Library Blogs

A singular bird’s last breath is not often met with sadness, nor does it necessarily signify the emphatic end of an era. However, on September 1, 1914, the last living passenger pigeon, Martha, passed away at the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens. In the course of a century, the passenger pigeon went from being the most abundant land bird in North America to an extinct species. As September 1st, 2014 marks the centennial of Martha’s passing, the University of Michigan’s Special Collections Library and Museum of Natural History remember this native bird.

How much do people actually read on the web? Not much. UX Myths presents the evidence.

Welcome back, students! Here is our list of most popular games from last month. Quite a few newer games as well as a few fan favorites.

This Wednesday's watermarks feature: three crescents motifs in papers of various manuscripts from the Islamic Manuscripts Collection.

Today we have a post from our guest author, Amanda Cote. Since we recently added mobile gaming to our collections, it has been a topic of much discussion among us.

The Ted Kaczynski Papers are part of the Special Collections Library’s Joseph A. Labadie Collection which documents the history of social protest movements and marginalized political communities from the 19th century to the present. The Ted Kaczynski papers were acquired in 1998 and the bulk of the collection includes correspondence written to and by Kaczynski since his arrest in 1996. Other materials in the archive include legal documents used during his trial, writings by Kaczynski, clippings and articles, some audiovisual material and FBI files.

More than 15% of user searches for the seven most commonly used databases on the University of Michigan Library’s website were misspellings of the database name. We looked through our search logs for the three months spanning January 1-April 2, 2014, to find correct and likely incorrect search queries.

We have recently purchased an engraved broadside (259 x 339 mm.) depicting what at first sight looks like a regular scene of family life in the seventeenth century. However, a closer examination reveals a very different picture: a dysfunctional household or, to be more precise, a satire of domestic happiness...

In collaboration with the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, the Special Collections Library invites you to the 7th floor, Hatcher Graduate Library to view the current exhibition: Netherlandic Treasures.

Rhymes that identify book owners, warn or threaten book thieves, and extol the virtues of learning appear in interesting variations, particularly on the pages of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century school books.