The Contemporary Jewry Database:
Coordination and Flexibility in
Bibliographical Registration and Retrieval

by Mira Levine , MLS '

Director ofThe Bibliographical Center

Institute ofContemporary Jewry of the Hebrew

University Jerusalem

The Bibliographical Center in Contemporary Jewry was
designed some five years ago to compile a computerized

database of bibliographical information relating to

various aspects of 20th century world Jewry. A digital

minicomputer (VAX-750) was purchased and the

ALEPH Information Retrieval program developed at the

Hebrew University was adapted for this purpose. In the

fall of 1985 we began registering indexed and annotated

descriptions of books, articles, films, taped interviews

and oUier archival material at or available to the Institute

of Contemporary Jewry. The records are accessible both

for publication as separate catalogues by the cooperating

bodies and for on-line global searching via the ALEPH
network of the Hebrew University and other Israeli

academic institutions.

To date, over 15,000 bibliographical items have been
indexed, abstracted, and registered by seven cooperating

but separate computer projects:

Bibliography in Anti-semitism Through the Ages of

the Sasson International Center for Research in

Anti-semitism

Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive - holdings

and catalogues

Jewish Filmography Project listing - of films on
Jewish subjects available throughout Israel

Oral History Division of the Institute of Contempo-
rary Jewry - holdings and catalogues

Publications of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry,

and of its teachers and researchers

Bibliography of Contemporary Jewry 1984-1987,

listing relevant books and articles published

between 1984 and 1987 arriving at the Jewish

National and University Library. (Although

discontinued for lack of funds, it will be resumed
when funding is available.)

Studies in Contemporary Jewry in English and
Hebrew - articles, book reviews and books
reviewed in the two annual journals of the

Institute of Contemporary Jewry.

Slated for future inclusion are the library and biblio-

graphical projects of Jewish Demography, syllabi of

courses offered through the years at the institute of

Contemporary Jewry, Am^can and the Holy Land
bibliographical and archival project, and other funded

projects approved by the Institute. Once registered, all

records are retrievable via a single master index - by
author, title, subject or words appearing in the title,

subject headings of abstract. For example, by entering

the search term "intermarriage" one summons a list of

not only books and articles in which intermarriage is

treated, but films and taped interviews as well. Further

sophistication in word searching is to be included this

summer in the newest ALEPH version, thus facilitating

access even more.

Having noted briefly the construction and composition of

the Contemporary Jewry Database, let us turn now to the

various products and activities it generates at the Institute

of Contemporary Jewry Bibliographical Center.

Printed catalogues and bibliographies:

Several participating collections retrieve and publish

their respective entries as catalogues, bibliographies or

filmographies. The Bibliogi^hical Center staff designs

the ALEPH application, advises, trains and supervises

staff involved in all aspects of registration and retrieval

right up to the preparation of photo-ready copy for the

publisher. Garland Publishers in New York has under-

taken the publication of sections of the database as part

of its series Garland Reference Library of Social Science.

To date, one volume has appeared:

- Anti-semitism: An Annotated Bibliography,

Volume 7, edited by Susan Sarah Cohen for the

Vidal Sasson International Center for the Study of

Anti-semitism, 1987.

- the second volume of the Anti-semitism bibliog-

raphy

and three others are in the final stages of prepara-

tion

- Films of the Holocaust: An Annotated Filmogra-

phy of Collections in Israel, edited by Sheba
Skirball for the Spielberg Jewish Film Archive (in

preparation)

- Oral History ofContemporary Jewry: An Anno-
tated Catalogue, compiled by Institute of Contem-
porary Jewry.

Spring 1990



On-line database

Of course, the primary product of the bibliographical

center is an efficient, easily used on-line database of

bibliographical information on the various aspects of

twentieth century Jewry. Subjects include the Holocaust,

Zionism and the State of Israel, Jewish demography and
other social science research, Anti-semitism, Israel-

Diaspora relations, Jewish communities the world over

and the Arab-Israeli conflict to name the most salient

Thesaurus generation

A third product, an on-line publishable thesaurus for

Contemporary Jewry, will be discussed in detail later on.

