İstanbul University is transferring its long-established experience to the future by the means of the work it conducts in its libraries. İstanbul University libraries; especially The Central Library and Library of Rare Studies, are also providing benefits to the society with their electronic resources. İstanbul University libraries' studies, and collections are located among the most important information archives of Türkiye, and they continue to provide benefits in every field, from academic studies to social responsibility projects.



İstanbul University, which offers important resources for the benefit of researchers with its scientific studies as well as its cultural accumulation, carries out activities that will turn its library collections into benefits for society in the present and the future.

More Than 1 Million Studies are Presented for the Benefit of Researchers at the Central Library

İstanbul University Central Library is one of the units that contains a huge accumulation of information and documents from the past to the present. 49 staff members worked at the Central Library with great care for a special project. A total of 1,252,351 studies consisting of 720,725 books, 65,277 theses, 436,181 journals and newspapers, 6,657 separate editions, 22,379 articles and 1132 non-book documents were presented for the benefit of researchers at the Central Library. These valuable studies now reach a very significant number of users.

According to the data obtained; 46,751 publications consisting of books, magazines, dissertations, newspapers, and separate editions reached 4,099 daily and 1,496,377 users annually in the year 2016. By 2017; 45,009 publications reached 3,112 daily and 1,136,050 users annually. In 2018 (Between January 1, 2018-June 18. 2018), it was observed that 22,000,135 publications reached 3,310 users daily and 556,195 users annually. The number of PDF newspapers used was determined as 33,270 in 2017, 34,492 in 2018 and 44,530 in 2019.

The Compilation Library with the Most up-to-Date Catalog Entries of the Last 10 Years

The Central Library, which also performs important activities in cataloging operations, has been a library with the most up-to-date catalog entries among compilation libraries for the last 10 years. At the Central Library, 178,987 new catalog records were deciphered, and 15,000 catalog records were corrected between 2016 and 2021. The new recordings of the number of books, dissertations, etc. (according to the years), was determined as follows:

The number of studies in 2016: 27,143
The number of studies in 2017: 38,131
The number of studies in 2018: 13,385
The number of studies in 2019: 33,877
The number of studies in 2020: 31,797
The number of studies in 2021: 34,654

The Library of Rare Studies’ Valuable Collections

Another important center of İstanbul University, where it protects important studies and collections that have no other copies in the world, is the Library of Rare Studies. The number of studies in the Library of Rare Studies, which employs 14 staff, was determined as follows according to the April 2019 census:

* Arabic manuscripts: 6,961
• Turkish manuscripts: 9,957
• Persian manuscripts: 1615
• Studies from the Collection of Ibnul Emin Mahmut Kemal İnal: 3,809
• European rare studies: 3,672
• Plans and maps: 1536
* Journals: 2,176
* Records, books, periodicals, copies of the music collection: 6,130
• Various museum items: 1481
* Printed studies: 35,221
* Printed studies with Latin letters: 26,155
• Other studies: 4,248
• Total: 102,961

Nearly 40,000 Users Have Been Served in the Last 5 Years

The Library of Rare Studies has also made significant progress in the work of digitization and cataloging. According to the latest data; 6,250 out of 6,961 Arabic manuscripts have been digitized. 9,951 Turkish manuscripts were cataloged entirely, while 9,000 were digitized. All the 1615 Persian manuscripts have been cataloged, while 1412 of them have been digitized. Of the 3,809 studies of the Mahmut Kemal İnal Collection, 1119 were cataloged and 1504 were digitized. Of the 35,221 printed studies, 1,637 were digitized. In the Library of Rare Studies, which served a total of 39,127 users between 2017-2021 and 6,008 users in 2021, 112 original studies and 54,340 digital studies were used during 2021.

​360,146 Electronic Books are in Open Access

İstanbul University enriched its library collection with e-books in 2021. In the e-book collection, all of the book collections of Cambridge, Elsevier (Science Direct) international publishing houses were opened to access in 2021 in order to keep up to date with the science branches in which our University studies. In addition, access to Wiley Publishing's books published in 2012 and after has been made available. While a total of 360,146 electronic books, 32,157 of which are Turkish electronic books, were opened to access, the number of full-text books opened for access was determined as follows:

*Cambridge Publishing House: 42,206
*Elsevier Publishing House: 28,217
*Wiley Publishing House: 12,262
*Proquest E-book Central: 243,267
*HyperBook: 24,310
•Turcademy: 9,847

