Library Blogs

The University of Michigan Library is home to a vast collection of materials representing dozens of languages. U-M Library Catalog Search, however, can cause difficulties for users searching for materials in languages other than English. In Summer 2021 we conducted an exploratory study on the experience of searching for non-English materials within U-M Library Catalog Search in order to better understand challenges users face, how they overcome them, and what we can do to mitigate the problem.

Matrix is a beautifully-written historical novel by Lauren Groff about the medieval abbess and poet Marie de France. Marie is cast out of the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her sister-in-law, because she is considered unmarriageable, and sent to a remote abbey, where she eventually becomes the abbess and creates a utopian community of women, while struggling against harsh conditions and opposition from the church authorities. Groff writes in a poetic style that draws you into Marie's world.

This is a fascinating biography of a female mathematician in 18th century Italy, Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799). A child prodigy, Agnesi received an education that was usually reserved for boys. She wrote one of the first textbooks on calculus, and was appointed to a university professorship, although she was unable to accept the position because of illness. Her later life was devoted to helping the poor, and educating the impoverished children in her neighborhood.

A new item added to the Jewish Salonica Postcard Collection: The Italian Synagogue.

Design Lab intern Stef details the process of printing and piecing together a multi-part 3D model printed on the new Fusion F410 printer in the workshop.

Arsenic and Adobo is the first in a new mystery series featuring a Filipino American heroine, Lila Macapagal, who works in her family's restaurant. When her ex-boyfriend dies after eating a dessert in the restaurant, Lila is accused of the crime, and she has to find the real killer in order to clear her name and save the restaurant. The book's greatest strengths are the characters and the descriptions of Filipino food.

A new item added to the Jewish Salonica Postcard Collection.

Historian Candice E. Proctor, who is also the mystery author C.S. Harris, discusses attitudes toward women during the French Revolution, and why the leading revolutionaries never gave women any political power, including voting rights. She also writes about some of the women who advocated for women's rights during the French Revolution.

Third in a series of guest posts from Shaoyi Qian, summer 2021 Baker Fellow at the U-M Library's conservation lab, describing her work on several pop-up and moveable books.

Dr. Mary M. Cutler, one of the early shaper's of Seoul's Ewha University, graduated from the U-M Medical School.