Jewish studies: International primary sources

Salon Jewish Studies bills itself as the "Gateway to Primary Sources for Research in Jewish History and Culture, and is compiled by Dajena and Frank Schlöffel of Brandenburg, Germany.

Its various sections are continually under construction, such as "Archives in France," more than 30 "Libraries in the US" with major Jewish collections, 60 "Research Institutes in the US," and 40 "US Archives." Readers may wish to subscribe to receive updates.

Categories include finding aids, digitized resources, archives, libraries, research institutes.

Finding Aids offer national and international library catalogs and specialized catalogs. Digitized resource sections will include: Multilingual, Hebrew, English, German, Yiddish, Ladino, Special: Image-, Sound- & Video Collections. Archives will include North America, US, Asia/Middle East, Europe, as well as personal collections and oral histories.

A March 14 entry details a new digitization project:

Porta Hebraicorum - A new Digitalization-Project
The Bavarian State Library plans to digitize its significant Hebraica-Collection in Cooperation with the Chair für Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and the Faculty for Information-Science and Technics Cologne. After the pilot-phase 130 titles are going to be available through the WWW as Porta Hebraicorum.

Objects of research are some of the worldwide most significant Hebraica preserved in the Bavarian State Library. They survived the Second World War and National Socialism nearly undamaged. There are some 2,700 titles from 1501-1933. Similar libraries have been transferred to other countries or destroyed.

The Porta Hebraicorum has a wealth of information. Unfortunately, much is still in German with no current translation available; however, this appears to be an upcoming feature. There are also photos of some of the collection's books.