Written by Christopher Markiewicz (2013)

INtroduction

Islam Arastirmalari Merkezi (ISAM) is the best research library in Turkey for Ottoman and Islamic studies. The research center’s strength lies in its combination of a relatively extensive collection of printed volumes with a number of important digitized collections of archival documents. The research center is located in the Baglarbasi neighborhood in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul.

ISAM is open every day between 9am and 11pm except holidays, however the library’s digital collections, documentation files, and photocopy services are only available to researchers between 9am and 7pm.

Location: Google Maps

GOING THERE

ISAM is easily accessible by a number of forms of public transportation. Several buses that leave from Üsküdar and Kadiköy pass by a main intersection that is 150 meters from ISAM’s entrance. Dolmuses, which are a little more expensive, but probably faster, also pass along the same main road. Dolmuses leaving from Kadiköy depart across the street from the main bus stop, while dolmuses from Üsküdar leave next to Selmanaga Camii. The library may also be reached via a one-kilometer walk from the Altunizade Metrobus stop.

GETTING IN

The library is open to graduate students and university instructors. Researchers intending to work at ISAM may enter the campus of 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi after receiving a guest pass from the guard at the front gate. Researchers may obtain a membership card for ISAM which will provide them access to the campus and the research center by completing an application at the circulation desk of the library. The application consists of a simple form, proof of a researcher’s affiliation with a university or research center, and the submission of one passport sized photograph. Membership cards are generally ready within one business day.

Finding your material

The library has an online catalog of its collections which can be accessed from any of the computer terminals on each floor of the library. Although the catalog is only in Turkish, its relative simplicity renders it accessible to non-Turkish speakers. The search function of the catalog only has three options: title name (eser adi), author (yazar), or publication place/publisher (yayin yeri/yayinlanan). Researchers looking for material published in a non-Latin alphabet should keep in mind that the library’s materials are cataloged according to the conventions of modern Turkish transcription. In this regard, the library suggests that researchers not include Arabic or Persian grammatical features (idafa/ezafe, i‘rab, etc.) in their search terms.

The library’s collections are mostly stored in open stacks which researchers may browse as they like.

COLLECTION OVERVIEW

Printed Volumes and Special Collections:

The library’s printed material includes 237,000 volumes and more than 3,500 serial journals. Religious sciences and Ottoman history constitute the library’s strongest fields, although the library has a good collection of works published in Turkish related to a wide range of disciplines. With respect to religious sciences, the library has many of the most important primary religious texts published in Arabic related to hadith, tafsir, fiqh, kalam, and other Islamic religious disciplines. Secondary literature on these subjects is strongest with respect to works published in Turkish, although the library has a decent collection of works published in English and other foreign languages related to Islamic studies. The library’s other strong area relates to Ottoman studies. Here, the library has an extensive collection of published editions of primary sources, as well as monographs and other scholarly works related to the history, literature, and culture of the Ottoman Empire. While the library’s collection is mostly Turkish, researchers can find many important scholarly works in other languages (mostly English) related to Ottoman studies.

The library’s collection in non-Ottoman Islamic history is considerably weaker. Even so, the library has many of the most important published primary sources in Arabic and Persian and a fair collection of secondary material (again mostly in Turkish). Despite this relative weakness, this portion of ISAM’s collection is still probably the best available in Turkey. The library also has a nice collection of dissertations which have been donated over the years by researchers who have conducted some portion of their graduate research at the center.

One of the unique aspects of the library’s collection is the files it maintains on over 19,000 subjects related to Islamic studies. These files are the product of the research for the Islam Ansiklopedisi entries and contain photocopies of encyclopedic entries, articles, and other references related to the file’s topic.

