For Immediate Release

July 19, 2005

University of Maryland Website Occupies Sacred Space
URL engraved on tombstones of beloved literary figures
 

In an age of increasing impermanence, a University of Maryland (UM) professor has found a unique, very permanent way to ensure the legacy of his parents will continue to endure in the years and decades to come. Computer Science Professor Ben Shneiderman asked a stonecutter to create a small plaque, to be placed between the Tel Aviv graves of his parents, S.L. and Eileen, displaying the address of the website created to document the lives of these special people as well as their extensive collection of Yiddish literature which has been donated to the UM Libraries.

“The gravestone embodies permanence, but its text does little more than hint at the richness of my parents' lives,” said Professor Shneiderman. “I fantasized that a few people a year might see the link on my parents’ gravestone and be interested enough to follow it. I thought that my daughters, my sister's sons, and especially their children might be reminded about the journalistic adventures of my parents. I can only hope that they and the diligent researchers who follow the link will spend time appreciating my parents' devotion to causes, communities, and cultures.”

The S.L. and Eileen Shneiderman Collection of Yiddish Books, housed at the University’s McKeldin Library, consists of nearly 400 volumes bearing publication dates ranging from 1910 to 1996. Mr. Shneiderman, who served as the President of the Yiddish PEN Club for several years in the late 1970s, was also a prolific author, aided by his wife Eileen who served as his valued editor.

“Somewhere, centuries in the future, the successors to Google and the Internet Archive may redefine eternity and immortality,” Professor Shneiderman remarked. “I thought that 'umd.edu' could be an enduring place, just as I imagined that the University of Maryland would exist for centuries to come. I warmed to the idea that my parents would be forever linked to the UM Libraries - they were people of the book, and they were book people.”

Editor’s Note: To learn more about the S.L. and Eileen Shneiderman Collection of Yiddish Books, please visit www.lib.umd.edu/slses. Professor Ben Shneiderman's home page can be viewed at www.cs.umd.edu/~ben.

Contact: Jennifer Hanna, 301 405-9336
jhanna@umd.edu

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