Library Blogs

In 2013, an extraordinary collection on the history of medicine was transferred from the Taubman Library to the Special Collections Library, University of Michigan Library. Among the books, we came across three eighteenth-century microscopes stored in plain boxes and in need of conservation treatment. They have now been repaired and are in new homes. Here is a video explaining in detail the conservation work performed in one of these wonderful microscopes.

Deadlines are approaching to share your work related to preservation and the long term management of digital materials. Submit today!

The University of Michigan Library’s first acquisition was John James Audubon's The Birds of America . After a brief interval of 175 years, it has been joined by Audubon's final work. In August, we acquired the only known complete copy of his Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, which includes the long-rumored but never before seen 151st lithographic plate, depicting the Lepus antilooapra of North America. This image is lacking in all other known copies of the work.

The Library of Congress is accepting feedback on its Recommended Format Specifications for its annual update. The deadline to submit feedback is tomorrow, March 31st.

"Utterly stunned, I walked down Broadway with a frie[n]d, repeating over and over to him, “Do you realize there are some things I will not be able to do simply because I am a woman? Do you realize…” I could not stop recounting the incident." In these words, anthropologist Eleanor Leacock recalls the moment in 1943 when she was denied an Assistantship solely because of her gender and she realized the full extent of discrimination that she would face as a female academic.

American Culinary History materials are full of representations of women and femininity These images are occasionally realistic, often absolute fantasy, and and sometimes somewhere in between.

We are always delighted to support learning and engagement with our materials, especially as they inspire new scholarship and research. Read this guest blog post from local high school student, Dale (Trip) Apley III, who visited our library to analyze the Galileo Manuscript for a scientific experiment he recently conducted.

The Genius in the Design tells the fascinating story of the rivalry between two brilliant architects in 17th century Rome.

Hans Christian Andersen's “The Red Shoes” tells the story of an orphan girl whose uncontrolled desire for material pleasures and social status leads to her downfall.

Curator JJ Jacobson's guest lecture in undergraduate seminar Race and Culture in the American South (History 262/AmCult 263) introduces students to Special Collection materials at U-M while also demonstrating how to use cookbooks as primary sources.