Library Description      תיאור הספריה

Related library pages
Library Photographs    camera    תמונות מהספריה
Art in the library      אמנות בספריה
Main reading hall: Layout (by shelf number)      מפת הספריה

Page contents:

Library's location and plan      מיקום ותיאור הספריה

How to reach us How to reach us: Map of the Edmond J. Safra campus (Givat-Ram) and directions to the Einstein Institute of Mathematics.

The library is located on the ground and first floors in the Manchester House, Einstein Institute of Mathematics in the Edmond J. Safra campus (Givat-Ram).

The entrance to the library is one floor up. Its main reading hall [Layout] [photographs] is an impressive piece of architecture, with high ceiling and wood panels.
The library's plan:

  1. The ground floor:
    • Mathematics and Computer Science rooms:
      • The Periodicals:
        The current periodicals are mainly on the ground floor in 2 rooms:
        1. Computer science periodicals (bound and unbound issues)
        2. Mathematics periodicals (bound and unbound issues).
        The periodicals are organized alphabetically by title.
      • Technical Reports & Preprints in computer science:
        • Technical reports from the Hebrew University, Computer Science Institute, are located in the adjacent computer science room on the wall, following the computer science periodicals.
          Related library pages: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem web sites (includes lists of online technical reports & preprints)
      • PhD Dissertations: Hebrew University:
        1. Einstein Institute of Mathematics, are located in the entrance area in front of the stairs.
        2. Computer Science Institute, are located in the adjacent computer science room on the wall, following the computer science periodicals.
        Related web pages:
        חיפוש במדריך האלקטרוני של נושאי עבודות הדוקטור באוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים
        Search engine for PhD Dissertations at the Hebrew University (in Hebrew)
      • Graduate Dissertations: Hebrew University, Mathematics and Computer Science institutes.
      • Group study room
      • Technical aides:
        • Network printer (for registered users only)
        • Computer stations (Terminal services)
        • Network ports (and electricity) for laptop internet access
        • Wireless access
        Related library pages: Computer resources

    • The adjacent room:
      • Technical Reports & Preprints in Mathematics:
        • Preprints from the Hebrew University, Mathematics Institute and the last 3 years of selected other Mathematics departments.
        Related library pages: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem web sites (includes lists of online technical reports & preprints)
      • Landau reprint collection.    For more information see: History
      • Mathematical Reviews (partial)
      • Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Springer-Verlag)
        Related library pages: Library list of selected LNCS conferences.

  2. The entrance floor:
    • The reception hall:
      • Display dedicated to Edmund Landau
        • Rare book display
      • Quilt / Annamaria Brenti
      • Plaque dedicated to the supporters of the mathematics and computer science library
      • "Book return" box (left of the library door). Books can be returned there after library hours.

    • The entrance area:    [photograph]
      • Rare book display
      • Mathematical models display
      • Bag check
      • New books shelf
        Related library pages: New Books and Acquisition - FAQ
      • שנתונים ישנים - Shnaton (old annual course schedules) - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
        The shnaton is no longer available in print. Please refer to the online version:
        • שנתון  /  האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים      (Shnaton: annual course schedule)  /  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
        • שנתון  /  הפקולטה למתמטיקה ולמדעי הטבע      (Shnaton: annual course schedule)  /  Faculty of science

      • Circulation Desk and librarian's work area

    • The display of current periodical issues    [photograph] Several paintings by former library director Katja Mosnaim (1923-2005) are on display in this area.

    • The reading rooms:
      • The main reading hall [Layout]:
        The main reading hall is set up for wireless access.
        Related library pages: Computer resources
        • Computer stations
        • Card Catalog (library's collection until 1996)
          Related library pages: Online Catalog Contents
        • Annual volumes of exams held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (located in the middle shelves):
          Mathematics 1976- (red volumes)
          Computer science 1974- (green volumes)
          Mathematics for non-mathematicians 1976- (blue volumes)
          Applied physics 2006- (brown volumes)
          Related web pages:
          Exams database - מאגר בחינות / הפקולטה למדעי הטבע
          Student Union - בנק הבחינות והסיכומים / אגודת הסטודנטים למדעי הטבע, גבעת רם
          Exams collection (in Hebrew) - אוסף בחינות / The Programming Instruction Unit
        • Mathematics books (Classification no.00-71)
          • Handbooks: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks and Tables (located in the middle shelves)
          • 00-01 Congresses, Special Collection (located in the middle shelves)
          • 02 Collected works, Letters (Organized on the top shelves around the library).
        • Mathematical Reviews (MathSciNet)
          • Vols.: 1940-1988 (1989-2001 are in the adjacent room on the ground floor).
          • Author and Subject Indexes
        • Reserved books in Computer Science (located in the middle shelves)

