Library Blogs

U-M Library Search launched in late July 2018, combining Mirlyn, ArticlesPlus, and Search Tools into a single discovery interface. Over the past academic year, much work has gone into providing functionality available in the previous interfaces, resolving bugs, and improving the overall user experience.

The Special Collection Research Center recently acquired an early Japanese astronomy book titled 天経或問 (Japanese: Tenkei wakumon; Chinese: Tianjing huowen:"Questions and Answers on Astronomy"). Printed in 1730 in Tōkyō, it was a republication of a Chinese astronomy work supplemented with Japanese reading marks. Chinese Studies Librarian Liangyu Fu introduces us to this new acquisition.

Craig Smith, the Library's Assessment Specialist, talks about working with the Design Lab to design and print a replacement battery cover for his vintage Sony Walkman cassette player.

Emily, a young woman from an upper-class British family during World War I, falls in love with Robbie, an Australian pilot, to her parents' disapproval. When he's sent back to the war, she enlists as a land girl, working on farms while the men are away at war. She is assigned to take care of the garden at the estate of a reclusive old woman, and there she discovers a mystery related to the previous inhabitant of the cottage where she lives.

In our last post, we discussed Asia Library’s purchase of more than 20,000 volumes from the Kamada Library in Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture, and highlighted a couple of items from the collection. This time we are featuring two more texts related to the traditional performing arts.

In honor of Pride Month I decided to do a series of fiction and film recommendation list to the blog to go along with the list of memoirs we posted last week. I’ve divided the books by basic genre and format starting with adult fiction, young adult fiction, and graphic novels this week. Next week will be sci-fi/fantasy, romance, and poetry/short story anthologies and the last week will be video media.

The Special Collections Research Center is thrilled to announce the opening of our latest exhibit, “A Revolution Worth Having: Emma Goldman at 150,” on view from June 3rd to August 1st. This exhibit pays tribute to one of the most distinctive figures represented in our collection, and is dedicated to the memory of the friends and comrades who have nourished and sustained the relationship between Emma and the Labadie Collection over the years.

Aya Fattah, a member of the MedLaunch student group, discusses two pieces she 3D printed in consultation with the Design Lab.

Parisian detective Aimée Leduc receives a visit from a Haitian woman claiming to be her half-sister. Just as she is about to tell Aimée more, she disappears, leaving an address behind. When Aimée goes to that address, she finds the body of a murdered scientist, and her supposed sister is the prime suspect. Two witnesses who are about to speak to Aimée are murdered, one by one. Can Aimée clear the woman she thinks is her sister?

Assessment and research activities focused on the U-M Library faculty, staff, and student experiences are happening regularly, and often the Library Human Resources (LHR) team is contributing to these activities if not leading the research. This work can focus on quantitative data, qualitative data, or take a hybrid approach, and can involve surveys, interviews, and/or some general number-crunching. This post looks over some recent HR assessment projects.