Library Blogs

On April 16 my colleague Evyn Kropf and I prepared a show & tell presentation of manuscripts and early printed books for the attendees of the symposium, "Speaking the End Times: Prophecy and Messianism in Early Modern Eurasia". In brief, this two-day conference explored the topic of early modern apocalypticism from India to Iberia.

Ariel by André Maurois is a fictionalized biography of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, focusing on his romance with his second wife, Mary Shelley, who became the author of Frankenstein.

This Wednesday's watermark feature, brought to you by the letter R: watermark in Isl. Ms. 147 (copied before 1431), another of the earliest manuscripts in our Islamic Manuscripts Collection on watermarked paper.

With thanks to the Digital Library Production Service (DLPS), we are happy to announce the launch of a new online collection. John James Audubon's The Birds of America was the founding purchase of the University Library in 1839 and as U-M celebrates its bicentennial, the Special Collections Library and the William L. Clements' Library have jointly purchased Audubon’s The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. All of Audubon’s mammals and a selection of the birds are now available online.

What kind of research can you do in Special Collections? Many people may think that using the materials here is only for “serious” scholars who are conducting historical research into specific topics, but the space is open to everyone (and anyone - that means you!) who wants to get their hands on primary sources. Browse some featured items here and ponder what kinds of research questions one could come up with...

We talk about using Google Analytics in DLPS and HathiTrust, and how the Analytics interface will have changed before you've finished this sentence.

Spring has sprung and it's time to celebrate the season of new growth with poetry!

The Wayne State University National Digital Stewardship Alliance Student Chapter will be hosting its 3nd colloquium, “Putting the Pieces Together: Digital Curation, Preservation, and Metadata”, on April 24th from 1:00 – 5:00 pm. You should go!

The Special Collections Library will host a reception to celebrate a new exhibit, "Through the Magnifying Glass: A Short History of the Microscope." Please join the exhibit curators, Pablo Alvarez and Gregg Sobocinski, to chat about this exciting display. There will be coffee and other refreshments. Date: April 24 (Friday) 3:00 pm -5:00 pm. Place: Seventh floor of the Hatcher Library.

The Scarlet City is a fascinating novel about a young man's quest for his parentage in 16th century Rome.