Databases Added to the Collection Have Great Benefits

İstanbul University has also carried out important studies in the process that requires the subscription of new electronic resources of different types for the ‘distance education’ due to the global epidemic. In 2021, video databases containing training on various topics such as AYEUM Research Methods Training and Application Center and VidoBu were added to the collection. Acland's Video Atlas of Human Anatomy, Bates’ Visual Guide to Physical Examination and Pharmacy Library databases were also included in the collection between 2016 and 2021. The number of full-text journal-article and book usage from open access databases were determined as follows:

• 2016: 1,425,406 journals-articles; 225,807 books
• 2017: 1,711,316 journals-articles; 216,393 books
• 2018: 1,746,833 journals-articles; 286,253 books
• 2019: 1,210,413 journals-articles; 66,850 books
• 2020: 1,142,966 journals-articles; 395,128 books
• 2021: 1,131,002 magazines-articles; 161,438 books

Examples of Successful Projects

İstanbul University Library and Documentation Department has had significant achievements with its ongoing studies carried out in the the years 2017-2021:

●    Within the mentioned process, the “İstanbul Cultural Heritage Digital Library Project” was entitled to receive ISTKA support.
●    With Sultan II. Abdülhamid Yıldız Photography Collection Project, individual catalogs, and scans of 40,000 photographs in 922 albums were made. And as a conclusion, the photographs were made available online. Sultan II. Abdulhamid Han Photo Albums were also proposed as candidates for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
●    Within the scope of the “Looking at History Through the Newspapers” project; 18,422 volumes of newspapers were examined. And 581,106 pages of images from approximately 688 volumes, 47 titles of national and local newspapers (covering the years 1928-1942) were scanned and transferred to the electronic environment in a daily accessible manner using the OCR method. The Project received a plaque of appreciation at the Ministry of Industry and Technology 2021 Productivity Project Awards.
●     9,000 written studies in the Library of Rare Studies Collection have been made available 24/7 through the automation system.
●    Within the scope of the BAP Supported ‘Library of Rare Studies Digitization and Cataloging Project’, 700,000 images from the selected studies were digitized with a scanner and 70,000 images were digitized with a professional camera.
●    In order to bring together the valuable music collection, which was transferred from ‘Dârü'l-Elhan’, the first official music school of our country, (which was established during the transition period of the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic), another project was conducted. With the cooperation of İU Library and Documentation Department and Ottoman Era Music Application Research Center (OMAR), with the support of the Ministry of Culture and İU Rectorate; the 78 Records of Darü'l-Elhan Period ‘Glazed Sounds’ project was carried out. It was aimed to bring classical studies on stone records and compilation records made in Anatolia to the conservatory of Turkish and world music history with this project.
●    ‘İstanbul University Publications and Theses Project’ was carried out. Within the scope of İU Publications Project, the following targets were intended:
By preparing the bibliography of the books published by İU members within the body of İU or through different publishing houses, firstly, to reveal an archival study, to compile all İU publications together, to protect İU publications that are under the risk of extinction and worn out, to raise awareness and to access them in the electronic environment. It was also intended that these studies meet with the researcher.
In the open access thesis issues, the following data were obtained:

• Total number of theses: 65,163
• Total number of graduation theses: 16,727
• The Number of theses available: 34,414
• The Number of theses ready for total transfer: 9,214
• Total number of open access theses: 43,628

Activities Such as Exhibitions, Cooperation, Educational Seminars were Actively Carried Out

İstanbul University libraries continued their study with exhibitions, cooperation, visitors, educational seminars. Within the scope of these activities, the following studies were carried out:

Exhibitions

• ‘In the 100th Anniversary of His Death, Understanding Sultan Abdulhamid II Exhibition’
• “Books, Libraries and Treasury-A Lifetime in Pursuit of Documents: “Ibnul Emin Mahmud Kemal Inal-on the 150th Anniversary of his Birth Exhibition” (organized jointly by İstanbul University and Fatih Mayor's Office in 2021). 94 studies belonging to the collection were exhibited at the ‘Last Ottoman Ibnul Emin Mahmud Kemal İnal Exhibition.’
• ‘Presidential National Library Opening Exhibition’ (8 rare studies selected from the Library of Rare Studies were presented in the Exhibition of “Trace of Ink: a Selection of Rare Studies” organized on the occasion of the Opening of the Presidential National Library in 2020.)
• “In Ottoman-French Relations, Sultan Abdulhamid II Yıldız Photo Collection’’ Exhibition
• An Exhibition of an Overview of History from the Newspaper, which took place in the Exhibition Area of the Rectorate Building of the University
• ‘Colors, Faces, Cities Photo Exhibition’

