Library Blogs

This blog post features an extraordinary well-preserved copy of what is perhaps one of the earliest extant drawing manuals that were published in Western Europe in the first half of the seventeenth century. Its author is Odoardo Fialetti, an Italian artist whose professional life flourished in Venice at the end of the sixteenth century; Fialetti had access to Tintoretto’s workshop, eventually becoming an accomplished copperplate engraver. While more than 200 engravings are attributed to him, Fialetti is best known for the illustrations he created for his two drawing manuals published in Venice in 1608 and 1609. Indeed, these two manuals became extremely popular among young artists, having a considerable impact on subsequent European manuals of this type published throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In a few words, a drawing manual consisted of a collection of images of the human body that served as models for young apprentices; these illustrations represented the body in full or in sections, and were arranged in increasing difficulty. Essentially, these manuals were self-taught guides and, since they were meant to be heavily used as opposed to be shelved merely for reference, currently they are rarely found at libraries, museums, or private collections.

Asia Library, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2017, recently logged another very meaningful milestone: the number of volumes we hold has surpassed the one million mark. To be precise (we think), our collection now contains 1,006,553 volumes.

The mission of the University of Michigan Library’s Computer and Video Game Archive (CVGA) is to preserve and provide access to games for current and future study and research. In a world where digital games are becoming more prevalent than physical games, preserving these digital games can be a challenge. The CVGA recently received special funding from the library to purchase a large number (approx. 180) of games from Limited Run Games, a "publisher of limited run physical games for PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch," that focuses on "bringing games that were previously only available in a digital format to a physical medium."

March is Women’s History Month and to celebrate the Shapiro Lobby display highlights books written by, and about, women of color activists!

I love my new role in the design lab to create laptop stickes with our vinyl cutting machine and help friends to become independent sticker makers.

As an Industrial & Operations Engineering student, I enjoyed learning operations management knowledge from Eddie Davila’s LinkedIn Learning Course and hope to improve upon the Shapiro Design Lab in an operations standpoint for the future.

February is Black History Month. It's been awhile since I've done a rec post, so I decided to cover some classic black authors that you should check out this month. This is far from a complete list of all the authors and books I could have included. So without further ado, here are some recommendations of books written by black authors about black experiences.

Through Mari Katayama of Stamps Speaker Series and the accessibility team at the Shapiro Design Lab, I learned how to bring changes within my own passions to make the university more accessible through design.

Professor Peter Bol of Harvard University leads the next Deep Dive into Data and Digital Methods for Chinese Studies

Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with A Pearl Earring, tells the story of two children in 1790s London, country boy Jem, who has recently moved to London when his father finds work with Astley's Circus, and streetwise city girl Maggie, and their friendship with poet and engraver William Blake. The children become the inspiration for Blake's most famous books of poetry. Chevalier paints a vivid portrait of life in London at the time of the French Revolution.