The Institute for Mediterranean Studies has created a specialized library of Islamic and Turkish studies, the only one of its kind and size in our country. The personal library of Victor Menage (retired professor of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London) constitutes a particularly important section as it contains numerous rare editions of books and journals of turkological interest.
The library was initially financed by the Regional Development Plan, and for two years, 1996-1998, by the program for the Support of Research Centre Libraries EPET II. Subsequently it was expanded by gifts from the Genoa Society of Historical Studies, the Naples University Institute of Oriental Studies, the Turkish Embassy in Athens,the Public Welfare Institution “Alexandros S. Onassis”, the Prefecture of Rethymno, the National Research Foundation “Eleftherios Venizelos”, etc.
The library is constantly being enriched through the purchase of new books and donations.
Within the IMS there is also a specialized library of writings on the work of El Greco, Italian (mainly Venetian and Roman) painting of the 16th C and Spanish painting of the 16th-19th C., which also contains unique journals from Europe which were purchased with the help of funding from the Leventis Foundation, donations from the Ministry of Culture of Spain, the Spanish Embassy in Athens and the Zentralinstitut of Munich.
Finally, the library contains a specialized section, as yet in its infancy, dealing with the history and methodology of archaeology and archaeological legislation, which will soon allow the IMS to enable interested post-graduate students, as well as other researchers (archaeologists, historians and diplomats) to carry out research in such fields.
Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, one of the founding members of the Institute,donated to the IMS Library her personal collection, which includes a large number of publications pertaining to Ottoman, Neo-Hellenic, and Byzantine history. The collection includes over 1300 titles of books, journals,as well as a significant number of reprints.
The Marine History Library was launched in 2013 to enrich the thematic categories of the IMS/FORTH Library. It includes monographs, collective works, and scientific journals which cover a variety of subjects pertaining to Maritime History and beyond.
Naval technology, shipbuilding, shipping, harbor history, seafaring history, naval work, naval mariners, naval communities, gendered relationships in naval families are some of the themes covered by the Library. Furthermore, its collection comprises books of environmental history, history of urban spaces, world and national history (e.g. Russian history), and important collective publications of general interest, such as The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Early Modern European History. The Maritime History Library includes books in various languages, Greek, English, French, Italian, Spanish, etc., and is funded by IMS/FORTH (ELISTOKAINO, SeaLiT) research projects and donations by collaborating academic institutions (e.g. University of Barcelona).
The purpose of the Maritime History Library is to fill the existing gap of a specialized library in this field in Greece and to become an international attraction for researchers dealing with various aspects of maritime history.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the library of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies has acquired a digital collection of the Ottoman almanacs (salname) of the Balkan and island provinces of the Ottoman Empire. These 87 rare volumes of the second half of the nineteenth centuries have been digitized in CDs and DVDs and contain precious information on the provinces of Edirne, the Aegean islands, Crete, Salonica, Ioannina and Manastir (Bitola). Researchers may study this material in the IMS library.
The IMS Library catalog currently contains over 9500 entries and is accessible to users via the automated library system OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) of the automatized library system “ALEPH” which also manages all Library functions. The bibliographic database of the ALEPH system includes the entries concerning the material of the IMS Library, the Library of the University of Crete and the material of the Library of the rest of the Institutes of the Foundation for Research and Technology.
Access to the library catalog of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS), The University of Crete and the rest of Institutes of the Foundation for Research and Technology
ALEPH
Access to the library catalog of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) and all Greek Academic Libraries
ZEPHYR
This archive comprises various sources pertaining to contemporary economic history, such as material coming from the Ministry of Finance covering the period 1967-1974, from the personal archives of Greek politicians, etc. Most of the sources contained in it have been digitized.
The IMS Library contains the following musical manuscripts:
Manuscript numbers:
403, 489, 703 - 704, 706, 709 - 711, 713 - 716, 720, 722 - 723, 727 - 734, 744 - 752, 754 - 755, 762 - 764
Manuscript numbers:
623, 708, 712, 883 - 920, 922 - 962, 965 - 975, 1868, 2061-2062, 2401, 2406, 2444, 2454, 2456, 2458, 2599, 2600-2601, 2622, 2837, 3469, 2220/2980
Monastery of Vatopedi: no. 1425, 1488, 1527
Byzantine Museum: no. 180/2798 & 181/2799
Gennadius: no. 26
Hf. : No. 178-179
MSc, Merlier: no. 3464
Musical Manuscript of Bishop Kydonia: pp. 1-162
The IMS library has a large number of Greek and foreign newspapers in microfilm, such asΑκρόπολις, Εβδομαδιαία ΕπιθεώρησιςΝεολόγου, Πρωΐα, Atlantis, Constantinople Messenger, Egyptian Gazette, Levant Herald, National Herald, etc.
The archive includes:
Information about 250,000 theatrical plays of Greek theatre troupes of the 19th-early 20th century in cities of the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
More than 2000 theatrical programs of the late 20th century, mainly from 1960 onwards, but also a small number of programsfrom the interwar or even earlier periods.