Library Blogs

Mistress of the Sun is a historical novel about Louise de la Vallière, the first mistress of Louis XIV. The daughter of an impoverished nobleman, Louise is an excellent horsewoman who, at the age of six, tames a wild stallion no one else has been able to tame. Later, she becomes lady-in-waiting to Louis XIV's sister-in-law, and finds herself drawn to the king, who shares her love of horses, and of reading. They keep their relationship a secret at first, then, when it comes out into the open, Louise becomes the object of intrigue at court. It is also during his relationship with Louise that Louis XIV transforms Versailles from a hunting lodge into a grand palace.

September 15-October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. In celebration, I have highlighted various Latinx authors and books from amidst our collection that you can check out.

A virtual film festival of works by Chinese director Wu Hao.

We are excited to announce that we're hiring again for the CVGA! We're looking for 1-2 student workers to start within the next month. Here's the job description: Work at the Computer & Video Game Archive (CVGA) desk to circulate games, answer questions, and enforce archive policies. Test donated games and equipment, help install software/hardware, help restore older game systems and equipment, etc. Assist in running class sessions in the CVGA. Contribute to the archive blog.

Getting started with 3D printing and understanding the technology and settings.

Creating a custom phone holder for viewing maps while scooting around campus.

The university fire marshal was polite but firm. We really could not continue to store highly flammable film in the Special Collections stacks. What to do? In 2019 we had a solution to these problems that wasn’t available in 1988, when the collection came to us: digitization! Hear more at our virtual After Hours event tomorrow, Tuesday 14 September 4-5 pm.

The Last Mona Lisa is a multi-layered thriller inspired by an actual event. In 1911, Vincent Peruggia, a former employee of the Louvre, stole the Mona Lisa and ransomed it to the Italian government. Ever since then, there have been rumors that the painting returned to the Louvre was a forgery. Santlofer invents a great-grandson of Peruggia, Luke Perrone, who finds his great-grandfather's diary and searches for the truth behind the theft. But danger awaits as a killer stalks him, and everyone who has touched the diary turns up dead. Will Luke discover the truth before he becomes the next victim?

We are excited to continue our online After Hours open houses this semester! Join us on the second Tuesday of each month 4-5 pm for a virtual encounter with our collections.

Pau Nava (they/them) was the 2021 Rackham Public Engagement Fellow hosted by the University of Michigan Library Digital Scholarship (DS) team. This initiative is part of the The Rackham Public Engagement Internship Program which offers summer fellowships for graduate students interested in pursuing public facing projects at various partner institutions within the University and beyond. Pau is a PhD Candidate in the University of Michigan’s department of American Culture. Their research focuses on Midwest Latinx art networks, and includes Latinx Digital Humanities projects such as the Chicana por mi raza (CPMR) digital memory project and the new digital tool Rhizomes of Mexican American Art Since 1848.