adams explained, for scholars to know what information about America was published in Europe and when. To date, students of New World history have had to rely largely on an unwieldy and now out-of-date twenty-nine- volume bibliography called the D ic tio n a r y o f B oohs Relating, to A m erica. Begun in the middle of the nineteenth century by a bibliographer named Joseph Sabin, the work was finished by others in 1936. It was alpha­ betically, rather than chronologically, arranged, the JC B librarian notes, thus obscuring the inter­ relationships betw een works printed during a given period. A m ore significant reason for updating the Sabin reference work lies within the John Carter Brown Library itself. Over the years, the library has acquired enough important European im­ prints from the period 1493-1800, not listed in Sabin, to more than double the number of entries appropriate to a revised version of the list. The new chronological guide will also aim for com­ prehensiveness, listing relevant materials held in other collections as well. The NEH funding, which will cover the first three years of what Adams expects will be a six- year undertaking, will pay for the addition of a special b ib lio g r a p h ic team to th e J C B staff, charged wth responsibility for preparing the new list for p u b lica tio n and co m p le tin g a co m ­ puterized index to accompany it. Already at work on the massive project is the guide s ed ito r , John Alden. R e ce n tly named keeper emeritus of rare books at the Boston Pub­ lic Library, where he had supervised the rare book collections for some twenty years, Alden is widely known for his contributions to the fields of librarianship and historical bibliography. The au­ thor of monographs and books, including a bibli­ ography o f p re -1 8 0 0 Rhode Island im p rints, Alden has held posts on the staffs of the British M useum , th e L ib ra ry o f C o n g re s s, and the Houghton Library at Harvard and has served as a library consultant to many other institutions. “In the sense that scholars using the chronolog­ ical guide will find many new texts they weren’t aware of before, this project will raise more ques­ tions than it answers,” Adams said. “But working with original sources is a dynamic process in which new information is continually developing, and I am pleased that the NEH grant will allow us to use the unique resources of the John Carter Brown Library to take the leadership role in that process.” ■■ Ramapo College Dedicates New Library On November 17, Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey, dedicated its new $ 4 .2 million li­ brary, marking the completion o f the new state college’s initial building program. Ground was broken for the four-year liberal arts college on November 17, 1970. The official dedication ceremonies featured remarks by the 1962 Nobel Laureate James Dewey W atson, who re c e iv e d the N o b el P rize for M ed icin e for his work in u n rav elin g the molecular structure of DNA— the key to cell re­ production. Watson currently serves as director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Edward Hollander, New Jersey chancellor of 39 hig h er e d u ca tio n ; Ramapo C o lle g e P re sid e n t George T. Potter; and Wilson Sterling Dillon, di­ rector of symposia and seminary at the Smithso­ nian In stitution , also w ere among the keynote speakers. T h e Ram apo C o lle g e L ib ra ry c e r e m o n ie s spanned four days, N ovem ber 1 5 -1 8 , and in­ cluded displays by members o f the Ramapo fac­ ulty, staff, and students, Special exhibits in the library included “Stage and S c reen ,” highlighting the artistic achievements o f Pulitzer Prize win­ ning playwright Sidney Kingsley and his wife, ac­ tress Madge Evans, o f Mahwah; and “ Political Triumphs and Tragedies,” an audiovisual display of major political figures, with actual voice tapes, cam paign m e m o ra b ilia , and th e w ell-know n Quackenbush Collection o f Historical Sound R e­ cordings of 78rpm discs. On November 16, Ramapo College hosted an all-day con feren ce on the media for area high school students with Dave Marash, C B S News Coanchorman, as the keynote speaker. Watson gave a public lecture on “Science and Society,” followed by an open house and public tour o f the new college Library facilities. T h e new Ramapo C o lle g e L ib ra ry co ntains 62 ,0 0 0 square feet and cost $ 4 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0 . It was designed by Mahony and Zvosec/Kenneth Demay of Princeton and Watertown, Massachusetts. The book collection contains 120,000 volumes, includ­ ing daily editions of the N ew Y ork T im es since 1851. In addition, the library maintains a large number o f slides, films, records, multimedia kits, and a collection o f topographic maps of New Je r ­ sey and neighboring states. Special facilities for disabled and visually impaired students are also included in the barrier-free building, including a Braille typew riter and large-print books. Open seven days a week, the Ramapo College Library serves the academ ic, cultural, and intellectual needs of the entire Ramapo community. ■■ E x te r io r and in te r io r views o f new Ramapo College Library.