The Duke University Libraries are committed to providing the highest quality support for Korean Studies at Duke University. In 2007, the Libraries hired Duke’s first subject librarian dedicated to building the Korean collection and providing research consultations and instructional services for its users. Through her leadership, the Libraries have been developing significant collections in Korean Studies. During the period from 2006 until the present, major collection development initiatives have greatly improved Duke’s Korean collection. Starting with a small initial budget, primary subject areas such as language, literature, history and film have been strengthened to ensure effective collection development. Through outreach activities to Korean faculty, students and visiting scholars, the awareness of the Korean collection has increased dramatically, both inside and outside of the university.
In 2012, Duke became the 13th member of the Korean Collections Consortium of North America (KCCNA), receiving $20,000 per year for five years, and then $18,000 for the next three years from the Korea Foundation. As a member of the KCCNA, Duke has been collecting research materials in designated subject areas; Ethics, Korean Cuisine, Film Studies, Buddhism, Cultural Studies, Applied Linguistics, and Publications on Korea and Koreans published in the southeastern region of the U.S.
With an increasing number of Korean students and researchers at Duke University, the Korean program and collection, are steadily growing as the only program and collection in the Southeastern United States. The Libraries will continue to develop the Korean Studies collection and facilitate the scholarly work and teaching of the faculty for Korean Studies. By providing financial support to name the Librarian for Korean Studies position, to establish strategic collection and travel endowments, donors will help Duke University Libraries attract the brightest students, faculty, and researchers.
Establish a restricted collection endowment ($300,000)
Duke University Libraries’ collections support rich programming in the Asian/Pacific Studies Institution (APSI) and the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES). Both centers are interdisciplinary in their nature with faculty in History, Religious Studies, Cultural Studies and Anthropology, Political Science and Literature. While the collection is rich in particular resources (e.g., literature and language), Duke needs to acquire historical resources from the region as well as traditional aspects of rare collections and digitized collections. Doing so will not only further support scholarship and teaching on campus, but enhance Duke’s reputation as a major site for conducting research in Korean Studies.
Expendable gifts
By making one-time gifts, you can enable us to purchase unique materials for the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library that strengthen our outstanding collections.
