International Studies

The International Studies team consists of subject librarians, catalogers, and acquisitions specialists with diverse linguistic and cultural expertise. We build distinctive collections and provide support for research and teaching in various scholarly disciplines focused on regions across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and the Pacific. Our collections are in a wide variety of formats, scripts, and more than 200 languages.

Our subject specialists offer research consultations and instruction sessions, curate exhibits, and collaborate on digital scholarship projects. We often travel abroad to purchase materials and liaise with our suppliers. Our cataloging and acquisitions specialists work in more than 60 languages and 13 scripts to ensure that collection materials are preserved and discoverable for worldwide users. 

We work closely with the International Institute and departments across campus to support their scholarly activities. Internationally we partner with libraries and research institutes to advance scholarship, long-term preservation of and access to global resources.

• Engaging in metadata clean-up locally and nationally as founding members of the HathiTrust Metadata Quality Improvement Project.
• Guiding users on effective searching for non-English language and non-Latin script materials. Check out our guide Searching for Non-English Language Materials: Scripts, Diacritics, Numerals and Dates.
• Contributing to the Library of Congress Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC-BIBCO & NACO), and the Big Ten Academic Alliance Cooperative Cataloging Partnership (BTAA-CCP).
• Identifying and remediating harmful language in library metadata.
• Contributing to the support and implementation of native scripts and romanization standards in library metadata. For example: introducing the Burmese script to our library catalog and revising the ALA-LC Armenian Romanization Table.
• Engaging and mentoring students interested in global research and librarianship through programs like Michigan Library Scholars and our International Studies Internship.
• Developing digital projects such as the Elections in Africa web archive, Translation Networks, and digital exhibits like the History of the William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan.
• Partnering with the Center for Khmer Studies in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on professional development and library expertise exchange.