Preserve the SRIFIAS Library to Ensure Indiana University's Continuing Strength in Inner Asian Studies
[NOTICE: Dean Lee A. Feinstein of the IU School of Global and International Studies has expressed support for the SRIFIAS and its library both in the current period of transition and for the long term, and has stated that the search for a secure, accessible space for the library is on-going. The petition remains open, and your signatures in support of the SRIFIAS are very welcome.
SIGNERS AFTER 6 JUNE 2015: Your signature supports our urgent request for public announcement of the transition plans with a time line. Time is running out before the closure of the building that currently houses the SRIFIAS. By signing the petition, you encourage the IU administration to proceed with all possible speed and deliberation, so that the library and its present and future users suffer as little as possible from the impending move.
Please see https://friendsofsrifias.wordpress.com/ for more information about the IU administration's response, and next steps.]
To:
Michael A. McRobbie, President, Indiana University ([email protected])
Lauren Robel, Provost and Executive Vice President, Indiana University ([email protected])
David Zaret, Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University ([email protected])
Larry D. Singell, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University ([email protected])
Lee A. Feinstein, Dean of the School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University ([email protected])
Carolyn Walters, Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries, Indiana University ([email protected])
Dear Indiana University Administrators:
IU's world-renowned Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (SRIFIAS) is facing an urgent existential crisis that is within your collective capabilities to resolve.
Since its establishment in 1967 by Distinguished Professor Denis Sinor, the Institute has held a prominent position in the international scholarly community through its support of fundamental research and teaching on Inner Asia/Central Eurasia and through its publishing activities.
The SRIFIAS is an integral member of the triad of IU units focused on the Inner Asian/Central Eurasian region. Students and faculty in the Central Eurasian Studies department (CEUS) and scholars from around the world who come to IU under the auspices of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center (IAUNRC) make frequent use of the library and other resources of the SRIFIAS.
The widely heralded establishment of IU's School of Global and International Studies (SGIS) has apparently had the unintended consequence of bringing the SRIFIAS to the brink of crisis. Although space in the new SGIS building has been allocated for CEUS and IAUNRC, the SRIFIAS has not been accommodated and will be forced to vacate Goodbody Hall by the end of 2015.
The SRIFIAS library is in critical need of new space and logistical support immediately. Without a home in Goodbody Hall, the SGIS building, or some other convenient campus site, such as the Wells Library, the SRIFIAS will be unable to carry out its important functions in the international scholarly community and in training IU students. If the SRIFIAS library collections and equipment cannot maintain their integrity and functional condition, it will likely be impossible to recreate them.
As IU celebrates and consolidates its strengths in global and international studies with the launch of the new School of Global and International Studies, we request that the IU administration take this opportunity to renew its commitment to Inner Asian/Central Eurasian Studies, and ensure the future integrity and functioning of SRIFIAS resources and facilities. Crucially at this moment, we ask you to move quickly to resolve the looming space crisis facing the SRIFIAS, and to provide it with logistical support for a smooth transition.
Your decisive, positive action at this time will be in keeping with IU's high reputation and responsibilities as steward of the many unique scholarly resources for which the university is justly famous throughout the world. The SRIFIAS is not only a product of the grand ambition of President Herman B Wells; it is also a living foundation of the legacy of IU's long-time champion, Distinguished Professor Denis Sinor (1916–2011), whose many honors include the IU President's Medal for Excellence in 2008.
Sincerely,
Friends of the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies
Updates
June 1, 2015
We just hit 250 signatures and the administration is finally acknowledging our concerns. Email the Provost today to demand a public timeline for the library move.
Reached 250 supporters
May 29, 2015
May 27, 2015
The administration continues to offer verbal support but we still lack a concrete timeline for the library transition. Send an email to the Provost today demanding a public plan for where this collection will be housed. We cannot move forward without clear answers regarding the future of these books.
Reached 100 supporters
May 26, 2015
9 Comments
Dear colleagues, I share the deep concern of specialists in the field of Eurasian studies the perspective of closure SRIFIAS and its outstanding library resources. Request to the leadership of Indiana University to find a possible solution to the problem and preserve the unique Sinor Research Institute for world science. Irina Selyutina, Dr. of Philology, Institute of Philology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.
This library is a global treasure. You really cannot replace these collections once they are dispersed. Please find a way to keep it together for future researchers.
Gulchekhra Sultonova Assosiate Prof. Dr. of History, Institute of History Academy of the Sciences of Uzbekistan Fellow of Humboldt Foundation.
As the outgoing President of the Association of Central Eurasian Students, I hope that the resounding student support to keep the SRIFIAS will be reflected as a dedicated space in SGIS. If IU and SGIS are committed to the students of regional studies, they will surely recognize the uniqueness of the SRIFIAS as an unparalleled resource for scholars of Central Eurasia and for fulfilling their global and international aims. Through this petition, hopefully they will hear our voices as well.