Cooperations

• Cooperation was made with the Cambridge University Library.
• Cooperation was established with the Babeş-Bolyai University of Romania.
• A cooperation protocol has been signed with the Belarusian National Library.
* Michael Erdman, Curator of Turkish Collections at the British Library, visited our library.
* Polish librarians were trained at İstanbul University Libraries.
Visitors Who Were Hosted at The Library of Rare Studies
* Ghana's Minister of Information, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid
• Minister of Culture and Tourism during 2017, Prof. Dr. Nabi Avcı and Uğur Derman
• Ümran Avcı from Habertürk Newspaper
• A group of 35 people consisting of the 3rd and 4th generation grandchildren of the Sultan Abdulhamid II.
• Delegation of Azerbaijan
• Koç University Suna Kıraç Library
* Librarians of Bulgaria
* Department of History of Science, Medeniyet University
• Bangladesh's Consul General in İstanbul, Dr. Mohammad Monirul; and the Director General of the Islamic and National Libraries, Jahanara Pervin
* Students of Intellectual Property Law at İU Faculty of Law, Prof. Dr. Arslan Kaya, and Prof. Dr. Füsun Nomer Ertan
* Fatih Mayor, M. Ergun Turan

Author Workshops and Training Seminars

• Author workshops were organized with the cooperation of publishing houses (Wiley, Springer, Cambridge, Sage Emerald, Clarivate Analytic, Thomson Reuters, De Gruyter) aimed at writing successful articles in journals with a high impact factor as the main theme.
* Reference management systems training such as EndNote and Mendeley were conducted.
Social Responsibility Projects
• ‘You Must Read- Research Project’ was done.
• Between 2016-2021; 222,679 donations were made to 433 schools.
Barrier-Free Information Center
*In the Accessible Information Center (İU KDDB EBM), which operates within the İstanbul University Library and Documentation Department, the accessible information service provided to the users via e-mail or face-to-face became possible online. So, researchers with disabilities can access the studies they want from the internet without any time and place restrictions. The Barrier-Free Library System was created in order to enable the users to access information easily.
* ‘The Library Without Obstacles’ was opened for online access.
* Audiobook: A total of 510 hours of books were voiced in the first two months of 2020. After the process stopped with the advent of the global pandemic, as of October 2021, the voice-overs have been resumed and 138 hours (22 books) have been performed with 22 readers.
• E-books: A total of 1043 printed books were digitized and prepared in an accessible format in 2021, 514 of which were after August 24. The e-book service continued without interruption during the global epidemic process.
* Members: With the opening of the ‘Library Without Obstacles’, the number of members reached 164 people.
• Online audiobook: All (215) of the audiobooks have been made available, except for the 44 audiobooks that were left unfinished due to the global pandemic.
• Online e-books: 13,150 e-books which were created since the opening of the center were then cataloged. And 1933 e-books opened for access.
• E-thesis in online access: 32,976 theses prepared within the scope of the Central Library digitization studies were transferred to the library system without obstacles so that the disabled users could also benefit from it.

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Efficient Resources were Provided During the Global Epidemic Period

İstanbul University Library and Documentation Department prepared our E-Resources and COVID-19 Information Resources pages during the global epidemic period in order to provide users with up-to-date resources and information for academics and students to support education and training. So, a new page has been prepared, compiled from some publishing houses all over the world and virtual libraries that have been digitalized by the İU Library and Documentation Department and opened to a wide audience. During the global epidemic period, some publishing houses collected the study done on the epidemic under one heading and reported their access addresses so that researchers could access current resources without wasting time. Some unsubscribed e-resources have been made available to support education, and “The Remote Access System” has sent the necessary information for access. The Library and Documentation Department of İU included the following seven main topics on the page containing this scope, where it collected resources:

* Subscribed Databases
• Sources of Academic Information about the Coronavirus
* Resources with Access Permission for the COVID-19 Period
* Our Virtual Libraries
* Open Access Resources
• Proxy External Remote Access
* Online Trainings

News: Tuğçe Ayçin
Translation: Yasemin Uğurlu
İU Department of Corporate Communication