In early 2011, the UCR Library acquired the McLeod Collection of Sikh Studies from the widow of William Hewat “Hew” McLeod, a New Zealand scholar who wrote many books and essays about Sikh history, theology, and cultural identity.

This collection contains nearly 2,000 volumes devoted to topics including Sikh religion, culture, art, and history. Kuei Chiu, Head of Collection Development Department, oversaw the intake and Manuel Urrizola, Head of Metadata and Technical Services oversaw the cataloging of these items for the Library.

About half of McLeod’s collection is written in English, while the remainder are in Punjabi. UCR Library’s Music Cataloger Diane David and Serials Cataloging Librarian Sharon Scott completed cataloging of the English-language volumes six months after their initial receipt. The English items in the McLeod collection were immediately available for use.

The items in the Punjabi language were cataloged by external vendor Backstage, in collaboration with Librarian and Metadata and Technical Services Department Head Manuel Urrizola and Library Assistants Jim Clark and Cynthia “Kit” Rembert.

The entire collection was available for study and research by 2015.

With the exciting announcement by the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) of their Harkeerat and Deepta Dhillon Endowed Research Award for Sikh and Punjabi Studies in the Arts and Humanities, the Library looks forward to seeing an influx of visitors to the McLeod collection.

The Dhillon family’s $100,000 gift to CHASS is intended to support dissertation research and writing by doctoral candidates. Students majoring in history, religious studies, and philosophy are certain to benefit from these unique Library resources, as well as from the Dhillon’s generous contribution.

The McLeod Collection of Sikh Studies is housed in the Tomás Rivera Library. To view the full listing of items, use this link: http://bit.ly/ucrsikh