Frequently Asked Questions.
If you have a question that isn't answered here, we'd be glad to answer it for you! Simply contact us via email at hmml@hmml.org.
What is HMML?
The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), located at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, has created the world's largest archive of manuscript photographs in both microfilm and digital format. HMML staff travel the world to identify important manuscript libraries that need photographic preservation. HMML's archives now contain more than 140,000 complete manuscripts, totaling more than 50,000,000 manuscript pages.
What do you mean by 'manuscript'?
Normally HMML works with handwritten texts, or collections of texts, bound into book form. HMML has also worked with archival documents in other formats, especially in Malta and India. Whereas printed books exist in multiple copies, every manuscript is a unique creation. Even if copying a common text, the manuscript will often bear information about its owners, about its scribe, or about important events in the places associated with it. The binding itself can say much about the culture that produced it.
When was HMML founded and why?
HMML was founded in 1965 as the “Monastic Microfilm Library” to photograph Benedictine monastic libraries in Austria and Germany. With memories of World War II still vivid, and fearing the outbreak of nuclear war in Europe, the monks of Saint John's Abbey were worried that Benedictine patrimony would be destroyed. The project quickly spread beyond Benedictine and religious libraries, however, and soon beyond Europe. A major project began in Ethiopia in the 1970s, and since 2003, HMML has been working also in the Middle East and India. The name has changed over the years to include the name of the Hill family, who provided key support in HMML’s early years, and most recently in 2005 to its current name in recognition of HMML’s care and display of The Saint John’s Bible and the rare book and art collections of Saint John’s University and to make more explicit that HMML photographs not only monastic manuscripts, but all kinds of important handwritten materials.
What is HMML's current mission?
The primary mission of HMML is to preserve the contents of endangered manuscripts through high-quality digital photography. HMML also photographs remote or inaccessible manuscript collections that may not be in immediate danger in order to provide scholarly access to them. By cataloging the manuscripts and making copies available to scholars, HMML encourages research on manuscripts and the cultures that produced them. HMML's collections of rare and reference works, prints and art objects, including the folios of The Saint John's Bible, support study of the book arts, traditional and modern religious art, and related fields.
Is HMML conducting imaging work now?
HMML is currently carrying out preservation projects in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. See our Field Work page.
I've heard stories of HMML's staff spending years in Europe photographing manuscripts. Is this still going on?
At one time HMML sent Benedictine field directors from Saint John’s Abbey to live on site to supervise microfilm projects. HMML now works entirely through local teams. HMML provides equipment, training, payment for imaging work, and technical support. Thanks to modern communications technology, HMML can maintain much closer contact with each field project than was possible in the days when airmail was the typical medium. HMML also has regional field directors who provide closer supervision where needed. HMML staff travel regularly throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia to monitor progress on current projects and to locate new collections for digitization.
How does HMML decide which manuscripts to preserve?
Preserve manuscripts from what?
Most manuscripts have not survived the ravages of time. Fire, natural disasters, persecution, political upheaval, technological change, and neglect have been the principal historic threats. In recent times, manuscripts have become targets for theft or illegal export, especially in developing countries. HMML microfilmed many manuscripts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s that are now in European or North American collections. Most of those manuscripts should never have left Ethiopia.
Why preserve photographs of manuscripts?
In the past, western museums, libraries, and private collectors acquired manuscripts from the Middle East, Ethiopia, and other regions by means that would be considered illegal or at least unethical today. Entire libraries were alienated from their original communities. HMML believes that manuscripts should remain in their communities and countries of origin. High-quality digital imaging ensures that the contents of manuscripts, including even minor details, will be preserved for centuries to come and readily available for research.
How does HMML support itself?
HMML is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization. Our mission is to rescue and preserve historic handwritten cultural materials. HMML is supported by the generosity of the foundations and individual donors who support its mission. Service fees charged to scholars for copies of manuscripts constitute only about 1% of HMML's annual revenue.
Why should a library allow HMML to digitize its manuscripts? Won’t that diminish their value?
HMML’s digitization work provides an insurance policy for the owners, who know that the contents of their manuscripts will be preserved even in case of loss or damage to the originals. HMML’s photographs can also provide proof of ownership in case of theft. Providing scholarly access to manuscripts raises awareness of the owning institution or community. Deeper study of the manuscripts increases their significance and value.
Who owns the publication rights for the manuscript images?
HMML signs a contract with each owning library reserving publication and commercial rights for the images to the owners of the manuscripts. The goal is to provide free access for researchers while honoring the rights of the owning libraries. Researchers may have access to the images in the following ways: 1) they may consult the images on-site at HMML; 2) HMML may make images of complete manuscripts available to researchers off-site via password-protected web-based galleries or on CDs, once the applicant has agreed to conditions of use reserving publication and commercial rights to the owners of the original manuscripts; 3) HMML may place sample images on its website as a complement to cataloging data in OLIVER, HMML's online manuscript catalog. If scholars wish to publish images, HMML will facilitate contact with the owning library.
