How do today’s moments become tomorrow’s history? At Duke Kunshan University (DKU), Ryder Kouba, the Archives and Special Collections Librarian, is the person making sure those stories are preserved. On February 21, 2025, Ryder shared his work during the Building University Archives and Special Collections at DKU workshop, where faculty and students explored a variety of valuable collections that document DKU’s growth and Kunshan’s cultural heritage up close.
These treasures are housed in Archives/Special Collections Room on the 3rd floor of the Library. The Archives focus on materials that reflect DKU’s intellectual and cultural journey. This includes official records, faculty research, student publications, event photos, and more. These items help capture everyday life on campus and support teaching, research, and future planning. The Special Collections, on the other hand, shine a spotlight on Kunshan’s unique heritage as well as other subject areas of value to DKU students, staff, and faculty.
Among the treasures, Ryder’s personal favorite is Voyage to Kunshan (访昆山). This is a travel guide booklet from 1934, featuring attractive illustrations of early Kunshan and detailed recommendations for local restaurants, attractions and transportation. Besides the artistic style and a full-page map, what interests Ryder most are the information it contains and the questions it raises. “As a traveler, I find that all very interesting. More importantly, who was traveling to Kunshan in 1934 and why? What kind of reputation did it have? How has the history written in the travel guide changed…” The stories behind it are always waiting for discovered.
While preserving physical items is important, digital archives make it easier to share and access. As Ryder emphasized, “DKU is digital, lots of digital content that needs preservation, acquisition, description etc.” Currently in DKU Library, a camera setup is ready for capturing the information from paper documents. But the digitization process isn’t always simple. Outdated formats (imagine dealing with tapes from the early 2000s) and issues like broken web links (known as 404 errors) pose significant challenges. But progress is underway. During the workshop, Ryder introduced an external collaboration between the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) and DKU’s Humanities Research Center to digitize materials from RAS’s archives in Shanghai. This project helps make rare reference collections more widely available, offering students and researchers easier access to these resources.
Preserving cultural heritage is a collective effort, and every community member is welcome to contribute! Here are some ways for you to get involved:
📝 Donate: As DKU’s Special Collections are in its infancy, we’re open to a wide variety of content and subjects, including local history (Kunshan or Jiangsu), Kunqu opera, maps, diaries, photographs, family history, academic research, teaching materials and the list goes on. Please contact Ryder (rk391@duke.edu) for more details.
🎓 Collaborate: Students and faculty are encouraged to suggest and access archival materials for research or class projects. Ryder (rk391@duke.edu) is also happy to have students/interns work on projects with him.
🕒 Visit: LIB 3012 (Archives/Special Collections Reading Room) is open to DKU community. Please make an appointment with Ryder (rk391@duke.edu) on weekdays (9am to 5pm) in advance to pay for a visit, especially for classes/groups.
Get to Know Ryder Kouba!
Hi, I’m Ryder Kouba, the Archivist and Special Collections Librarian here at DKU since April 2024. My job involves working with everyone in the DKU community to help preserve our history so future DKUians and those interested in our unique institution can understand what was happening on campus administratively, intellectually, and culturally. Likewise, I’m responsible for helping create our Special Collections which should consist of unique materials that benefit the teaching and research missions of the university. I’m always happy to have visitors as well as classes stop by, and I’ve really enjoyed the class sessions over my first year here. Of course none of this can happen without the support and collaboration from people in the library and around campus.
Before coming to Kunshan, I worked for 2.5 years at the American Center of Research in Amman, Jordan (where I accidentally became a Catdad) as well as working at the University of Hong Kong, and the American University in Cairo. My hobbies include fostering DKU cats, watching all manner of sports (Hook ’em Horns), reading (mostly) non-fiction books, and traveling.
