Library Blogs

Like many attempts at revisiting older materials, working with a couple dozen volumes of dental pamphlets started very simply but ended up being an interesting opportunity to explore the challenges of making the diverse range of materials held in libraries accessible to patrons in a digital environment. And while improving metadata may not sound glamorous, having sufficient metadata for users to be able to find what they are looking for is essential for the utility of digital libraries.

This blog post presents how the use of multiple streams of data benefited two recent U-M Library studies. For example, one recent study merged survey data, U-M human resources data, and Library document delivery data to provide a very rich picture of how diverse groups on campus use and experience the Library’s document delivery service. Some advantages of joining multiple data sources in assessment projects are discussed in the context of the two example studies.

We are very pleased to invite you all to the first session of a series of virtual encounters on various aspects of book history. Our first online meeting is devoted to bookbinding and is scheduled for July 6, 11:00 am (EDT). This session, and the series, are organized by Pablo Alvarez (UM) and Benito Rial Costas (UCM), and will be hosted by the University of Michigan Library and the Facultad de Ciencias de la Documentación of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid on Zoom. The session is free of charge and open to all, but registration is required.

We are pleased to announce the opening of a new online exhibit: Written Culture of Christian Egypt: Coptic Manuscripts from the University of Michigan Collection. This online display is a virtual record of an actual physical exhibit that took place at the Audubon Room of the University of Michigan Library between November 12, 2018 and February 17, 2019. Curated by Alin Suciu and Frank Feder (Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany), and with the collaboration of Pablo Alvarez (Special Collections Research Center), the display includes highlights from our collections of Coptic fragments and codices held at the Papyrology Collection and the Special Collections Research Center.

What started with a bit of wondering and conversation within our unit of the Library led to my reaching out to Princeton University with a request but no expectations of having that request fulfilled. Individuals at Princeton, however, considered the request and agreed to provide us with the single issue of The American Jewess that we needed to complete the full run of the periodical within our digital collection. Especially in these stressful times, we are delighted to bring you a positive story, one of collaboration and generosity across institutions, while also sharing the now-complete digital collection itself.

During the month of June we celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pinnacle event of the gay liberation movement. Celebrate Pride by checking out LGBTQ+ movies you can stream through the U-M Library.

UPDATE: This list has been added to with suggestions from my colleague Caitlin Pollock, Digital Scholarship Strategist in the Library. Having witnessed the current, ongoing police violence that is occurring across our country, and which has been happening for far too long in history, I wanted to share some e-books to help educate ourselves and others about racism. Some of these are books I have read myself and others are pulled from various lists currently circulating.

Désirée is a historical novel, in the form of a fictional diary, that tells the story of Désirée Clary, the daughter of a silk merchant from Marseille, who became Napoleon's first love, and later, through a set of extraordinary circumstances, Queen of Sweden. The major events of Napoleon's reign are told through her eyes. The book was made into a film starring Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando.