LibGuides: Columbia University: C. V. Starr East Asian Library

Special Notice of Library Closure

C.V. Starr East Asian Library Temporarily Closed
C.V. Starr Library is temporarily closed for upgrades through calendar year 2024. Please read article for information about accessing materials and resources from the collections.

General Information

Facility:	Columbia University C. V. Starr East Asian Library
Address:	300 Kent Hall, 1140 Amsterdam Ave, M. C. 3901, New York, NY 10027
Phone:	(212) 854-4318
FAX:	(212) 662-6286
Email:	starr@libraries.cul.columbia.edu

About the library:

The library began in 1902 when the University Trustees approved the establishment of a Department of Chinese, while the Japanese collection was begun in 1927. The library, now housed in Kent Hall on the Morningside Heights Campus, was moved to that location in 1961.

Renovations in 1981 were funded by the C. V. Starr Foundation. These renovations included online cataloging records for the complete collection, a shift to the Library of Congress classification system for all collections, and a universal shelving policy replacing a shelving policy that separated materials by language.

For more information about the Japanese collection, please contact Chiaki Sakai at 212-854-1506 or via email.

Online Resources

Research Guides
The research guides developed by Columbia University faculty and staff are organized by subject area, and include East Asian studies, Japanese studies, music subject guides, religious studies, South & Southeast Asian studies research guides, and more.
GIS and Statistical Resources
Columbia University Libraries offer access to spatial and numeric data collections, including collections in economics, health, and international data.
iPod Tours of the C. V. Starr Library
A collection of audio tours through the C. V. Starr Library's collections, these are enhanced podcasts, which occasionally include images as well as audio. They will play on the web using Quicktime or iTunes, or when downloaded to a video-capable iPod. They are offered in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Tibetan.
Cornelius Vander Starr Online Exhibition
An online exhibition from the C.V. Starr East Asian Library detailing Cornelius Vander Starr's life and work. This includes digital images from the library's collections, complete with annotations and detailed information available.

Summary of Collections

Collection size: as of January 2014 the C.V. Starr library hed nearly 1 million volumes of which nearly 353,000 are in Japanese. The C. V. Starr East Asian Library collection focuses primarily in the humanities and social sciences, with large holdings in literature, history, philosophy, religion, fine and performing arts, business and economics, and East Asian studies.

URL
Online Catalog
CLIO

Notable Collections

Japanese Rare Books
Begun in 1928 with 584 woodblock-printed books donated by the Imperial Household, this collection has been gradually developed since.
Makino Mamoru Collection
The Makino Collection（牧野コレクション）was purchased by Columbia University in 2006. The collection is comprised of approximately 80,000 items, primarily print materials relating to Japanese film that were collected by Makino Mamoru（牧野守）who was a documentary filmmaker and film researcher. The collection also includes information from Okinawa, China, Taiwan, the former colony of Machuria, and South Korea. As processing is ongoing, the total collection is not available for use. However, patrons may search the current draft of the finding aid on the collection's website, or speak with the archivist through email, phone, or in person.
Letters to Donald Keene from Japanese literary figures, 1952-2004
This collection contains letters, postcards, manuscripts, published papers, and other ephemera from Professor Donald Keene, one of the world's most foremost scholars of Japanese literature, history, and culture.
Abe Kōbō collection, 1933-2002
This is a collection of original books, pamphlets, journals, magazines, manuscripts, and ephemera produced, published, and collected by Abe Kōbō.
Barbara Curtis Adachi Bunraku Collection, 1964-2003
This collection contains slides, photographs, A/V materials, realia objects, personal papers, and other ephemera collected by Barbara Curtis Adachi.
Tibetan Collection
Housed in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, the Tibetan Studies Collection is one of the most extensive in the country, number over 12,000 volumes of Tibetan-language print materials. There is also a large number of electronic texts and archival items included in the collection.

Databases

Columbia University Databases
The Columbia University Libraries provide access to over 1,500 databases, including many pertinent to Japan-related research and approximately ten Japanese-language databases.

Please note: the majority of these databases require the user to either be present on the Columbia University campus, or to log in with a user ID and password provided by Columbia University.

Access

View Larger Map

How to Use the Facility

Access to Columbia Libraries for Visitors
Access varies by library and type of visitor. See website for details.
Alumni Access to Libraries and Borrowing Privileges
Direct Link to information for alumni.
Borrow and Request Privileges
Informing about requesting and borrowing specific collection resources, including circulating material as well as special collections access and viewing.
Digitization and Copying Services
The Preservation & Digital Conversion Division provides patrons with reproductions of items owned by the Columbia University Libraries collections. Reproductions are intended for personal or scholarly use, and patrons are responsible for all copyright and permissions matters.
Printing and Scanning Information
Information about printing and scanning on campus.

Resources and Facilities

Give Us Your Feedback

For all comments and questions about the Guide, please e-mail us:

mlaguide@nccjapan.net