      • The Adjacent rooms:
        • Mathematics books (classification no.71-109)
        • Computer Science books

  3. The archive (Basement):
    • Periodicals (older volumes)
    • Books & tables (older volumes)
    • PhD dissertations from other countries
Collections in the HUfind catalog
Finding the location of collections by the code listed in the catalog
Collection Location Description
General collections
Math Books Entrance floor - Main reading hall
(continues into Adjacent rooms 1-2)
CS Books Entrance floor - Adjacent rooms 2-3
CS Reserves Entrance floor - Main reading hall
1st shelf in the middle of the hall 		Reserved books in Computer Science (overnight loan)
Special collections
Rare Entrance floor - entrance area Rare book display
Desk Entrance floor - entrance area - Circulation desk CD-ROM and diskettes kept at the librarian's desk
Reference Entrance floor - Main reading hall
2nd and 3rd shelves in the middle of the hall 		Bibliographies, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks and Tables, Videos
CS Room3 Ground floor - adjacent room Springer-Verlag book series: Lecture notes in computer science /
Lecture notes in artificial intelligence
Books Basement Basement Books archive in mathematics and computer science
Dissertations
Theses Math Ground floor PhD & Graduate Dissertations in mathematics
Theses CS Ground floor PhD & Graduate Dissertations in computer science
Periodicals
Stacks-math Ground floor Periodicals in mathematics (including: Contemporary Mathematics)
Stacks-CS Ground floor Periodicals in computer science
Basement-MATH Basement Periodical archive in mathematics
Basement-CS Basement Periodical archive in computer science

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General information      מידע כללי

The Mathematics and Computer Science Library was originally founded as the Mathematics Library in 1925. It houses collections in mathematics and computer science containing over 800 periodicals and serials, more than 400 of which are current (a total of 40,000 volumes), 35,000 titles of books (a total of 38,000 volumes), technical reports and preprints issued by the Hebrew University Einstein Institute of Mathematics and the School of Computer Science & Engineering, doctoral theses, and a special collection of 16,000 reprints in mathematics (contains about 6,000 authors), dating from the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Related web pages: Virtual display of books written by Einstein Institute of Mathematics members:      books in English       books in Hebrew

Material relating to computer science was added to the library in the early 1970's and holdings in this field (periodicals in particular) have grown at a rapid pace.

The library has a world-wide reputation, matching the reputation of both the Einstein Institute of Mathematics (Institute prize laureates) and the School of Computer Science & Engineering and is the finest and most complete of its kind in Israel and the Middle East. The Einstein Institute of Mathematics has hosted many visitors over the years who use the library during their visit and have often commented on the richness of the book and journal collection.

Over the years, several large collections have been bequeathed to the library. Notable among them is the collection of Felix Klein, the famous German mathematician which contains old books from the 19th century and some manuscripts in Klein's handwriting. On display in the reception hall are a number of rare books, including Hebrew texts, some dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. Recently, important letters documenting Edmund Landau's years at the Hebrew University sixty years ago, were donated to the library, and are shown in a display dedicated to Landau in the reception hall.

The Mathematics-Computer Science Library serves 1,600 students in the faculty of mathematics and natural sciences, and several hundred graduate students. It also serves researchers at the Hebrew University and from all over Israel, and visitors from abroad. During the semester, several thousand books and periodicals are loaned every week. The library is run by a staff of 3 librarians.

Computerized services in the library:
Library administrator: Naavah Levin
email:    jmclib at savion.huji.ac.il
Tel.6584500, 6584820

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Library's history      תולדות הספריה

The Mathematics and Computer Science Library was originally founded as the Mathematics Library.
1925    Foundation of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics
The Mathematics Institute was founded in conjunction with the opening celebrations of the Hebrew University on April 1, 1925. Ground breaking for the Mathematics Institute was held one day prior, on March 31, 1925. Plans for a mathematics library were included in the original plan.
Click here for more information on the foundation and history of the Hebrew University (in Hebrew):
תולדות האוניברסיטה  /  פרויקט תולדות האוניברסיטה העברית

The establishment of the Mathematics Institute was decided upon by the Board of Governors at its meeting at Münich in September 1925.
The task of founding the Institute was assigned to Prof. Edmund Landau, who until that time was a professor in the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Prof. Landau's work in founding the Institute was continued by Prof. Amira, Prof. Fekete, Prof. Fraenkel & Prof. Levitzki.