Is HMML still using microfilm?
HMML began its work in 1965 using bi-tonal microfilm, and made the transition to color digital imaging in 2003. Digital imaging offers greater cost-efficiency in production as well as photographs that are much more useful than microfilm because they are in color and are taken at a much higher resolution. Digital images can also be made available to scholars across the world much more easily than microfilm.
Will HMML digitize its microfilm collection?
HMML digitizes microfilms on demand for scholars but has no plans for a comprehensive digitization campaign for the microfilm collection.
How long will the digital images last?
For all of its advantages, digital imaging does pose the challenge of long-term archiving and retrieval. Storage media change (floppy disks to diskettes to CDs to DVDs to flash drives to….). HMML has a long-term archiving plan, and regularly refreshes its digital data, backing it up in multiple media stored in several locations both on- and off-site.
Can researchers get copies of the manuscripts in HMML's collection?
Yes. Scholars can view up to three complete manuscripts at a time for free on password-protected online galleries. They can also order copies of manuscripts on CD. These images are provided in a resolution suitable for close study of the manuscript. To obtain copies of images in highest resolution or permission to publish images requires the permission of the owning library.
Is HMML a religious institution?
HMML is part of Saint John's University, a liberal arts institution of higher education sponsored by the Benedictine monks of Saint John's Abbey. As part of this Benedictine tradition, HMML extends a welcome to all visitors, and supports scholarship by those of all religious traditions or none.
Does HMML photograph Muslim or Jewish manuscripts?
While HMML's holdings are primarily related to Christian cultures of east and west, HMML also holds thousands of Islamic manuscripts and is actively engaged in projects with Islamic libraries. Much of HMML's work has been in places of historic cultural interaction among various religious traditions. HMML’s holdings have abundant material on relations between Christians, Muslims, and Jews (in Spain, Malta, the Middle East, Ethiopia) or Christians, Hindus, and Muslims (India). Although there are Hebrew manuscripts in HMML’s collections, all known Hebrew manuscripts in the world have already been photographed by a project based at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.
We have a manuscript collection that we'd like HMML to photograph for preservation purposes. How do we pursue that possibility?
Your manuscript collection is a suitable candidate for HMML to preserve if:
The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), located at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, has created the world's largest archive of manuscript photographs in both microfilm and digital format. HMML staff travel the world to identify important manuscript libraries that need photographic preservation. HMML's archives now contain more than 140,000 complete manuscripts, totaling more than 50,000,000 manuscript pages.
What do you mean by 'manuscript'?
Normally HMML works with handwritten texts, or collections of texts, bound into book form. HMML has also worked with archival documents in other formats, especially in Malta and India. Whereas printed books exist in multiple copies, every manuscript is a unique creation. Even if copying a common text, the manuscript will often bear information about its owners, about its scribe, or about important events in the places associated with it. The binding itself can say much about the culture that produced it.
When was HMML founded and why?
HMML was founded in 1965 as the “Monastic Microfilm Library” to photograph Benedictine monastic libraries in Austria and Germany. With memories of World War II still vivid, and fearing the outbreak of nuclear war in Europe, the monks of Saint John's Abbey were worried that Benedictine patrimony would be destroyed. The project quickly spread beyond Benedictine and religious libraries, however, and soon beyond Europe. A major project began in Ethiopia in the 1970s, and since 2003, HMML has been working also in the Middle East and India. The name has changed over the years to include the name of the Hill family, who provided key support in HMML’s early years, and most recently in 2005 to its current name in recognition of HMML’s care and display of The Saint John’s Bible and the rare book and art collections of Saint John’s University and to make more explicit that HMML photographs not only monastic manuscripts, but all kinds of important handwritten materials.
What is HMML's current mission?
The primary mission of HMML is to preserve the contents of endangered manuscripts through high-quality digital photography. HMML also photographs remote or inaccessible manuscript collections that may not be in immediate danger in order to provide scholarly access to them. By cataloging the manuscripts and making copies available to scholars, HMML encourages research on manuscripts and the cultures that produced them. HMML's collections of rare and reference works, prints and art objects, including the folios of The Saint John's Bible, support study of the book arts, traditional and modern religious art, and related fields.
Is HMML conducting imaging work now?
HMML is currently carrying out preservation projects in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. See our Field Work page.
I've heard stories of HMML's staff spending years in Europe photographing manuscripts. Is this still going on?
At one time HMML sent Benedictine field directors from Saint John’s Abbey to live on site to supervise microfilm projects. HMML now works entirely through local teams. HMML provides equipment, training, payment for imaging work, and technical support. Thanks to modern communications technology, HMML can maintain much closer contact with each field project than was possible in the days when airmail was the typical medium. HMML also has regional field directors who provide closer supervision where needed. HMML staff travel regularly throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia to monitor progress on current projects and to locate new collections for digitization.
