University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine 2018 Fall Libraries Magazine | Page 16

Thailand
Unique Collections
Tibet
By Haley Griffith
F
or years, Asian and Hmong Studies librarian Larry
Ashmun has provided a unique and important local
connection between the Thai culture and the University
of Wisconsin–Madison. For more than a decade now,
Ashmun has shared such items as UW–Madison’s Thai
Tripitaka and Thai Buddhist canon with K-12 educators
and officials from Thailand who come to visit the
collection. Larry now includes this experience as part of
a three-week visit to sites around the state, including the
UW–Madison campus.
Ashmun has volunteered with the Wisconsin–Thailand
Sunrise Program since it started in 2007. The program
formed when the Department of Public Instruction
(DPI) and the Thailand Ministry of Education signed a
cooperative agreement allowing Wisconsin schools to
host groups of students and teachers from Thailand.
2018 marks the eleventh year of the program’s existence,
which has received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Individuals and hosting schools have expressed their
appreciation of the opportunity to get to know and
learn about Thai culture. Wisconsin and Thailand have
developed strong connections through the UW–Madison
Alumni Association, and the Thai chapter is among
Larry Ashmun meets with students from Thailand during their visit to campus (L). A
Thai bookplate noting, “The University of Wisconsin” & “The King of Siam” (R).
16 | LIBRARIES Fall 2018
the university’s largest
international alumni associations.
Ashmun said it is important to share the unique UW–
Madison collections with visitors from Thailand because
“the edition of the Thai Tripitaka, or Thai Buddhist
canon, which we received from Siam in 1895, are both
so special and rare, such that none of the Thai educators
and students on the DPI program would’ve seen them
before, even while in Thailand.” Ashmun continued,
“During the short time the group is in Memorial
Library, showing them a part of our regular Thai Studies
holdings helps them understand the UW’s commitment
to an internationally-recognized, strong Thai Studies
collection.”
Ashmun plans to continue his dedication to growing
the collaborative efforts with Thai communities,
both locally and abroad. “It’s a good example of our
collaboration with DPI, while also being an informative
opportunity to share with the Thai educators and
students, some of whom might want to come to school
here at UW,” explained Ashmun. “As a Thai Studies
specialist who’s lived in Thailand for many years and is
married to a woman from Thailand, it’s fun to learn about
the students and teachers. Not only about where they’re
from in Thailand, but also how they enjoyed their three-
week experience in Wisconsin.”
T
he Tibetan collection, housed in the University of
Wisconsin–Madison Department of Rare Books and
Special Collections, was originally cataloged by Leonard
Zwilling in 1984. The collection contains 549 items
covering 350 separate titles, and includes approximately
50 Tibetan manuscripts which were originally
“uncataloged, unorganized, and lacking even minimal
bibliographic control” according to Zwilling’s work,
Tibetan Blockprints in the Department of Rare Books and
Special Collections. Currently, the collection is under the
care of library services assistant Lisa Nachreiner, who has
picked up where Zwilling left off.
Zwilling compiled his print catalog in 1984, but
the titles were never entered into the library’s online
database. Nachreiner is now working on a retro-
conversion of his cataloging so that the works will be
discoverable online.
“Many of the block prints were published in Beijing/
Peking in the early part of the 20th century, so there may
be Chinese title or imprint information that was not
included in Leonard’s catalog,” explained Nachreiner. “I’ve
worked to include this information as well.”
Much of Nachreiner’s work involves creating online
accessibility for the items in this unique collection,
as well as transcribing the original descriptions that
Zwilling wrote.
“Although other institutions may hold the same editions
of these titles, it seems that many of them have not yet
converted their print catalogs,” said Nachreiner. “I do find
myself creating new entries based on Leonard’s catalog.”
Nachreiner often uses the same print catalogs and
resources Zwilling referred to in his work 35 years ago.
While the works in this particular collection are often
unknown, Nachreiner said the concern of similar “hidden”
Tibetan special collections have been recognized by the
International Association of Tibetan Studies and efforts
to make these collections more discoverable is now a
priority. Everything from proposals to create a registry of
collections, to finding aids to collate information about
these resources is slowly gaining traction.
“It’s been interesting to learn about these materials
through Leonard’s efforts, as well as working through the
challenges of figuring out how to catalog them within the
current framework,” said Nachreiner.
While she works to make the items in the collection
even more accessible, Nachreiner is quick to thank
Zwilling for his years of dedication to the collection.
“While I am currently helping to make these resources
discoverable online, it is really Leonard’s work that made
all of this possible.”
Gsol ‘debs le’u bdun pa dang Bsam pa lhun grub. Coll. R no. 52. (L) Chos skyong
bai rgyal po bsrong btsan rgam poi bka bum las stod kyi cha thog mar bla ma
rgyud pai gsol debs lo rgyus sogs. Coll. R no. 49 (R).
University of Wisconsin–Madison | 17