1926    Foundation of the Mathematics Library
In 1926, Prof. Binyamin Amira was appointed as an assistant to Prof. Landau to supervise the building of the institute, direct the purchase and collection of books and reprints and arrange the library.
Related web pages: Edmund Landau and the Hebrew University

The Felix Klein collection
Prof. Landau initiated the purchase of the collection of Felix Klein, from the university of Göttingen, which was bought from his widow with the help of the Wattenberg donation. Prof. Amira arranged for shipping the collection before Prof. Landau's arrival in October 1927.
Felix Klein who died in 1925 was one of the most important, famous German mathematicians of the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th. His Collection contains about 3000 volumes which include old books from the 19th century, a large periodical collection and some manuscripts in Klein's handwriting. It also included some Schilling models of surfaces (in plaster).
The Klein collection formed the basis for the mathematics library and is the main source for its excellent historical collection.

1928-1948    The Philip Wattenburg building
Between 1928-1948, the library [photographs] was located in the Philip Wattenburg building on Mount Scopus.

1935-1955    Early management - Dr. Baruch Germansky
During 1935-1955 Dr. Baruch Germansky was the library's director.
More information on the Past library directors

At first, Prof. Amira continued as library academic committee on behalf of the Einstein Institute.
Later, this position was held by Prof. Menahem Max Schiffer (Prof. Fekete's PhD student and Einstein Institute lecturer, 1934-1946).

The Landau reprint collection
note01 Shortly before his death in 1938, Prof. Landau arranged to send a collection of his (and other authors') article reprints to the library. This collection formed the basis for the library's historical reprint collection.
Between 1949-1967, the Landau reprint collection was organized and added to, in order to continue to have access to some of the articles (since the researchers were unable to access the library on Mount Scopus).
In Oct. 2000, the collection had been moved from the basement in the Manchester House and rearranged. The collection is arranged in the room adjacent to the math periodicals in the library's ground floor. The 332 Boxes (containing about 16,000 reprints) are arranged by author. Each box has a list attached to it of the authors it contains. An index list of about 6,000 authors arranged by box number is available.
1948-1967    The library collection between the War of Independence and the Six-Day War
During the war of independence, the researchers were unable to reach the library on Mount Scopus. It became very difficult to obtain material from it. Occasionally, someone would go with the armored convoy to Mount Scopus in order to bring material from the library.

1950-1957    The institute moved to the north annex of the King David Hotel.

During this period, a new respectable library was compiled. In addition, the researchers made use of the Landau reprint collection.

1954-1981    Ms. Katja Mosnaim, library's director.

1982-2013    Ms. Gila Manusovich-Shamir, library's director.

More information on the Past library directors

1958/9-    The Manchester House
Since 1958/9, the library is located in the Manchester House, Einstein Institute of Mathematics in the Edmond J. Safra Campus (Givat Ram). This building and its library were built in 1957 and its architects were Heinz Rau and David Reznik (They also designed the Israel Goldstein Synagogue in the Edmond J. Safra Campus).
Heinz Rau also designed the synagogue and original classroom and administrative buildings of the Jerusalem Campus of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in 1963.
David Reznik taught at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and was actively involved the shaping of Jerusalem's skyline as we know it today. He was one of the designers of the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus and is the recipient of the 1995 Israel Prize of Architecture and the Teddy Kollek Life Achievement Award for 2004.
The library's main reading hall [Layout] [photographs] was dedicated by the Manchester jewish community to Sir Simon Marks, in appreciation of his great services and generosity to the jewish people.
In 1995 a new wing was added to the old reading halls in the entrance floor. This new wing extends to the ground floor, and contains all the current periodicals. The architect for these renovations was Zeev Ravina.

1960's-    The library's classification system
During Dr. Baruch Germansky's term as librarian, the books were shelved by the order they arrived in the library. Along with Germansky's successor, Ms. Katja Mosnaim, Prof. Michael Rabin rearranged the library by mathematical subjects in the early 1960's, during his term as library academic committee on behalf of the Mathematics Institute. The library's classification system was developed locally for the specific needs of its users, and is maintained and updated by staff members.
The computer science classification was later adapted from the 1964 ACM Computing Classification System.

1970's-    The computer science collection
The library's collection in computer science began developing within the Mathematics library since the early 1970's, and the library became the Mathematics and Computer Science Library.

Computer Science first developed within the Institute of Mathematics. An independent Institute of Computer Science was inaugurated in 1992. From October 1999, the institute has become the Selim and Rachel Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering. Since the School of Engineering is a new framework at the Hebrew University, it has been decided to open teaching and research fields, while taking into account the current needs of economy with a view towards the future, with a strong emphasis on system and software as a basis for modern engineering disciplines.
For more information, see: background and history of the School of Computer Science and Engineering.