SRIFIAS belongs to everyone who does research and thus should survive for the benefit of international scholars
Statement by the European Society for Central Asian Stuides (ESCAS) We have received the news about the uncertain future facing the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (SRIFIAS) at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) with dismay and alarm. This institute has been a leading centre of Inner and Central Asian Studies, not only in the US but also worldwide. The SRIFIAS library and the centre have been important locations for high quality research and scholarly exchange for decades. Scholars benefiting from the facilities of SRIFIAS have made important contributions to knowledge in their fields, enhancing Indiana University’s positive global image in the process. Having such an institute should not be treated as a luxury: it plays an important role in generating much needed knowledge and expertise in a rapidly changing world. If implemented, the planned closure would lead to a serious impoverishment of the US academic landscape and to the irreversible disappearance of a prestigious centre of learning at a time when it is most needed. The President, the board members and the Advisory Board members of the European Association for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) www.escas.org
Associate Professor of History, University of Wyoming The special collections housed by SRIFIAS have been open to scholars for decades, and I had the opportunity to use that collection while I was doing dissertation research. I showed up, unexpectedly, but the staff (back when there was staff, in the early 1990s) let me in, and I was able to access rare materials useful to my research. I also ran into another scholar, the eminent Turkologist Dr. Ingeborg Baldauf, who happened to be in Bloomington using the SRIFIAS collection at the same time. SRIFIAS is unique within the United States. For scholars studying these areas of the world, we know there is one collection that is more likely to house important materials than any other library or collection in the US, and that is SRIFIAS. When thinking about the disposition of my own collection of research materials at the end of my career, I have long planned to deposit them as SRIFIAS, specifically so that they will be available to other scholars in a reliable, ongoing, findable way. If there is no more SRIFIAS, then obviously, I will not be able to do that, and neither will the other Central Eurasia scholars out there. This collection is far more than a room in Indiana: it is a trust held for scholars worldwide. I urge you in the strongest terms not to abandon Indiana University's decades of support to this very unusual area of study. I urge you to provide support and funding for rehousing the SRIFIAS collection in a way that will continue to ensure its accessibility to scholars.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
Preserve the SRIFIAS Library to Ensure Indiana University's Continuing Strength in Inner Asian Studies
[NOTICE: Dean Lee A. Feinstein of the IU School of Global and International Studies has expressed support for the SRIFIAS and its library both in the current period of transition and for the long term, and has stated that the search for a secure, accessible space for the library is on-going. The petition remains open, and your signatures in support of the SRIFIAS are very welcome.
SIGNERS AFTER 6 JUNE 2015: Your signature supports our urgent request for public announcement of the transition plans with a time line. Time is running out before the closure of the building that currently houses the SRIFIAS. By signing the petition, you encourage the IU administration to proceed with all possible speed and deliberation, so that the library and its present and future users suffer as little as possible from the impending move.
Please see https://friendsofsrifias.wordpress.com/ for more information about the IU administration's response, and next steps.]
To:
Michael A. McRobbie, President, Indiana University ([email protected])
Lauren Robel, Provost and Executive Vice President, Indiana University ([email protected])
David Zaret, Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University ([email protected])
Larry D. Singell, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University ([email protected])
Lee A. Feinstein, Dean of the School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University ([email protected])
Carolyn Walters, Ruth Lilly Dean of University Libraries, Indiana University ([email protected])
Dear Indiana University Administrators:
IU's world-renowned Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (SRIFIAS) is facing an urgent existential crisis that is within your collective capabilities to resolve.
Since its establishment in 1967 by Distinguished Professor Denis Sinor, the Institute has held a prominent position in the international scholarly community through its support of fundamental research and teaching on Inner Asia/Central Eurasia and through its publishing activities.
The SRIFIAS is an integral member of the triad of IU units focused on the Inner Asian/Central Eurasian region. Students and faculty in the Central Eurasian Studies department (CEUS) and scholars from around the world who come to IU under the auspices of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center (IAUNRC) make frequent use of the library and other resources of the SRIFIAS.
The widely heralded establishment of IU's School of Global and International Studies (SGIS) has apparently had the unintended consequence of bringing the SRIFIAS to the brink of crisis. Although space in the new SGIS building has been allocated for CEUS and IAUNRC, the SRIFIAS has not been accommodated and will be forced to vacate Goodbody Hall by the end of 2015.
The SRIFIAS library is in critical need of new space and logistical support immediately. Without a home in Goodbody Hall, the SGIS building, or some other convenient campus site, such as the Wells Library, the SRIFIAS will be unable to carry out its important functions in the international scholarly community and in training IU students. If the SRIFIAS library collections and equipment cannot maintain their integrity and functional condition, it will likely be impossible to recreate them.