How does HMML decide which manuscripts to preserve?
- HMML applies the following criteria when deciding to pursue a specific project:
- Level of risk to the manuscripts
- Likelihood of obtaining permission to photograph the collection
- Historical and cultural importance of the collection
- "Fit" with HMML's other holdings
- Quantity of material likely to be acquired
Preserve manuscripts from what?
Most manuscripts have not survived the ravages of time. Fire, natural disasters, persecution, political upheaval, technological change, and neglect have been the principal historic threats. In recent times, manuscripts have become targets for theft or illegal export, especially in developing countries. HMML microfilmed many manuscripts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s that are now in European or North American collections. Most of those manuscripts should never have left Ethiopia.
Why preserve photographs of manuscripts?
In the past, western museums, libraries, and private collectors acquired manuscripts from the Middle East, Ethiopia, and other regions by means that would be considered illegal or at least unethical today. Entire libraries were alienated from their original communities. HMML believes that manuscripts should remain in their communities and countries of origin. High-quality digital imaging ensures that the contents of manuscripts, including even minor details, will be preserved for centuries to come and readily available for research.
How does HMML support itself?
HMML is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization. Our mission is to rescue and preserve historic handwritten cultural materials. HMML is supported by the generosity of the foundations and individual donors who support its mission. Service fees charged to scholars for copies of manuscripts constitute only about 1% of HMML's annual revenue.
Why should a library allow HMML to digitize its manuscripts? Won’t that diminish their value?
HMML’s digitization work provides an insurance policy for the owners, who know that the contents of their manuscripts will be preserved even in case of loss or damage to the originals. HMML’s photographs can also provide proof of ownership in case of theft. Providing scholarly access to manuscripts raises awareness of the owning institution or community. Deeper study of the manuscripts increases their significance and value.
Who owns the publication rights for the manuscript images?
HMML signs a contract with each owning library reserving publication and commercial rights for the images to the owners of the manuscripts. The goal is to provide free access for researchers while honoring the rights of the owning libraries. Researchers may have access to the images in the following ways: 1) they may consult the images on-site at HMML; 2) HMML may make images of complete manuscripts available to researchers off-site via password-protected web-based galleries or on CDs, once the applicant has agreed to conditions of use reserving publication and commercial rights to the owners of the original manuscripts; 3) HMML may place sample images on its website as a complement to cataloging data in OLIVER, HMML's online manuscript catalog. If scholars wish to publish images, HMML will facilitate contact with the owning library.
Is HMML still using microfilm?
HMML began its work in 1965 using bi-tonal microfilm, and made the transition to color digital imaging in 2003. Digital imaging offers greater cost-efficiency in production as well as photographs that are much more useful than microfilm because they are in color and are taken at a much higher resolution. Digital images can also be made available to scholars across the world much more easily than microfilm.
Will HMML digitize its microfilm collection?
HMML digitizes microfilms on demand for scholars but has no plans for a comprehensive digitization campaign for the microfilm collection.
How long will the digital images last?
For all of its advantages, digital imaging does pose the challenge of long-term archiving and retrieval. Storage media change (floppy disks to diskettes to CDs to DVDs to flash drives to….). HMML has a long-term archiving plan, and regularly refreshes its digital data, backing it up in multiple media stored in several locations both on- and off-site.
Can researchers get copies of the manuscripts in HMML's collection?
Yes. Scholars can view up to three complete manuscripts at a time for free on password-protected online galleries. They can also order copies of manuscripts on CD. These images are provided in a resolution suitable for close study of the manuscript. To obtain copies of images in highest resolution or permission to publish images requires the permission of the owning library.
Is HMML a religious institution?
HMML is part of Saint John's University, a liberal arts institution of higher education sponsored by the Benedictine monks of Saint John's Abbey. As part of this Benedictine tradition, HMML extends a welcome to all visitors, and supports scholarship by those of all religious traditions or none.
Does HMML photograph Muslim or Jewish manuscripts?
While HMML's holdings are primarily related to Christian cultures of east and west, HMML also holds thousands of Islamic manuscripts and is actively engaged in projects with Islamic libraries. Much of HMML's work has been in places of historic cultural interaction among various religious traditions. HMML’s holdings have abundant material on relations between Christians, Muslims, and Jews (in Spain, Malta, the Middle East, Ethiopia) or Christians, Hindus, and Muslims (India). Although there are Hebrew manuscripts in HMML’s collections, all known Hebrew manuscripts in the world have already been photographed by a project based at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.
We have a manuscript collection that we'd like HMML to photograph for preservation purposes. How do we pursue that possibility?
Your manuscript collection is a suitable candidate for HMML to preserve if:
- It is a pre-modern manuscript collection of historic importance.
- It is coherent with HMML's other collections and expertise.
- You allow HMML to make the manuscript images available to qualified scholars, while reserving publication and commercial rights to your own institution.