16 Libraries, One CUL
Cornell University Library includes sixteen distinct libraries, but the materials from any of these libraries are all available to you.
With the exception of the holdings of the Rare and Manuscript Collection (RMC), all you need to do is log in, use the request button on the item's catalog page, and designate where you wish the item to be delivered. If you wish to shelf browse (highly recommended,) you can visit any of these libraries freely (exceptions: the Annex and RMC are not shelf-browsable, and RMC will require registration for use of materials--a simple process with friendly people, so don't be intimidated!)
Example: A catalog search for "Asian Cookbook" brings back 114 items, 104 of which are print books held by CUL. Clicking the "Library Location" facet on the left column, you will see that these materials are spread across eight different libraries. (Click on any library here to see the list of its exact holdings.) If you wish to look through the book To Asia with Love, which is (for some unfathomable reason!) held at the Vet Library, click the red "Request Item" button on the top right and select the circulation desk at a library convenient for you for pickup. The book will be available for checkout for you there within 24 hours.
Browse to Find Candidates for Exhibit
Catalog searching is great for finding specific titles, or reviewing the range of titles that CUL owns, books that you can put on display.
But interesting titles don't always make for interesting books, and there's nothing like the browse to discover surprising things.... Here, thanks to the organization of our library, you're in luck!
Almost all of the Asian cookbooks can be found together, mainly in two locations in each CUL library (regular size and +). If you go to the TX724.5 and TX724.5+ call numbers, you will find nearly all of our Asian-themed cookbooks. (Note: there are a few cookbooks in other locations, such as call numbers for restaurant or commercial product recipes, and other special themes....)
Review the Library of Congress Call Number Classifications to the right here to see the further breakdown of cookbooks by the region or country covered.
LC Classification System - Cookbooks
Books on the shelves are arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification System. Please also note size distinctions (call numbers with + or ++ will be stored together on different shelves in the + area. Regular-sized and + cookbooks are close together on the Kroch Mezzanine.)
Cookbooks: Oriental. Asian
Including East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Polynesian, and Asian American
(For Asiatic Russian see TX723.4 For Middle Eastern see TX725.M628 724.5.A1)
General works 724.5.A3-Z
By region or country, etc., A-Z
e. g.
724.5.C5 Chinese
724.5.H3 Hawaiian
724.5.I4 India
724.5.I5 Indonesia
724.5.J3 Japan
724.5.K65 Korea
724.5.T5 Thailand
724.5.V5 Vietnam
725.A1 International
RMC Collections
You are welcome to highlight materials held in Cornell's Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) for this exhibition. RMC materials include some of the most interesting and important items in the library's collections, and can make an exhibition exciting.
However, the materials themselves cannot leave RMC, so cannot be directly exhibited. You will need to take a photo (or photos if you wish to do a montage) of any RMC items, which will be mounted for display.
Using call number searching and library location facets, you can review the titles of some 28 Asian-themed cookbooks in RMC, 22 of them dating from 1771-1942.
It is easy to register for RMC and access their materials in the RMC Reading Room, where you are welcome to do non-flash photography with a phone or camera.
When You Identify Materials to Use
We will create a cart in the Kroch Asia offices hallway (outside of Room 180, which is on the side closest to the books stacks) where you can temporarily store books that you are considering for the exhibition. Please use non-sticky paper strips (not Post-Its!) to mark pages of interest. These books will be checked out with the Kroch Asia Reference card so that users will know that they are not available in the stacks. If you reject something and wish to return it to the stacks, let us know so that we can release it from the Kroch Asia card. Please note that if left on the cart there, materials will only be available from roughly 8 AM-6 PM on weekdays. If you want to use the books in the evenings or on weekends, it is better to check them out to yourself and transfer them to the Kroch Asia card at least a week before the exhibition installation.
Note: If you do request materials from other CUL libraries, you can talk to Carole Atkinson in room 180 about transferring the book(s) from your account to the Kroch Asia card. It will be necessary to check the book out in your name initially, however (unless you ask Carole to make the request.)