Administrative affiliation
Until 1997 the library was an integral part of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics (and later of the Institute of Computer Science as well).
Between 1998-2003, it was under the administrative responsibility of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science.
Starting Oct. 2003, the Hebrew University Library Authority was established. The new authority centrally administers all the HUJI libraries.
Past Library Directors:

Period of office
1935-1955 Dr. Baruch Germansky (1905-1978)
Atom Dr. Germansky was born in Tighina (then Russia, now Bender, Moldova), in 1905. He received a zionist upbringing and was educated in Hebrew. His family moved to Romania in 1917.
1922-1928    Emigrated to Berlin, and studied electrical engineering between 1923-1928.
1928-1931    Received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics and mathematics in Frankfurt am Main. His advisor was the German physicist, Erwin Madelung.
1931-1933    Worked at the Technische Universität, Berlin, for 2 years as a teaching assistant in applied mathematics.
1933    Following the Hitler's rise to power, he emigrated to Palestine. In Palestine he worked as a teacher for 2 years.
1935    Became a lab assistant at the Hebrew University and the director of the mathematics library.

Dr. Germansky authored several articles in mathematics and physics in German, English, French and Hebrew. His articles were published in journals such as: Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., Z. Math. Logik Grundlagen Math., Journal of Symbolic Logic, C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, and Riveon Lematematika.
Books by Germansky in German and Hebrew are available in the National Library of Israel.

1954-1981 Katja Mosnaim (1923-2005)
cat Ms. Mosnaim was born in Berlin, Germany on Aug. 17th, 1923. In 1933, when she was 10 years old, she and her parents emigrated to Palestine. She grew up in Tel-Aviv and graduated from the "Herzliya" - Hebrew High School. Her mathematics teacher was Dr. Baruch Ben-Yehuda. Following high school, she spent a year's service on kibbutz Degania Aleph and then moved to Jerusalem.
1948    Joined the war effort and worked at the Photogrammetric Institute drawing maps based on aerial photographs.
1949    Studied history, philosophy and mathematics at the Hebrew University.
In 1953, She began working in the Mathematics Institute as a librarian and administrative secretary of the institute (it was still located in the north annex of the King David Hotel). Subsequently, She became the director of the mathematics library, until she retired in 1981.
Katja Mosnaim passed away on May 3rd, 2005   כ"ד בניסן, תשס"ה


Like in many small mathematics departments, the library became the scientific and social center for students and staff. Katja, with her redhead temperament, added color and humor to the cozy atmosphere.
Katja loved painting nature and landscapes and spent many hours painting outdoors with friends. The library received several of her paintings after her death and they are displayed in different places in the library, including the display corridor of current periodical issues.


 Memory in Color: an exhibition in memory of Katja Mosnaim was held between May 19th - June 15th, 2006 at the Belgium House (Beit Belgia).

The library has produced a booklet in Katja's memory. Many of her friends, colleagues and faculty members have shared their memories and thoughts for this publication. (April 2006)


35mm film Photographs:
1982-2013 Gila Manusovich-Shamir
rose 1975    Graduated B.Sc. in philosophy at the Haifa University.
1977    Began working in the Mathematics library as a librarian, during her studies at the Hebrew University School of Library Sciences.
1982    Became director of the mathematics library, until she retired in 2013.

Timeline

Year Management Library location Collection development
1926/7 Foundation of the Mathematics Library :
Prof. Binyamin Amira
1927    The Felix Klein collection
1928 1928-1948    The Philip Wattenburg building, Mount Scopus Campus
1935 1935-1955    Dr. Baruch Germansky
Library academic committee: Prof. Amira, Prof. Schiffer (and others)
1938 1938    The Landau reprint collection
1948 1948-1967    Replacement collection between the War of Independence and the Six-Day War
1950 1950-1957    The north annex of the King David Hotel
1954/5 1954-1981    Ms. Katja Mosnaim
Library academic committee: Various Einstein Institute faculty members
1958/9 1958/9-    The Manchester House, Giv'at Ram Campus (Later Edmond J. Safra Campus)

1970's    Room added for computer science collection.

1995    New wing for periodicals added on the ground floor.

2013    Entrance area renewed with new carpet and library detection system.

2014    Ground floor room converted for group study. Wireless access added

2016    Electric sockets added to the tables in the main reading hall

1960's 1960's-    The library's classification system
Developed with Prof. Rabin
1970's 1970's-    The computer science collection
1982 1982-2013    Ms. Gila Manusovich-Shamir
Library academic committee: Various Einstein Institute and computer science faculty members

2014-    Ms. Naavah Levin


1990's Online catalog
First electronic journals
2000's 2000's-    Engineering books added to the computer science collection
Most of the journal subscriptions switched to electronic
2010's

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Last updated: Dec. 25th, 2014