As IU celebrates and consolidates its strengths in global and international studies with the launch of the new School of Global and International Studies, we request that the IU administration take this opportunity to renew its commitment to Inner Asian/Central Eurasian Studies, and ensure the future integrity and functioning of SRIFIAS resources and facilities. Crucially at this moment, we ask you to move quickly to resolve the looming space crisis facing the SRIFIAS, and to provide it with logistical support for a smooth transition.
Your decisive, positive action at this time will be in keeping with IU's high reputation and responsibilities as steward of the many unique scholarly resources for which the university is justly famous throughout the world. The SRIFIAS is not only a product of the grand ambition of President Herman B Wells; it is also a living foundation of the legacy of IU's long-time champion, Distinguished Professor Denis Sinor (1916–2011), whose many honors include the IU President's Medal for Excellence in 2008.
Sincerely,
Friends of the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies
Updates
June 1, 2015
We just hit 250 signatures and the administration is finally acknowledging our concerns. Email the Provost today to demand a public timeline for the library move.
Reached 250 supporters
May 29, 2015
May 27, 2015
The administration continues to offer verbal support but we still lack a concrete timeline for the library transition. Send an email to the Provost today demanding a public plan for where this collection will be housed. We cannot move forward without clear answers regarding the future of these books.
Reached 100 supporters
May 26, 2015
9 Comments
For the memory of one of the greatest scholars on Inner Asia (Eurasia) Prof. Denis Sinor, SRIFIAS should be kept alive at Indiana University also to mark the leading role that Indiana University has played for more than half century on Inner Asian Studies and the PIAC around the world thanks to Prof. Sinor.
Dear colleagues, I share the deep concern of specialists in the field of Eurasian studies the perspective of closure SRIFIAS and its outstanding library resources. Request to the leadership of Indiana University to find a possible solution to the problem and preserve the unique Sinor Research Institute for world science. Irina Selyutina, Dr. of Philology, Institute of Philology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.
This library is a global treasure. You really cannot replace these collections once they are dispersed. Please find a way to keep it together for future researchers.
Gulchekhra Sultonova Assosiate Prof. Dr. of History, Institute of History Academy of the Sciences of Uzbekistan Fellow of Humboldt Foundation.
As the outgoing President of the Association of Central Eurasian Students, I hope that the resounding student support to keep the SRIFIAS will be reflected as a dedicated space in SGIS. If IU and SGIS are committed to the students of regional studies, they will surely recognize the uniqueness of the SRIFIAS as an unparalleled resource for scholars of Central Eurasia and for fulfilling their global and international aims. Through this petition, hopefully they will hear our voices as well.
SRIFIAS belongs to everyone who does research and thus should survive for the benefit of international scholars
Statement by the European Society for Central Asian Stuides (ESCAS) We have received the news about the uncertain future facing the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (SRIFIAS) at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) with dismay and alarm. This institute has been a leading centre of Inner and Central Asian Studies, not only in the US but also worldwide. The SRIFIAS library and the centre have been important locations for high quality research and scholarly exchange for decades. Scholars benefiting from the facilities of SRIFIAS have made important contributions to knowledge in their fields, enhancing Indiana University’s positive global image in the process. Having such an institute should not be treated as a luxury: it plays an important role in generating much needed knowledge and expertise in a rapidly changing world. If implemented, the planned closure would lead to a serious impoverishment of the US academic landscape and to the irreversible disappearance of a prestigious centre of learning at a time when it is most needed. The President, the board members and the Advisory Board members of the European Association for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) www.escas.org
Associate Professor of History, University of Wyoming The special collections housed by SRIFIAS have been open to scholars for decades, and I had the opportunity to use that collection while I was doing dissertation research. I showed up, unexpectedly, but the staff (back when there was staff, in the early 1990s) let me in, and I was able to access rare materials useful to my research. I also ran into another scholar, the eminent Turkologist Dr. Ingeborg Baldauf, who happened to be in Bloomington using the SRIFIAS collection at the same time. SRIFIAS is unique within the United States. For scholars studying these areas of the world, we know there is one collection that is more likely to house important materials than any other library or collection in the US, and that is SRIFIAS. When thinking about the disposition of my own collection of research materials at the end of my career, I have long planned to deposit them as SRIFIAS, specifically so that they will be available to other scholars in a reliable, ongoing, findable way. If there is no more SRIFIAS, then obviously, I will not be able to do that, and neither will the other Central Eurasia scholars out there. This collection is far more than a room in Indiana: it is a trust held for scholars worldwide. I urge you in the strongest terms not to abandon Indiana University's decades of support to this very unusual area of study. I urge you to provide support and funding for rehousing the SRIFIAS collection in a way that will continue to ensure its accessibility to scholars.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 500 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
For the memory of one of the greatest scholars on Inner Asia (Eurasia) Prof. Denis Sinor, SRIFIAS should be kept alive at Indiana University also to mark the leading role that Indiana University has played for more than half century on Inner Asian Studies and the PIAC around the world thanks to Prof. Sinor.