Lastly, the library has an extensive reference collection and a fair number of serial journals. The reference collection includes all major encyclopedias, bio-bibliographic reference works, and dictionaries researchers will need in the course of their studies. The library’s serial journals focus on scholarly publications related to Islamic studies and Ottoman/Turkish history. In this respect, the library’s journal collection includes many titles from the early twentieth century or from small Turkish journals which are often difficult to find in North American and European research libraries. The shelving organization of these materials is extremely poor. While encyclopedias and other multi-volume works are always shelved together, they are never organized according to volume number. This presents a problem when trying to locate a single volume of a serial journal on a shelf with more than one hundred printed volumes!

Databases and Digital Collections:

ISAM has a number of important databases and digitized collections which are available to the library’s researchers.

The database of manuscripts in Turkish libraries (Türkiye Kütüphaneleri Veri Tabani) is probably the library’s most important database. With approximately 709,000 entries for manuscripts and printed works from 122 different libraries in Turkey, the database is an invaluable tool for researchers who work with Islamic and Ottoman manuscripts.

In addition to this database, the library has a number of other databases which have collected bibliographic information on all theses produced in Turkish universities related to Islamic or Ottoman studies—to date this collection has more than 260,000 entries.

The library also has several digital collections which are of interest to Ottomanists. Firstly, the library has an extensive collection of Ottoman court records. The collection includes digitized copies of the Ottoman court records (mahkemenin kadı sicilleri) located in Turkey and other countries. The collection has records from the Istanbul Muftülügü, the court registers of Milli Kütüphane, as well as the court registers for much of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Crimea,  Damascus, Aleppo and Jerusalem. A full list can be accessed at the Kadi Sicilleri Katalogu Veri Tabani.

In addition to these court records, the library also has a modest collection of digitized manuscripts, the Ottoman newspaper Takvim-i Vekayi, and a collection of the Ottoman provincial yearbooks (salnameler). The library has also compiled a useful search engine for Ottoman treatises (risaleler) and articles (makaleler), which provides a PDF copy of the original article. The database is particularly useful for locating early twentieth-century scholarship published in Turkey. On top of this, the library is entrusted with the personal archives and music collections of some twentieth-century Turkish historians.

Ordering your material

Once you’ve located your material in the catalogue, approach a librarian who will fetch it for you in the Reading Room.

Ordering scans

The library has a photocopy center that will produce photocopies or scans for 5 kurus per page (as of 10 October 2013). While researchers may request that most things be copied, there are limits on recently published books, theses, and certain other material. Generally the photocopiers are reluctant to scan more than fifty pages of any item as above this the files become too large to email.

Researchers may also make requests for reproductions of the library’s digital collections. These requests are made through a library patron’s account after signing in to view any of the digital material. Requests for copies from the digital collection generally take a couple of days to process as each request is sent to the center’s director for approval.

Food and well-being

The library’s workspace is comfortable, although some areas are poorly lit and often crowded. The library’s great collections and location near a number of universities have made it a popular destination for study. Most mornings the library is relatively empty, but after lunch many students arrive to do homework and other assignments. Despite the occasional crowds, the library is still a relatively quiet place to get work done.

There are many food options in close proximity to ISAM. There is a cafeteria (yemekhane) on 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi campus which is open to researchers at ISAM. Lunch is served to the library’s patrons between 13:00 and 14:00 and costs 5 TL. The lunch is healthy and filling, but may pose problems for vegetarians and others with special dietary requirements. There are also a number of restaurants in close proximity to the research center; Melek Ev Yemekleri serves good food with many vegetarian options for 8 TL/per plate. Next to the library, there is a small cafe which provides glasses of tea free of charge and nescafe for 60 kuruş a cup.

Additional remarks

The library’s workspace is comfortable, although some areas are poorly lit and often crowded. The library’s great collections and location near a number of universities have made it a popular destination for study. Most mornings the library is relatively empty, but after lunch many students arrive to do homework and other assignments. Despite the occasional crowds, the library is still a relatively quiet place to get work done.

While the library offers wireless internet, connections from many places in the library are weak and slow. Passwords for the library’s six wireless connections can be obtained from the front desk. Researchers must enter their email and personal password (last name) in order to connect to one of the wireless networks.

Originally published on Hazine