Network searching

Besides catalogue production, database maintenance and
thesaurus development, the Bibliographical Center

provides researchers at the Institute with access to

information relevant to their work via retrieval from our
own database, libraries and databases on the network of

Israeli universities (ALEPH), and other Israeli and
foreign databases accessible via our facilities. Individual

search and subject updating requests are filled as much as

time and budget allow.

In coming months we hope to be extending these search

services to include £K;cess to Israeli databases of relevant

materials outside the ALEPH system as well pertinent

foreign databases and vendors such as DIALOG and
BRS. Institute of Contemporary Jewry researchers are

also assisted in computerizing their own research using

the ALEPH system.

Experience in cooperative computerization

One of the most interesting by-products of developing

the database has been the experience and knowledge that

has accumulated in the process of designing and imple-

menting our cooperative computerization. We are

frequently turned lo by libraries, archives and informa-

tion centers interested in establishing similar or related

projects, or in implementing the ALEPH system for non-
library and/or multi-media applications. We enjoy these

opportunities to share both our knowledge and data. At
the same time we benefit by learning about and often

gaining access to related data registered at these institu-

tions. Thus, the spirit of cooperation has been extended
beyond the parameters of our own institution's projects.

ALEPH adaptation

We have found the ALEPH information retrieval pro-

gram particularly suitable for our independent/interde-
pendent applications. First, its multi-lingual, multi-

character-type capacity is essential for registration of
materials describing world Jewry in Hebrew and Yiddish
as well as Latin character languages; Arabic is also

available, though not used by us; Cyrillic and Far Eastern
character use is still to be developed. ALEPH 's structure

of several local libraries within a single global library

allows, on the one hand, independence in design, catalo-

ging and maintenance, searching and retrieval, and on the

other hand, overall maintenance and control if desired.

Other invaluable aspects of the program for our purposes

are its user friendly presentation (as we have over a

dozen professionals and countless users at varying levels

of computer proficiency), and its flexible thesaurus

construction and maintenance capabilities. Being part of

the overall network of Israeli academic libraries and
databases is of great advantage, not only by providing

access to our database from any of the 25 installations all

over the country, but by allowing us to search their

collections as well with but a simple 5-character com-
mand. Finally, the excitement generated by participating

in the development of such au courant, constantly

growing and improving research project has stimulated

creative applications, fruitful cooperation and productive

commitment by our bibliographical center and participat-

ing project staffs.

Coordination and flexibility

Indeed, the execution of such a multi-faceted, multi-

disciplinary and multi-media database has been a fasci-

nating, albeit challenging, exercise of coordination and
flexibility. Each stage of designing, implementing,

evaluating, improving and expanding the database over

the past five years has necessitated a careful balancing of

desire for overall standardization while satisfying the

requirements peculiar to each individual project

Cooperation began with sharing information on and the

costs of hardware acquisition and maintenance. Experi-

menting with ALEPH adaptations for bibliographical and
archival applications also involved learning from previ-

ous and each other's insights and mistakes. Common
code assignments wherever possible facilitates mainte-

nance as well as the sharing process. Meanwhile stan-

dardizing divergence provides helpful searching and
maintenance cues. For example, all codes peculiar to a

given collection are preceded by the same character: P
for the Film Archive, A for Anti-semitism, while both

PTL and ATL are dumped into and accessible via a

single title index.

Training for indexers, abstractors, catalogers, and editing

is centralized as much as possible, and retrieval for

publication, contacts with both our pubUsher and com-
puter facilities of the university are centrally coordinated.

This avoids wasteful duplication of efforts while at the

same time providing supportive, stimulating coUegiality.

Peculiarities of different types of material, support

organizations or lines of authority thus become fhiitful

bases for comparison and adaptation.

Two activities at the bibliographical center illustrate

particularly well the balance between inter-dependence

and independence of the cooperating members of the

Contemporary Jewry Database: one is thesaurus control,

the construction and maintenance of our controlled

language for indexing; the other is catalogue preparation,

the production of photo-ready copy of bibliographies/

catalogues/filmographies for publication.

50 lASSIST Quarterly