Research Institute for the Study of Man (RISM) 

Two important elements of the RISM Collections have been located in the University Archives on Bobst Library’s 10^th floor: the RISM Vertical File and the RISM Research Collections and Archives.

The Vertical File

Compiled by RISM’s librarians, the Vertical Files organized by subject consist of 6,397 items, including short papers, reprints, photocopies of articles not held in the RISM journal collection, original and unpublished manuscripts, overnment documents, speeches, reports, political broadsides, tracts, and assorted print materials that provide significant supplemental research information. A database was created by RISM librarians, which allows searching of the Vertical File collection, and this will be loaded shortly by NYU Libraries as a MARC database hosted on the site of NYU’s BobCat integrated library system. A cataloging record in BobCat will describe and link to this separate vertical file database, and links to the vertical file database will appear in appropriate places on the NYU Library's website.

In the course of processing the RISM Collections for transfer to NYU, it was determined that many Vertical File items merited removal from the File and treatment with full cataloging. The NYU catalogers and the Latin American Librarian identified 463 items for such treatment. These materials have been given standard bibliographic description, access points, subject headings and call numbers. They have received all necessary conservation treatment, been bound and plated with the RISM bookplate, integrated into BobCat and shelved with the NYU cataloged collections. Of these cataloged items, 395 have been located in the Bobst Stacks, 65 in the Tamiment Library, and 3 in the Fales Library/Special Collections. The contents of the remainder of the Vertical File have been re-housed in acid-free folders and are located in the University Archives, accessible through the Vertical File database and servicedby University Archives staff.

The RISM Research Collections and Archives

The RISM Research Collections and Archives, dating from 1947 to 1985, include materials related to the 1947 Puerto Rico Project, the Research Training Program for the Study of Man in the Tropics (RTPSMT), a project established at Columbia University under the auspices of the Department of Anthropology, 1955-1957, and the Center for Haitian Studies, 1967-1970, which was transferred to the University of Montreal under the direction of Professor Guy Dubreuil. The materials also document basic research projects in collaboration with scholars and institutions within and outside the United States. Records of training programs for field workers in the social sciences, unpublished conference materials, and professional papers of RISM Fellows are also a part of the Archives. In some cases, there are related photographic, audio, video, and film materials.

The Research Collections and Archives are composed of several elements: the Research Collections, which documents projects conducted in connection with RISM during the period 1947 to 1980; the Training Programs, which document two programs conducted between 1955 and 1961; the Conference and Symposium Papers, which document conferences and symposia held in association with RISM between 1956 and 1984; and the Professional Papers, which document the professional activities of Carl Withers, Vera D. Rubin and Sula Benet.

The Research Collections are:

• The Puerto Rico Project, 1947-50
• The Study of the Aspirations of Youth in a Developing Society (The Trinidad Study), 1957, 1961
• Medical Students Survey, 1960
• Caribbean Mental Health Census
• Peace Corps-Studyman Bolivia, U.S. Peace Corps, 1964-1968
• Inter-University Consortium for Training in the Caribbean, 1966-1969
• Study of Chronic Marihuana Users in Jamaica (The Ganja Project), 1970-1975
• Cultural Factors in Population Program (Population Studies), 1973-1977
• Sociocultural and Psychological Factors in Longevity: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Aging and Longevity (Longevity Project), 1973-1985
• Anthropological Research and Greek Hashish Users (The Greek Hashish Study), 1976-1980

The Training Program Materials, 1955- c. 1961, are:

• Seminar Materials for the Research Training Program for the Study of Man in the Tropics, 1955-1957
• The Jamaica Peace Corps Training Project, c. 1961

The Conference and Symposium Papers, 1956-1984, are:

• First Inter-American Conference on Caribbean Research, 1956
• Plantation Systems in the New World, 1957
• Social and Cultural Pluralism in the Caribbean, 1959
• Culture, Society and Health, 1960
• Political Sociology of the British Caribbean, 1961
• Research and Resources of Haiti, 1967
• Culture and Développement en Haiti, 1970
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Cannabis, 1973
• Comparative Perspectives on Slavery in New World Plantation Societies, 1976
• Sociocultural and Psychological Factors in Longevity: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Aging and Longevity (Longevity Project), 1981
• Sociocultural and Psychological Factors in Longevity: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Aging and Longevity (Longevity Project), 1982
• New Perspectives on Caribbean Studies: Toward the 21^st Century, 1984

The Professional Papers, 1947-1985, are:

• Carl Withers, Ph.D. (1900-1970) – Period covered: 1947-1969
• Vera D. Rubin, Ph.D. (1911-1985) – Period covered: 1951-1985
• Sula Benet, Ph.D. (1903-1982) – Period covered:c. 1970-1976