Library Blogs

Paul Schaffner gives an introduction to batch editing metadata using tools that have worked well for him as part of his role in the Text Creation Unit (TCU) within the University of Michigan Library's Digital Content and Collections Department. The instructions and guidance provided, while originally aimed at cataloguers, can be utilized by anyone by following along with Paul's instructions and referring to the suggested resources and links within the article.

The Magic Circle is a mystery/adventure novel about a younger nuclear security expert, Ariel Behn, who, in 1989, inherits a pile of ancient manuscripts which hold the key to a powerful secret. She also discovers the history of her own very complex family and their activities in Europe between World Wars I and II.

The Special Collections Research Center is pleased to announce a new exhibit: What Are Little Books Made Of? Visit the Special Collections Exhibit Gallery in our 6th floor space (660J Hatcher South) to see children's books printed on cotton, linen, and linenette from February 5 - March 22, 2019.

Mark Dery's "Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey" provides a detailed look at the life and works of author/illustrator Edward Gorey.

Asia Library and the Lierberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies are collaborating on a new film series.

I have always been curious and interested in Project Management. The most I knew about it was from observing my Product Owner during my summer internship. Product Owner is somewhat similar to a Project Manager for Agile Methodology in a work environment. I witnessed my PO managing meetings and being a form of communication. It seems as if a PO presents information and reports back to the higher up. But I haven’t gotten a strong understanding of their role especially behind the scenes. So, out of curiosity, I decided to watch Project Management Foundations on Lynda.

When the microprocessor was invented in 1972, the US economic productivity was at a 40 year low. Computers became popular in businesses and homes in following years, and what came next radicalized the economy and business forever. Computers allowed businesses newfound abilities for number crunching, data saving, and word documentation.

While computers are revolutionary in their ability to compute repetitive calculations and follow complex programmed instructions, they have never been sufficient at pattern recognition. This makes image and speech recognition extraordinarily difficult for ordinary computers, which is why it took until 2018 to unlock your iPhone using your face and why telephone chatbots are so frustratingly stupid.

Labyrinth tells the story of two women, in two different times (1209 and 2005), and their quest for a secret of immense power. On an archaeological dig in the south of France, Alice finds two skeletons and a mysterious carving of a labyrinth on a wall, and begins experiencing visions of a past life. Her story is intertwined with that of Alaïs, a young woman in medieval Carcassonne, whose father is a guardian of one of three manuscripts that contain the secret of the Holy Grail. The plot is similar to The Da Vinci Code, but Labyrinth is much better written.

With the new semester comes a new slate of special collections meet and greets! These pop-up exhibits bring rare materials out of the library and into Weiser Hall, where we'll be sharing selections from the Joseph A. Labadie Collection. Visitors making their way through Weiser's busy halls will have an opportunity to take a look at books, pamphlets, ephemera, and even LPs while chatting with staff to learn more about our collections.

Machine learning has changed, and will continue to change the world around us. Over the course of November, I spent time completing an online Lynda course titled, Deep Learning: Image Recognition by Adam Geitgey. In this course, I learned key concepts about neural networks and built on what I learned in last month’s machine learning course. By the end of this course, I was able to get a toy neural network working and understanding, at a basic level, the different components that play a part in making it function.